Rising country artist and songwriter Vincent Mason, signed to Interscope/UMG Nashville/Music Soup, has just released his latest EP, ‘Speak of the Devil,' now available on all streaming platforms. Known for his honest and raw storytelling, Mason follows his breakout single ‘Hell is a Dance Floor' with a hauntingly intense number of tracks on the EP and a recently released duet, ‘Almost Gone' with tour-mate Gavin Adcock.
Building on his hit ‘Hell is a Dance Floor,' which has accumulated over 60 million streams and was recently featured on Spotify’s Hot Country playlist, Mason continues to validate his place as one of the genre's exciting new voices. His discography, which includes his debut EP ‘Can't Just Be Me' and fan favourites ‘Heart Like This' and ‘Train of Thought,' delves into the highs and lows of love with an authentic voice that’s resonating with listeners and earned him a place amongst other artists with the so-called ‘Sad Boy Country' umbrella. We caught up with Vincent to talk all about his year and the exciting 2025 to come.
Thanks for your time today, Vincent, I know just what a busy dude you are and merry Christmas too!
Yes sir! Thank you. I always go back to home for Christmas, back to where I grew up, right outside Atlanta. I live in Nashville now so it's only a 3-4 hour drive home. I'm looking forward to it. My family love Christmas, the house will be completely decorated and will be a nice place to spend a couple of weeks.
Congratulations on the year you've had – a breakout year! Is it fair to say everything really kicked off earlier in the year with ‘Hell is a Dance Floor?'
I think we were steadily putting out songs and people were coming on board slowly, but surely, and then ‘Hell is a Dance Floor' really hit with a bunch of people. I wasn't exactly expecting that because I felt the same about the song as I did all the others that I had released previously but that one hit home! It changed what we were doing over the course of about two weeks and I'm just trying to write the next one right now, you know? (laughing)
Have you had time to enjoy the year or has it passed in a bit of a blur?
This has been, in a lot of ways, the longest year of my life! (laughing) I've done a lot this year! The days feel like they are going by in a bit of blur, I don't know what's happening some weeks but then I look back at last January or February and it feels like they were five years ago!
Is there one thing that has happened to you this year that you would never have expected or one thing you are proud of above all the others?
I think the Grand Ole Opry debut was my proudest moment. I didn't think that was going to come as quick as it did. That happening this year was something that I did not expect at the beginning of 2024, for sure.
Did you enjoy the debut at the Opry or were you too nervous to enjoy it?
I did enjoy it, I did, but I was nervous. I get a little nervous when I'm playing normal shows but not as much as I was that night. Even talking on stage was nerve wracking! I got to do it for a second time last week and I was, like, ‘this time I'm not going to be nervous when I'm talking' and I started tripping on words all over again! (laughing) I don't know what happens to me, man, it's like I get hexed or something! It's the weight of the building that gets to you.
You've bookended the year by releasing ‘Almost Gone' with Gavin Adcock. Tell me about recording that song and working with him.
I opened Gavin's first ever headline show in Birmingham, Alabama last September. A bunch of people started out playing there at the Zydeco so it was cool to do. We didn't know each other but we'd listened to a bunch of music with each other on the way down and I was, like, ‘Man, this show is going to be crazy.'
I played an acoustic set, it was fine, I didn't feel like I really had the room but then Gavin came out and the place was pumping! We then went and toured with Ashley Cooke for a few months before playing a couple more venues in April with Gavin again. The second was the Megacorp Pavilion in Kentucky which was 2,200 seats – all sold out! It was a little bigger than we thought it was gonna be so we had a blast there too and then the offer to tour with him in the fall came through – that was a no-brainer.
We thought it would be cool for us to do a song together for the tour we were doing. He called up some of his writing buddies, I called up mine and we put our heads together and we came up with ‘Almost Gone.' We played it every night together on the tour and then put it out towards the end. It was fun to watch Gavin in the recording booth doing his thing – there's so much passion in the way that he sings.
Your earliest song on Spotify dates back 2-3 years to ‘Everybody Loves Her.' When was the last time you played that song and how do you think you've grown as a writer and artist since that release?
We've had a few sets where we've needed to run to 70 minutes. With Gavin's tour I was doing 40 to 45 minutes so it goes back into the set when I need to play a longer one. We're headlining next year so it might be back in again by then too so I guess it was 2-3 weeks ago when I played it last but I hadn't played it for a good long time before that! I was kinda surprised that I remembered it! (laughing)
In a lot of ways I still love ‘Everybody Loves Her.' I kinda still want to chase some things that are in that song but I've written with a lot of different people since I wrote that and also found so much more music as a listener that is beginning to influence me too. If I could figure out a way to merge that sound with the new stuff we've written we'd be in good shape because there's such a pure honesty in that song. I didn't know much at that time, it was just me and I kinda wanna get back to that in a way.
When you moved to Nashville had you already done co-writes with other people or was that something you had to learn how to do when you got there?
I had to learn it, man! I didn't really even know that people did that kind of thing. I listened to ERNEST's podcast, ‘Just Being ERNEST' in the months leading up to moving to Nashville and that was kinda how I learned about the industry! I didn't even really start writing until the January before I moved to Nashville before I ended up there is September 2020.
Once I got to town co-writing was something that I definitely had to learn how to do.
Every group of artists that emerge seem to have a class of writers that emerge along with them. Have you found your group and your class yet?
I think so. It takes a second because when you have a publishing deal you write with anyone and everyone in town. There's still a lot of people I'd love to write with but for a while, and particularly when I'm not on the road, I've been writing every day with new people everyday too. I'm beginning to realise who my crew are at this point in my career. Jaxson Free is a good example, he's probably one of the most talented writers in town right now, whatever he sings, melody wise, feels like a hit!
Was it difficult to narrow down the songs to chose for your recent ‘Speak of the Devil' EP out of all the ones you must have written and recorded?
A little, yeah. I wanted to be particular about the songs we had on there and the story we wanted to tell. I also wanted to keep some songs back for the album too. ‘Hell is a Dance Floor' was an obvious choice and we built the whole EP around that song. If you listen to it, the way the songs are laid out, there's a little bit of a story running through it too. There's some old songs on there I wrote by myself and there's some newer songs on there too, I'm proud of that project.
You've been given this ‘Sad Boy Country' tag. I don't know whether that was from the fans, the media or a combination. Is that something you embrace or do you find it restrictive in terms of where you see yourself evolving?
I embrace it for sure because that's my favourite style of Country music. I love heartbreak music and so much of Country is about that. Taking the feeling of being sad and heartbroken and making it cool is something that I really enjoy doing. I feel in love with that side of Country and I'm always going to write those songs, whether I'm heartbroken or happy! That's where the heart of Country music is.
Do I feel it's restrictive? I have written a bunch of songs that aren't really in that category, yes. I'm excited to show people what other sounds and styles I can do without ever abandoning the sad song side of me! (laughing) There is more to what we are doing than sad songs but it is my favourite part of Country music. I've always loved the Country hits from the likes Kenny Chesney, Jon Pardi and Thomas Rhett, so I do love that side of the genre too. I'm excited to try and branch a little in the next couple of years.
You've played a good amount of shows with the likes of Ashley Cooke, Gavin Adcock, Luke Bryan & Kameron Marlowe now. Is there one artist that you've seen that has shaped the way you want to be in terms of looking after your fans, your crew and your support artists?
Those bigger names like Luke Bryan and Kameron…… we also got to open a show for Parker McCollum….. were great but they are so big and the bigger artists are often off doing their thing. On the smaller tours, like I've done with Gavin and Ashley, you spend a lot more time with the headliners. Gavin was trying to give me all the tips that he could and I appreciated that. Ashley was fantastic and I learned a lot from her in terms of setting the standard and watching both of them putting in the hard work required to make this thing a success. Work hard, do what you have to do and try to be nice to people, that's the goal! (laughing)
What's the plan for 2025? What goals do you have for the year ahead and what's on your bucket list to achieve?
We waited a long time for the moment to be right to sell some headline shows and we've just sold out the tour next year so that is awesome and I'm so excited for that. I'm so thankful to people who have bought tickets for that – that's my measure of success right now – streaming numbers are great and all that, but if you can't sell tickets you aren't going to get very far.
My goal is to keep building on what we've achieved this year. We have some bigger shows to announce that I can't say anything about right now, that's the goal – venues, tours and tickets. I want to keep the music that I release a high standard and hopefully grab a couple more ‘Hell is a Dance Floor' moments along the way. I want to keep putting out good songs and playing bigger shows, that's the goal.
Keep an eye on Vincent Mason in 2025 as he continues to build his catalogue and reputation throughout the year. Website and link to socials right here.
