10 Questions with ... Jeremy Stover

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Georgia native Jeremy Stover made the move to Nashville and attended Belmont University before landing his first publishing deal in 2000. As a songwriter and producer, Stover has collaborated with or had songs cut by Emerson Drive, Lonestar, Jack Ingram, Martina McBride, Sara Evans, Colt Ford, Ronnie Dunn, Jake Owen, Cole Swindell, Chris Young, Tim McGraw, LOCASH, Frankie Ballard, Jon Pardi, and many more. Upon meeting a young Justin Moore, Stover began a partnership that would include helping Moore land a record deal with Big Machine Label Group and co-writing and producing Moore's biggest hits. In recent years, Stover has not only handled songwriting and producing roles, but has also launched his own publishing company, Red Creative Group.

1. Jeremy, thank you so much for taking time to speak with us today! You're from Georgia - another one! What is it about your home state that makes it such a rich source for Country music?

Ya know what, RJ? I think it's just so much about the lifestyle and so forth. I'm from North Georgia - and there's a few of those people from North Georgia - but a lot of them are from Macon and South, which is the Southern part of the state. I think part of it is also the vicinity to Tennessee. There's just a rich history of music around Atlanta and Macon, and just that rich history of music that was made there. I think it was Capricorn Records that was located in Macon. There was just a lot of great music. And, as you know, they just took Greg Allman back there after he passed away. I think it's much like the Muscle Shoals stuff. Look how many great songwriters have come out of Muscle Shoals where there's a pocket of music made there, much the same as around Macon and Atlanta, even though it's different genres. And like what I was leading to before talking about the lifestyle, when I grew up, I never - to be honest, I never heard the Beatles until my freshman year of college. I know that sounds crazy, but where I grew up, it was Hank Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and it was Aerosmith and AC/DC, and it was Merle Haggard. There just wasn't a lot of certain kinds of music where I grew up, and that's okay! I discovered it later, of course, and the Beatles are great!

2. You also went to Belmont, correct? Georgia and Belmont are two big connections. But, seriously, the music program there is legendary. Why did you decide on Belmont, and what do you think makes the program so strong that so many people have gone on to do great things in our business?

I did go to Belmont. I had two years of college left when I moved to Nashville, and I was fortunate enough to finish college at Belmont. I kinda did that out of respect for the family, because I'm one of 70-something grandchildren, and my dad is one of 14 kids. I'm pretty far down the line in grandchildren there, and my dad made me promise I'd finish college, even though I was moving to Nashville, because no one in our family had ever finished college. So, I came here, and I got my degree from Belmont. There was a big celebration the day I graduated, because it was a big thing for my family. I think it gives you a good start in the foundation of how everything is set up in Nashville in the music business. It gives you a foundation to know what is a publisher, or a record label, and what is publicity or marketing. It really defines all of those things for you pretty well, and I'm really happy I went there, because I still have amazing friends that I write songs with and do business with that I went to school with there. But, after college is where the success stories are really made, and those come from perseverance, hard work, and those types of things. There's obviously a lot of people that I went to Belmont with who didn't make it past a couple of years living in Nashville - this is not an easy town! You've got to starve, and you've got to figure out ways to keep growing a career outside of whatever job you're doing to actually make money. That's really important in the equation, I think, for all the successful people who went to Belmont - it's that perseverance to be willing to stay here and keep doing the work.

3. You have a lot of irons in the fire to talk about - writing, producing, publishing, performing. Let's start with your connection to Valory Music Co. artist Justin Moore. How did the two of you begin collaborating?

I met Justin through a former attorney. He had met Justin, and at that time I had been doing my demos and was writing for Byron Gallimore's company - which you know produces Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and all those people. So, I was writing for his company, and I met Justin. And, I thought, "I'm going to start working with this guy." We started writing together, and the second song we wrote was "Small Town USA," which became his first career record. What's crazy is that it took five years before it came a career record from the day we wrote it. So, once again, that whole theme of what we were just talking about - perseverance. We worked together through those years, and things progressed from there.

4. Let's talk about the art of songwriting for a minute. Do you tend to stick with a consistent group of collaborators, or are you open to sessions with people you've not met or with whom you are less familiar?

I would say that typically I stick with the people that I've written with before. There's obviously people I write with on a more consistent basis, and I try to do new writes and so forth, but when I do that, a lot of times I'll bring in that new person and add them to someone from that core group that I've already written with before. But, to go to the other side of that, I will say that in the last year, I've been trying a lot of new things. I really do believe that there is a new generation of super-talented young writers that are having success. And, I don't want to become a dinosaur and not be a part of it! Like you said, I have a lot of irons in the fire - I have my songwriting, and I have producing. I don't perform that much, but about five years ago, I did start my own publishing company. So, now I've got about five writers that write for the company. For me, my day is kind of categorized in all of those different arenas by time these days. Which is something I signed up for, so I can't complain about that!

5. Speaking of the new generation, in the past few years as Country has broadened its influences, some people lament the decline of "story songs" in Country. Do you agree or disagree with that assessment?

You know what, RJ? I really don't think about it in that fashion. It would be hard for me to sit here and go through a list and say what's a story song and what's not. I just don't think about it that way. I just try to sit in a room or a studio and write the best song that I can that day with the people that I'm there with. I don't really think about it as in what's not there or what is there.

6. Touching now on your work as a producer, we're seeing a trend towards more and more individual tracks produced these days in Country, similar to the production on many Pop albums. Is that good or bad for continuity on a project, in your mind? And are you comfortable working with that arrangement, or do you prefer to produce entire projects?

I would prefer to work on the whole thing, but I think it really comes down to the type of artist and the record they are wanting to make as to how that is approached. I prefer to 100 percent buy in to an artist and give everything possible within that scenario to go and do records, and that is more than just competing for the singles. I personally think a lot of that is driven by writers and producers who compete for singles and those things - which, there's nothing wrong with that - but, I know from my perspective and for my legacy, I want for the artists that I've worked with to be able to acknowledge that I helped get them through the album journey. And I want them to be able to say that it produced something that is a consistent album that helps give their fans a real picture of who they are and helped them build a long career. I think that currently in the format, you've got Eric Church, who has worked with Jay Joyce from the beginning. You've got Jason Aldean, who has worked with Michael Knox from the beginning. You've got Luke Bryan, who has worked consistently with Jeff Stevens from the beginning. And, there's Brantley Gilbert, who has worked with Dann Huff from the beginning, and Justin Moore, who has worked with me from the beginning. I'm just saying that I think there's something to be said for those kinds of records. Those are the kind of records that I love to work on. And, there have definitely been situations where I've just done a couple of songs, but I prefer to be involved throughout the whole process.

7. In your role as a publisher, you are working with this newer generation of songwriters, who are bringing with them influences from other genres, including Rock, R&B, Hip-Hop, and Top 40. It seems this is happening more and more, due to the influx of "The iPod Generation" and "The Streaming Generation." As these songwriters emerge, and the artists of a similar generation rise through the ranks and find homes on the radio, do you find yourself thinking about that as you sign songwriters? Do you feel you have to embrace the changing tides, and if so, what are your thoughts?

Oh, of course I feel that! But, I really embrace it, though. I think this format is the ultimate format for music right now. It is broad, and there is room for a lot of different artist. I think that is good for the format in the next number of years. I think here at Red Creative Group, we first look at the talent, first and foremost. Then, we want to really like the person, also, since you're working with them on a consistent basis. But, at this point, we don't really look at it as "Does this fill a hole," per se. But, we are getting to the point in our numbers now that we are going to need to start looking at it that way. Do we have a person that we can send out on the road with this certain artist that fits a certain lane where that artist drives their music? We are certainly getting to that point. I've only had the company going for three years, but it's going really well. We've had three #1s so far this year - Dan + Shay's "How Not To," Brett Young's "Sleep Without You," and LOCASH's "I Know Somebody." And, not to brag, but it is getting to the point where - in just three years - it has really grown. And, now we're getting record deals for a couple of the writers, and it's really growing in to where the future is bright and the ceiling is high, hopefully. It's really an exciting time!

8. Sticking with that thought, we at All Access just recently published a report from Nielsen that Country is the top ranked format, based on listening levels, for the eighth straight year. That coincides with the growth of the 18 to 34 demo. With Country previously being a format that has served all masters as "the family reunion format," do you still see that as true? Or do you see younger Country fans and older Country fans going in different directions within the format?

I don't know. I go to a lot of shows, because I go out on the road and write with different artists. And, it honestly depends on the artist that is out there playing as to what the audience looks like. A lot of them are younger, but then you go to a Chris Stapleton show, and you've got everyone from younger people to Baby Boomers at that show, going across all of everything! If you're asking in the sense of defining it as being at the show and those being the fans, I think it's still pretty wide open. I mean, there are obviously certain artists that might appeal to a little bit of a younger crowd, but I honestly don't see live shows and ticket sales going down on most of these big artists - they just keep going up! And it's from everyone. And, I think that's a great sign!

9. Thinking about the fans you see in the crowds when you're out on the road, and the ever-widening lanes on Country radio, are these things that enter your mind when you sit down to write songs?

It happens differently every day. You can have a scenario where everyone sits down and says, "Okay, who is cutting in the next month and a half?" And, we'll talk about that and aim for something we can have a shot at. If it's Blake Shelton cutting in a month and a half, well, let's take a shot at that. That's one scenario. Another scenario is that I show up to write, and there's an artist in the room who wants to write for their record, so you do that. And, you put that hat on and really just try to focus on what you need to accomplish for them that day and what they're looking to create. Then, there's a whole different scenario where you do walk in, and you don't talk about who's cutting, and somebody says, "Hey, I've got a great idea! Let's write this!" So, then you go for it. And, to be honest, all those different scenarios happen every week. That's really what is still exciting about it for me; I'm not using the same hammer to drive a different nail every day. I'm able to walk in and have things be different each day.

10. As someone who has experienced success at the top of the charts as a songwriter, producer, and now publisher, what does it feel like to create a song that ends up being a #1 record as the most played, most heard, and possibly the most consumed song in Country music for a given week?

You know what? That's a great question! And, I can truly say that it's like hearing your song on the radio for the first time every time. When you know that record was a #1 record, I turn it up every time it comes on! It could be ten years later, but when it comes on, I turn it up as loud as I can - as long as the kids aren't asleep in the back! You never get sick of it. And, my thing is, I'm going to ride this wave as long as I can ride it. If I've gotta paddle it, or if I've got to do whatever I have to do, I'm going to do it. In the end, this is a dream for me. To get to do this on a daily basis, and to be blessed to continue to do it, I'm going to turn it up as loud as I can every time!

Of all these puzzle pieces that you have your hand in, what do you get the most joy out of when you're doing it? Is there one thing that you tend to gravitate towards that brings you the most satisfaction?

I think I started as a songwriter, and I'll always be a songwriter. Fortunately, that songwriting has lead in to these other areas for me. But, I'd have to say that currently, my favorite part is being able to help and see other people's dreams come true. For instance, in the company, when artists have their first #1, or their first hit, or even their first cut, those kinds of things for me make me get to relive them again. Getting to see those people accomplish their things. And, currently, that is my biggest high right now. Because, they took the same risk I did when I moved here - you don't know anyone, and you start over in a creative community that is very competitive. Everybody here is just so damn good! The one thing that I think is the most important - and I think it's the same in anything in life that you do - it's just the perseverance. Just getting to work, and getting to the grind so you can get the satisfaction. To me, that's just what is so important, and I'm so glad I stuck with it. That took encouragers for me, and that's what I'm trying to be for others now. That's what I'm loving right now.