He may still be only 20 but Colin Stough has already been making a big name for himself in the world of country music.
After placing third on season 21 of American Idol last year, where he won over fans with his gravelly vocals and country-rock sound, the Mississippi native released his debut EP ‘Promiseland', racked up over 19 million global streams and has opened for artists including Kidd G, Chase Matthew and Drake White. Last month, he put out the follow-up record, a six-track project called ‘Lookin' For Home'.
I recently spoke to Colin to talk about the EP, how he approaches his songwriting, his experience of being on Idol, and what's next – including a possible trip to the UK…
How would you describe your music and your influences?
Man, we definitely have a lot. I hear it all the time, but you can definitely hear other people through my sound. Really just a Southern rock kind of country vibe. If that's what people are liking, and that's what people are into? Man, I definitely recommend they should check us out.
You released your new EP ‘Lookin' For Home' last month – what's the response to that been like so far?
Man, it's been great. It's been what we were looking for. I mean, in the music industry, it can always get better [laughs]. But, for me, we're very blessed with the outcome that EP has had so far, it's still growing, you know what I mean? I'm just very thankful for the people who actually waited up all night to listen to it and stuff like that [laughs].
Did you find it challenging to get it down to just six songs, or was it always quite clear that those would be the ones you wanted to include?
Man, it was a challenge. I'm a published writer, so I'll write pretty much every day of the week. And you know that I'm in Nashville, so, I mean, it was just, it was very, very hard to come down and choose which ones. I think actually, the day that we were cutting the music, I saw a buddy of mine [co-writer Rivers Rutherford] out in the parking lot at Sony, and he was like, “Hey, man”. He was like, “You remember that song we wrote probably six months ago called ‘Lookin' For Home'? And I was like, “Ah, man”. I was like, “Rivers, I'm not sure”. So he listened to it. I said, “Man, I forgot about that”. I said, “Actually, let's go in here and cut it”, and then we cut it, and then two weeks later, that's the title track of the EP! So, I mean, that's kind of how it come down, right there. So, yeah, it's very hard choosing what you should cut and what you shouldn't cut.
I wanted to ask about your writing process. Do you have a typical way that you write, or does it vary depending on the song and what it needs?
Yeah. So to be honest with you, man, my writing process might be a little different from other people's. I do go [to] downtown Nashville, and I sit in a room and I write, but I really feel like some of my best songs have been wrote or the ideas of them have come from just being in a very, very creative mindset, in a very creative space, like the house, or in my personal studio, you know, I've got all kind of stuff in there.
Were there any songs you found particularly easy or particularly challenging in terms of the writing for this EP?
‘Lookin' For Home'. We had actually wrote one song that day, and it was kind of early. And, you know, Rivers was like, “Hey man, you know, let's stay and let's see if we can get another one”. And I want to say that song kind of wrote itself in probably an hour and a half. For me, it takes me a good little while to write songs. I'm the kind of guy to sit in there and look over everything we say, and just all this.
But yeah, we have had some pretty, pretty easy songs on the EP like, ‘Outside Lookin' In'. We wrote that song on tour with Chase [Matthew] and, Chase, Alex Maxwell, Trevor Snider and me. We sat there and we kind of punched that song out in probably an hour.
I also wanted to ask you about ‘Amen' which is one of the real standout songs on the EP – it's so powerful and dramatic. Can you tell us a bit more about that one?
So, we actually were writing with Jacob [Durrett] and Jordan [Dozzi] in Nashville. And I come in, you know, I never wrote with these guys. And so we sat down and kind of started writing a good idea. Yeah, well, the whole time I'm kind of lost. I'm like, “what's kind of going on?” I'm not understanding, the music, the lyrics, or anything like that. And man, them too, over there, they're just writing it, right? And, you know, I feel kind of terrible, because I'm like, “Man, I'm kind of not helping these guys write. But, you know, I just don't understand what's going on”.
Well, finally it got to the second verse, and we put it down, and I was like, “oh, okay, I get it now, I get it”. And so we all just kind of sat there and, man, we wrote that song and we put it down on a demo that day, and within two days, man, people were like, “Dude, that's, that's probably one of the best songs you've wrote!”
Is there anything you feel that you've learned from the process of making this EP?
I've learned so much more about the music business. I feel like I learn more about the music business itself every single day. I would write stuff that was relatable to me and me only, and just figuring out how to write something that is relatable to the world but still tells my story.
I also wanted to ask you about your experience of being on American Idol. Is there anything from going through that process that you're now taking forward into your music career?
Yeah, to be honest with you, just learning how to talk to people. Where I'm from, there's 73 people in my hometown in Mississippi. So we know everybody, and even in the bigger cities around, you know, kind of still knew everybody. But learning how to really talk with fans, and talk to people.
How to start a conversation, if that makes sense, that's one thing that it really, really helped me out on. I feel like that's something I'm taking with me every day because those fans – I love my fans. The most I want to do is talk to them as much as I can. In my mind, I want to have a big ass field party and nothing but fans come and we just hang out just friends as a family. But definitely, definitely learning how to talk to talk to fans was what I learned from that experience.
You've mentioned coming from a small town and I know you moved to Nashville last year. What's that experience been like for you?
Man, it was very difficult at first, because, like I said, I come from, horses, livestock, this, that, and the other, hundreds of acres of land and stuff. And now it's just kind of like me and my neighbour, you know what I mean? I've never really had a neighbour growing up [laughs]. And so it was very difficult at first and I kind of went into a little semi depression over it. But, you know, stuff gets better as time goes on and I've just learned how to deal with being up here and once I got that mindset in there, you know, I was good [laughs].
What's on the bucket list for you in terms of people you'd want to work with, places you'd want to play and so on?
Man, actually the main person that I do really want to write with, two people, actually, is Marcus King and Ashley Gorley. And Taylor Phillips, man. Taylor's a good buddy of mine. We've never wrote together, though. I do want to write with him. And I want to get on some big tours, you know, with like Jason Aldean or Marcus King. Other than that, man just give me a gold record hanging up on the wall [laughs].
I know you've been out on the road recently, so what songs are you particularly enjoying playing live at the moment?
Oh, dude, all the songs, I love playing all the songs live. There's so many, like, different crowds in a crowd of people, if that makes sense. Andsome of them people come to see one song. Some of them people come to see two or three songs, you know. But I just, I love playing all of them, because all of them are just very relatable and just amazing. I put my heart in them because that's where they come from.
Is there a song you wish you could have written?
Free Bird by Skynyrd [laughs]. Man, I'm a huge Skynyrd fan.
What's the rest of the year looking like for you? I know you got engaged recently but are there plans for touring or more new music etc?
Yeah, we're on four tours this year. We're on tour with the Lacs. We're on a Canadian tour with Chase Matthew, and we're on tour with Midland, and then we're on a headline tour. So it's really a bunch of shows.
And are there any plans for an album at any point soon?
It's in the works. Man, it's in the works. I actually just got back from a writer's retreat yesterday, and that's what we were doing, writing music for a new project. And, yeah, I mean, the next thing I want to put out is album. So, you just y'all gotta keep listening. You know what I mean?
Is it going to be a similar sound to ‘Lookin' For Home' or a bit different?
Oh, definitely, man, that's my wheelhouse. That kind of sound like ‘Lookin' For Home', you know? We do have some stuff that is kind of more slower and more heartfelt that that I would really want to put out. And, yeah, just whatever's a good song.
Lastly, have you got any plans to come over to the UK at all any time soon?
Man, I truly don't know. I want to so bad. Y'all gotta get me over there. Man, it seems like y'all just have a ball over there. Y'all gotta get me over there.
Colin Stough's new EP, ‘Lookin' For Home', is out now on 19 Recordings/BBR Music Group.
