By: Josh Storie
Texans are proud of the fact that we have our own breed of country music down here. For years singer/songwriters like Jerry Jeff Walker, Robert Earl Keen and Pat Green have been writing songs that speak to the heart and make you feel as if they are singing about what you did last Friday night. But country music loving fans in Georgia have been experiencing the same affection for honest lyrics through the writing of Corey Smith. A former high school teacher, Smith’s rock solid songwriting and high energy stage show have made him a “must-see” at college campuses all over the southeast. And it hasn’t taken long for fans in Texas to acquire a taste for the spicy new style of country music that Corey Smith has brought to the table. I had a chance to sit down with Corey before his show at Hurricane Harry’s to talk about his ride thus far.
Maroon Weekly: I’m interested in how you got started. From what I understand, you began by playing the Athens scene in Georgia, right?
Corey Smith: Oddly, I didn’t start in Athens. I went to school in Athens and I live twenty minutes from Athens. Athens is sort of my adopted home. But Athens, much like Austin, is a difficult music scene. There are so many musicians there that it is hard to get gigs and hard for people to take you seriously. So I actually didn’t start there. I started playing out further in the country. I played a bunch of smaller college towns and kind of built up a buzz. And oddly, when I was playing those smaller markets people thought that since I was from Athens I had a big thing going on in Athens. But I really didn’t. So it wasn’t until later when I went back to Athens after we had generated a buzz that we were able to do really well there.
M.W.: So when did you first start performing?
C.S.: I had different phases. When I got out of high school I played some cover gigs just to make a stab at it. But I didn’t like sitting in a corner playing Jimmy Buffet all night. So I decided to become a school teacher and went to school. When I was in college in Athens, I really didn’t play out a whole lot. I still wrote songs and I’d play them for my buddies but I wasn’t out playing the bars. I’d hit an open mic every once in a while but it wasn’t until I had been teaching for a while that I got back into it. I’d play a few more open mics and take up a few gigs on the weekend trying to make some extra money and just gradually got back into it. Next thing I know I have a fan base and I’m able to stop teaching. And now I’m on a tour bus in Texas talking to you.
M.W.: So what do you think was the X-factor that sparked everything and allowed you to go from teaching full time to playing on the road full time?
C.S.: There are a lot of people who talk about a formula for being able to start a fan base. But for me, it’s been about songs and just being hard on myself as a writer, feeling like there is a purpose to it all. I try to just keep getting better. I believe that people want to hear good songs and they want to be moved. It’s an American art form and it is tried and true. It’s been here for over a hundred years. So, I think people just want to hear good songs and I just want to keep getting better as a writer so that I can deliver good songs. When I think about my career and how it all started, it really started with me getting to a point where I understood how to write songs that resonated with people.
M.W.: So how do you do that? How do you go about writing songs that are meaningful to you, but also connect with people in a way that makes them feel as if you are singing about them?
C.S.: I write very personal songs. Subject matter is usually derived from some internal struggle that I am having. In many ways my writing is like therapy. It is my way of dealing with things. I believe that most people aren’t that different from one another. Although we might appear to be different on the surface, I think ultimately we all go through the same struggles. When I deal with my struggles in my songs, I feel like most people are going to identify with my struggles because they are essentially dealing with the same things. So I try not to focus on whether a song is going to be popular or whether it is going to appeal to a certain age group. I just try to stay honest with myself and in doing that I feel like the songs are going to resonate.
M.W.: From a performance standpoint, the hardest part for a lot of artists is just getting people to show up. But you’ve been selling out shows for a while. What is the key to getting people out to the shows?
C.S.: Pray. Seriously, it’s really tough. I can’t control that. I find that it is useless to worry about things I can’t control and I can’t control how many people come out tonight. All I can do is focus on writing the best songs I can write and performing the best I can perform. And I find that if I focus on those things, the rest will take care of itself. The most important thing is writing songs that resonate and giving people a chance to listen to them. We encourage people to download music. I don’t worry so much about whether people are buying my music or getting it for free. And so far it has worked for us.
If you weren’t able to make it out to see Corey Smith at Hurricane Harry’s, be sure to check out www.coreysmith.com for more information on where he will be next.