- 2 days ago
Shinedown singer Brent Smith talks with Katie Neal about the band's song, "Searchlight," their embrace at Country radio, playing the Opry, and more.
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00:00I am so excited to get to talk to you because I feel like I have heard like all these
00:03little
00:04stories about everybody who's been spending time with you and about this country single
00:08that you guys have right now. Searchlight. So please talk to me about this song and how it
00:13happened because from what I understand you guys did not like set out to write a country song.
00:18That wasn't necessarily the dynamic of it. The song came kind of in the middle phase of the
00:24writing process for the new album. But for me, I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. And when we were
00:31cutting the song, we were demoing it out. I think it was a bit more of a rock ballad. So
00:37I came back in.
00:38Our producer is also the bass player in the band, which he is way more than just the bass player.
00:43So Eric Bass, who has engineered, produced and mixed the last three fulling Shinedown records
00:50and this one as well. You know, we're in a writing phase. And I just said, hey, listen,
00:56I'm going to cut this with just the acoustic. Let me kind of re-sing it. Went in, re-sung
01:02it.
01:03And I think that he heard what I was doing. It was a different approach, but it was very authentic.
01:09It was very real and it felt honest. So the song then asked for a banjo, which in turn asked
01:16for
01:16a lap steel. This is all on Eric. And then a fiddle was brought in. And look, it's a very
01:22country-esque
01:23rock song. But it's for me, when I heard it, I was so enamored by the fact that it kind
01:31of is a style
01:31that we haven't done per se. And it was a bit more of a true homage to country instrumentation and
01:39just
01:40the simplicity of the lyric and the way that it was sung. It made sense. And country is starting to
01:47embrace it and, you know, getting the opportunity at the Grand Ole Opry when they knew nothing about
01:53the song, which was even more interesting. They came to our publicist and they were doing the
01:58hundred year anniversary birthday of the Opry. And they said, you know, we'd love them to come and
02:03and perform if they'd like. And then it just so happened that Searchlight was going to be the
02:09next single. So we were able to, you know, debut the song live there. The universe was just handing
02:15us different, very real moments. And we're just kind of trying to hold on and just kind of be in
02:25it all.
02:25Right now. Shinedown is everyone's band. It's always been like that. And I have to say,
02:31though, that country radio is really embracing it, which is radio is everything to this band.
02:36It built the band. It's very rare in this day and age, 20 years into it. You know, we're a
02:42band
02:42that's on six different formats. So terrestrial radio, broadcast radio, it's given us a career
02:47and it continues to do so. So the fact that country radio is embracing it is pretty extraordinary.
02:54Yeah, it's really amazing. I want to circle back to something you were talking about with the Opry
02:58and just kind of like this synergy and all the things you guys were being handed that it was kind
03:02of like, this is working out. This feels right. Like Carrie Underwood also came out and introduced
03:06you guys at the Opry. I don't want to overlook that at all because that is huge. No, and I
03:10was
03:10literally getting ready to bring that up. So she's really good friends with Zach Myers, our guitar
03:14player, who's also Tennessee, born and raised. He's 901. Memphis, I'm Knoxville originally. We're in the
03:21615. Yeah, you know, and the 865. I got to throw all the codes out. He was texting her
03:30because she had heard like, yo, you guys are gonna have your debut at the opera. He's like,
03:34yeah, you're gonna bring us on stage. Right. And she was like, I will. And I was like, he told
03:38me
03:38this. I'm like, she's not she's busy. She's got stuff to do. And then she showed up and gave us
03:42this
03:43incredible introduction. And we'd like walked out there. And I was like, what is happening right now?
03:48Um, it was very kind of out of body experience, especially when you walk into that circle,
03:53you can feel the weight of the moment because of who stood in that circle. But having Carrie
03:59come out there and literally like bring the house down because nobody knew she was
04:03going to be there. And that place just erupted when she walked out there. She's the absolute
04:09greatest. She really is. And I think it's I mean that. Yeah, no, truly. And I people may not
04:13realize like she's a huge fan of rock music, 100 percent metal, too. Just like she's a fan of all
04:19music, but she's very tuned in to it's a legitimate love for rock and roll and heavy metal.
04:26Like she's like working out to shine down music. You know what I mean? Like she talks about that.
04:30She loves I prevail. She she's like, I mean, she but she's again, man, she's very
04:36she's quite eclectic. Of course. Yeah. And then I feel like you were just mentioning to me before
04:41we sat down that you are going to be visiting with some other friends while you're here,
04:45including Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunny. And I know that I'm popping in.
04:49I don't think. Yeah. That's again, Zach. Really? Him and him and Bunny like or he had,
04:55you know, I'm just I'm just tagging along. Yeah. That's so fun, though. Who else have you guys
05:01gotten to meet throughout, you know, the last couple several months of this song being out
05:05in the country world that you feel like really embraced by or excited about in the country community?
05:11I mean, honestly, it's just kind of starting. So I'm getting to meet you, which is rad.
05:16It's a different group of people that we've just never really had the opportunity. A lot of people,
05:21you know, at Country Radio, obviously, just trying to also getting getting asked a lot of
05:28different questions about just country music in general from like the old school. You know,
05:32what did I grow up on? And what have you like? I mean, you know, I grew up, my granny
05:37had Willie
05:37Nelson, Johnny Cash, and probably out of all of them, Randy Travis was probably the loudest growing up.
05:43But, you know, Lucinda Williams, you know, Patsy Cline was all around the house with my granny.
05:52You know, and the more modern side of things, too. You know, I have to say this, I, I got
05:58to give a
05:59lot of credit because I'm such a fan of his songwriting. And again, a very versatile individual. But,
06:03you know, I haven't had a chance to meet him. But I hope I get to is just I'm a
06:08huge fan of Hardy
06:08and just how he kind of is just this songwriting juggernaut for a lot of different styles.
06:15Um, so I'm kind of looking forward to hopefully getting to meet, you know, a lot of people,
06:20you know, I can't get choosing Texas out of my head. I don't think the rest of the world can
06:23either.
06:24So I'm going to see Ella Langley later today. Yeah. So tell her I said that she rules.
06:28I absolutely will. And I, I figured that you would say Hardy. I also like knowing Hardy the little bit
06:33that I do know he's going to see this and be like, oh my God, I can't believe that Brent
06:37was talking
06:37about being a fan of me. Like, just because I, I know he's a fan of you guys.
06:41I've never had a chance to meet him, but I'm, uh, I'm such a, uh, like I'm a real fan
06:44of like
06:45just his songwriting craft and the fact that like how he goes out there and embraces a lot of
06:49different genres, but he's also rock and roll to the bone. I mean, if you've been to a Hardy show,
06:53it's a rock show. Yeah, man. I mean, it's, uh, I think that, um,
06:59that's the unique thing about the rock and roll community. Like it's not really a genre of music.
07:05It's more of a way of life for people, but that community is anyone from anywhere is
07:09welcomed anytime. So bring it on. Yeah, totally. What do you find that the country?
07:14Yeah. Yes. It's very truest in a lot of ways, but especially now, I don't think people look at
07:23genres as much anymore. I think they look at, is it a great song? Exactly.
07:28Yeah. Which is so important. I'm really curious to hear like what you have found in the last few
07:32months of just like all the crossover that exists now at this point between rock and country. Like,
07:38I think it's so interesting that we've got artists like Hardy, but then you've also like artists like
07:41a Dylan Marlowe who grew up on a lot of like alt rock stuff too. Like, I just, I think
07:46it's so cool
07:47that they can exist and that like jelly rolls getting number ones on rock charts and on country charts.
07:51And it's such an interesting time. I think more than anything, what's interesting about it though,
07:55is that I think what happens, at least from my experience and looking at a lot of this,
08:02one of the elements is, so for radio, we're on six different formats. So rock, alternative,
08:10hot AC, AC, country now. So when you balance out some of these things and you look at it,
08:16a lot of times in the country world and in the pop world, it's more so a solo artist. Yeah.
08:23And you see a lot of features. When you're in a band, it's a little bit more of an interesting
08:28dynamic because you don't see as many features. So true.
08:32And so like, if a band is bringing in a feature from a solo artist, that totally works. But then
08:37if a band is trying to have like, you know, a collaboration with another band, even.
08:44Yeah. Shine down, featuring. Yeah, exactly. That makes it really difficult.
08:48I mean, name, name a band, you know, and like, what, like, let me ask you that question. Like
08:53in country, who are the bands that are the ones that you think of?
08:57Yeah. Little Big Town. Little Big Town, Old Dominion, Lady A.
09:01Old Dominion is like a big deal. I know that. Yeah. And they're like, and they're a big band. So
09:05uh, Little Big Town is four people. Lady A is three. Old Dominion is four. Sometimes the fifth,
09:12their drummer will come in. Um, but yeah, like those are the bigger ones are like Midland,
09:18Brooks and Dunn kind of fall into that category. They often like group, especially for awards,
09:22like it's duos and groups. Right. Um, so my whole, but yeah, it's, you don't,
09:26often see a old Dominion does not do a lot of collabs because you're in a band. It's hard.
09:32And so for us, the way that we look at that is we've never really been given the opportunity
09:36to have collaborations. So maybe this will change that. Um, cause we're totally for it.
09:42Yeah. If there's one thing that the country community is down for is like a text message.
09:46Like, do you want to sing on this collab type thing? Absolutely. Which is so great. I also want
09:50to talk about you guys announced a new album and a tour that's coming up this year. So you've got
09:53a
09:53lot going on. Yeah. Um, definitely one of the aspects about the record records called eight.
09:59Yes. It's the eight studio album. It made sense to call it eight. It asked to be called eight.
10:04We tried all these other ethereal names and put them in and we're trying to be clever. And we were
10:08like, no, it's just called eight. Um, it is, um, you know, another thing with it, uh, it's 18 songs.
10:15Um, it's essentially a double record. Um, and yeah, I mean, I will say that it is the longest process
10:23for a band for us as a band going. I had a really good friend of mine, um, who recently
10:32passed away.
10:33He was one of the, my closest friends in the industry. Um, Brad Arnold from three doors down.
10:38When I met him in the beginning with our first record that came out in 2003, I remember he told
10:43me,
10:43he goes, son, you're going to, uh, have your entire life to do your first record. And if it's
10:49successful, you're gonna have six months to do your next one. And he was a hundred percent right.
10:53Um, so what I mean by that too, is this record is a year and a half in the making
10:59from the time
10:59that we kind of started on it, writing it to getting it produced, getting it ready. Um, the journey that
11:05it's taken has been quite extraordinary for, for us. Um, the last two shinedown records are conceptual
11:11pieces. So this album, none of the songs are related to each other, but they exist on the
11:16same body of work, but they all, um, are their own entity. So they're not, um, they don't,
11:24it's a traditional record. And I love saying that, um, because sometimes people are like,
11:29well, are you a concept band now? It's like, no, it just, those records were conceptual because
11:34that's what they asked to be. Yeah.
11:35This is something where there's such a broad array of styles on this record. It's very much
11:41us, but it's a rollercoaster ride. And I think for looking at the amount of people that have been
11:48waiting internationally, that's a big thing too. We just announced a tour, a couple of territories
11:54that we had to wait, uh, to announce, but we are coming. I can't say what it is. Um, I
11:59wish I could.
11:59Um, it's only two weeks away. Um, but the U S Canada, Europe, the UK, um, and then these other
12:07territories we're working on for 2027. Um, we're trying to figure out, we played Mexico for the
12:13very first time last year. So it was our inaugural year of like, uh, our debut in Mexico. Um, so
12:20we're
12:20working on that for 2027, also South America for the first time in, I mean, 14 years. Um,
12:28also working on New Zealand, Australia. Um, but that for us, not that you necessarily asked that
12:35particular question, but the biggest thing with this record is the international aspect of what
12:40we need to do. Cause it's a big world and there's a lot of people in a lot of territories
12:45that we
12:45haven't been to ever. And also that we just haven't been back to in a while where they've been waiting
12:50a long time and it's time for us to go to them. This is a true world tour. Yeah. There's
12:55a lot to
12:56accomplish. Yeah. Which is going to be really, really exciting. And I'm just so excited to see
13:00what happens with searchlight and how the country music community embraces you guys. And I will be,
13:06I know that there will be a moment where you and Hardy finally get to me and that is really
13:09going to like bring a lot together. I'm a massive fan. Yeah. So I appreciate what he does for sure.
13:14Well, thank you so much for coming to see us and talk about this. It's been so wonderful. I really
13:19enjoyed it. And I hope that you will come see us again soon. A thousand percent. Thank you, Brent.
13:22Thank you, Brent. Thank you.
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