{"id":17695,"date":"2017-09-23T07:38:45","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T14:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=17695"},"modified":"2017-09-23T07:44:21","modified_gmt":"2017-09-23T14:44:21","slug":"video-web-exclusive-interview-wil-nance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2017\/09\/video-web-exclusive-interview-wil-nance\/","title":{"rendered":"Video &#038; Web Exclusive Interview Wil Nance"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17706\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-1.jpg\" alt=\"Wil Nance-1\" width=\"660\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-1.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-1-300x253.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h1>Songwriter:<strong> \u00a0WIL NANCE<\/strong><br \/>\nMusician:\u00a0 <strong>BRAD PAISLEY<\/strong><br \/>\nMusic Video:\u00a0 \u201c<strong>She\u2019s Everything<\/strong>\u201d<\/h1>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JCjXaEbrLdw\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Wil Nance hit the top of <em>Radio &amp; Records<\/em> and <em>Billboard<\/em> with his Number 1 Brad Paisley smash \u201cShe\u2019s Everything,\u201d a song on <em>Time Well Wasted<\/em>, the multi-platinum 2007 CMA Album of the Year. He also landed on <em>Troubadour<\/em>, George Strait\u2019s platinum-selling, Grammy-winning 2008 CMA Album of the Year with a song called \u201cIf Heartaches Were Horses.\u201d In 2009, George Strait cut another Nance song, \u201cWhere Have I Been All My Life,\u201d which is on <em>Twang<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1999, Nance received a BMI award for \u201cRound About Way,\u201d a Number 1 hit single for George Strait, a song on the multi-platinum CMA Album of the Year <em>Carrying Your Love with Me<\/em>. \u201cRound About Way\u201d is also on Strait\u2019s <em>Latest Greatest Straitest Hits<\/em> and Strait\u2019s <em>50 Number Ones<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Nance has received \u201cMillion Air\u201d Awards from BMI for Strait\u2019s \u201cRound About Way\u201d and Paisley\u2019s \u201cShe\u2019s Everything.\u201d In 2004, Nance received another BMI Award for his Top 10 Joe Nichols single, \u201cCool to Be a Fool.\u201d Other singles include: Blue County \u201cI Get To,\u201d John Michael Montgomery \u201cYou Are,\u201d and Gene Watson \u201cNext to Nothin\u2019,\u201d Chad Brock \u201cYou Are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We talked with Wil Nance about his songwriting, creative inspiration, and his upcoming performance at Greg Friia\u2019s Songwriters Singing for Coffee\u2014where you get a chance to see this well-respected songwriter up close and personal, along with Brian White, Pete Sallis and Carly Tefft at the Green Hills Starbucks, 3706 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN. It\u2019s a show you won\u2019t want to miss\u2014this Monday, September 25, 2017, at 7:30 PM.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>WIL NANCE Web-Exclusive Interview<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>with\u00a0<em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em>\u00a0magazine publisher, Merlin David<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17705\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-3-300x275.png\" alt=\"Wil Nance-3\" width=\"300\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-3-300x275.png 300w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-3.png 469w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>What\u2019s most fulfilling about being a songwriter?<\/strong><br \/>\nI feel blessed to have made a living doing something I\u2019m passionate about. As a songwriter, we hope to affect people\u2019s lives\u2014make someone do something they weren\u2019t doing\u2014or stop doing something. Music is a powerful thing that way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What made you <em>want<\/em> to write songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nI started making up songs when I was 11 or 12. My dad played guitar and sang, mostly in church, and would sing great songs by Tom T. Hall, Roger Miller and Merle Haggard. When I was 17, Dad said, \u201cSon, you want to be in the music business\u2014you have to write your own songs.\u201d That\u2019s pretty much where it all started.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your creative process?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe hardest thing about writing songs is coming up with something to write about. Once I do that, I start thinking about everything that goes to that hook. I come up with the lyric and try to find a melody that marries that lyric\u2014that\u2019s where the magic happens. I don\u2019t always know how it happens, but I know when it happens. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about one of your hit songs \u201cShe\u2019s Everything\u201d\u2014recorded by Brad Paisley.<\/strong><br \/>\nIn 2002, I was looking for a publishing deal. A publisher challenged me to write a song by myself\u2014and he might sign me. I went home thinking about a song to write, and started writing \u201cShe\u2019s Everything\u201d\u2014which is about Holly, my wife. It took me about two weeks to write the song, and he never signed me. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) But it all worked out. That song was pretty much a list of everything my wife was about, and hopefully every other woman in the world. It\u2019s funny. When Chris DuBois told me Brad Paisley loved the song, he said he wanted to change a few words to make it more about <em>his<\/em> wife\u2014if he was going to sing it in front of 20,000 people every night. I told Chris to tell Brad, \u201cI don\u2019t want him singing about <em>my <\/em>wife in front of that many people anyway\u2014so change a few words and sing about your own dang wife.\u201d (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17704\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-6.jpg\" alt=\"Version 2\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>How did the idea of the George Strait cut \u201cRound About Way\u201d come to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nI used to keep a list, and still do, of possible hooks. \u201cRound About Way\u201d was just a clich\u00e9 that I had heard, and I wrote it down\u2014thinking that might be a song idea. I got together with my buddy Steve Dean, and started writing the song. What was interesting is I had another melody from another song I\u2019d been working on, and we ended up marrying that melody to our lyric.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How about the Joe Nichols cut \u201cCool to Be a Fool.\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was just a little ditty I started singing one morning\u2014going over to write with Steve Dean and Joe Nichols. When I got there, Joe wasn\u2019t there yet. He was late, as usual. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Steve had to go to the post office, and we literally wrote the chorus on the trip to the post office and back. I remember we were trying to write a modern day \u201cAct Naturally,\u201d the old Johnny Russell song\u2014about being a star, being lonesome and being a fool. Joe finally showed up and we wrote the verses, and he ended up putting it on his first record.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us one experience where something unique inspired you to write a song.<\/strong><br \/>\nI get a lot of song ideas sitting in church\u2014listening to our pastor talk. On one particular Sunday, he said something I thought was a good song idea. He said, \u201cI don\u2019t have to go to church\u2014I get to.\u201d It\u2019s probably one of my favorite songs I\u2019ve written to date. I wrote it with my good friend Steve Williams and Sherri\u00e9\u00a0Austin. Yes, we wrote the song \u201cI Get To\u201d\u2014from an idea I got in church. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Ironically enough, it went on to be nominated for a Dove Award. It became the theme song at our church. It was pretty cool. An amazing version was recorded by Jeff &amp; Sheri Easter, also The Gaither Trio, Blue County and other artists.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What songwriting tip would you like to offer?<\/strong><br \/>\nAlways keep your antenna up\u2014looking for great song ideas. Stay real to what God put in you\u2014as a songwriter. In other words: be yourself. On good days, I\u2019m a songwriter. On other days, I\u2019m a song maker. What I mean by that is my best songs are songs about real life\u2014that I see. I just write them down\u2014that\u2019s a whole lot easier than trying to make up something.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17703\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-7-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Wil Nance-7\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-7-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-7.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Who inspired you to write songs?<\/strong><br \/>\nJust listening to great songs, written by great songwriters, inspired me. Some of the artists I mentioned previously, plus guys like Jim Croce\u2014heard him when I was 14 or 15 years old. He was <em>way <\/em>ahead of his time\u2014especially with his lyrics and the pictures he painted. (Sings: <em>Oh rapid Roy that stock car boy, he too much to believe \u2026 He got a tattoo on his arm that say baby, he got another one that just say hey \u2026\u00a0 He do a hundred thirty mile an hour, smilin\u2019 at the camera<\/em>). When I first heard that, I said what the heck\u2014this was real stuff. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I\u2019m a big lyrics guy. I just love good lyrics. I listened to great writers. Tom T. Hall with \u201cOld Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine\u201d\u2014that\u2019s a great storyteller. I read an interview where he said, \u201cWrite what you see.\u201d Back in St. Louis, Missouri, I was in a band in my early 20s called the Zane Grey Band. My brother played bass, and we had a couple a good songwriters. It was my first taste of doing original songs. Once that gets in your blood, it\u2019s all over. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>What instrument<\/strong><strong>\/equipment can you not live without\u2014that helps you write, record or perform?<\/strong><br \/>\nI write mainly on guitar. I also play some mandolin and fiddle. I think picking up a different instrument from time to time makes you think different, so that\u2019s a good idea.<\/p>\n<p>I have an old 1931 Martin parlor guitar that I like to play when I write songs. When I play out, I play a Takamine. It sounds good. I know a Takamine is going to sound good when I plug it in. They\u2019re a strong work horse. I\u2019ve used Elixir strings more than anything, but I use D\u2019Addarios too. I\u2019ve been using a Kyser capo for a long time, and lately I\u2019ve been using a Shubb. I like the way they press down on the strings, and the guitar stays in tune longer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What PRO are you with?<\/strong><br \/>\nI am with BMI, and they do a good job of collecting my money.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Top 5 Songwriters\u00a0who inspired you to become a songwriter?<\/strong><br \/>\nRoger Miller, Tom T. Hall, Jim Croce, Billy Joel, Merle Haggard, Dean Dillon\u2014too many to mention, but great songs inspire me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Top 5 favorite albums?<\/strong><br \/>\nAlbums by the guys above, plus I grew up on a lot of Southern rock\u2014Commander Cody, Pure Prairie League, Marshall Tucker Band\u2014bands like that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us a \u201cpinch me\u201d moment\u2014a time you thought, \u201cWow, this is really happening to me!\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was when I finally got to write with Dean Dillon\u2014the great songwriter who wrote all the George Strait songs. I moved to Nashville 20 years earlier\u2014to write with Dean, and it was finally happening. Ironically enough, the first song we wrote \u201cIf Heartaches Were Horses\u201d got cut by George Strait. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17702\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-8-with-wife.jpg\" alt=\"Wil Nance-8 - with wife\" width=\"660\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-8-with-wife.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-8-with-wife-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>Do you remember the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt was George Strait\u2019s \u201cRound About Way\u201d\u2014and I felt pretty dang good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us a little about your first cut by a major artist?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy first major label cut was \u201cWhere Do I Go From Her\u201d on Mercury Records by a guy named Jeff Chance. It was produced by Harold Shedd (Alabama, Kentucky HeadHunters). It was my first taste of how things work. That song was written in half-time (<em>sings: Where do I go from her?<\/em>)\u2014like a big old ballad. They played the verses in half time, and they go to the chorus, and the drums go straight time. Hey, they don\u2019t always turn out like you want them to. But Harold knows what he was doing. I was so happy to get it. I was in Nashville for only five years when that happened. And my second major label cut was George Strait \u201cRound About Way\u201d on the 1997 <em>Carrying Your Love with Me<\/em> record. I\u2019d been in town about 8.5 years when that happened. It was the 4<sup>th<\/sup> single from that record. So I was actually in town for 10 years before I got my first big single on the radio.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was Shania Twain singing background on the Jeff Chance record?<\/strong><br \/>\nYes. She was at Mercury Records, and she was tied in with Harold Shedd\u2014around 1992 when Jeff cut my song. Shania was hanging around in the same building where I was writing songs\u2014Fireside Recording. Norro Wilson had a room in that same building and produced her first record.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was there someone who cut your song\u2014and did a better version than you envisioned?<\/strong><br \/>\nMo Pitney did an amazing version of \u201cClean Up on Aisle Five\u201d at the Opry\u2014that\u2019s killer. He got a standing ovation. Not sure why they didn\u2019t single that song. He just sings the heck out of the song\u2014his whole interpretation and the tone of his voice. I had a George Strait cut, \u201cWhere Have I Been All My Life,\u201d on the 2009 <em>Twang <\/em>record. Great song. One of my favorite songs I\u2019ve been a part of. Great vocal. He sings the dog out of it. George did a great job on that song. But when Mo Pitney did \u201cAisle Five\u201d\u2014that blew everything else away. He made me so proud of that song.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-17701\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-9.jpg\" alt=\"Wil Nance-9\" width=\"377\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-9.jpg 377w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-9-300x267.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 377px) 100vw, 377px\" \/>Best advice someone has given you.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe best advice a songwriter has ever given me was by the great Harlan Howard: \u201cI Go To Pieces\u201d (Patsy Cline) and \u201cBusted\u201d (Ray Charles). He said, \u201cYou\u2019re trying to be a songwriter, kid\u2014get divorced a couple of times.\u201d So I got divorced, and George Strait cut my song. Just kidding. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) That\u2019s what happened, but I don\u2019t suggest that. I remember he told me, \u201cIf you like writing shuffles, write shuffles. Even if they aren\u2019t popular now, they will be again one day\u2014and you\u2019ll be the shuffle king.\u201d (<em>Laughs<\/em>) In other words, like I said before\u2014stay true to yourself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next?<\/strong><br \/>\nI\u2019m still trying to write my next best song.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Until then, any local gigs?<\/strong><br \/>\nThere\u2019s a nice event here in Nashville on September 25 called Songwriters Singing for Coffee\u2014at the Green Hills Starbucks. It features Brian White, Pete Sallis, Greg Friia, Carly Tefft and yours truly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where can your new fans get more info and stay updated?<\/strong><br \/>\nI don\u2019t have a website, but I think I should try to do that sometime soon. People can always contact me on Facebook, and other social media.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17699\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance.jpg\" alt=\"Wil Nance\" width=\"660\" height=\"1020\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Wil-Nance-300x463.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Songwriter: \u00a0WIL NANCE Musician:\u00a0 BRAD PAISLEY Music Video:\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s Everything\u201d Wil Nance hit the top of Radio &amp; Records and Billboard with his Number 1 Brad Paisley smash \u201cShe\u2019s Everything,\u201d a song on Time Well Wasted, the multi-platinum 2007 CMA Album of the Year. He also landed on Troubadour, George [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17697,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[9825,8156,9826,7444,8500,5407,9827,5879,9828,1963,9727,9729,9829,9731,9830,9831,9832,9833,7088,9834,9835,9836,7356,9569,7377,9837,7560,9838,9839,2674,6577,9757,8113,9840,8243,9841,9842,9843,9844,9845,7854,3139,9846,9847,9848,3710,8299,9849,9850,9851,10161,7566,9852,3277,9853,6566,2266,3010,9854,7978,9855,9857,9856,9858,7782,9859,5996,9785,9860,9861,9862,9863,3263,9864,9865,4012,9867,9866,9868,9870,9869,8150,8159,8136,9799,9871,9802,8250,9803,9872,9873,9874,9875,9876,9877,9878,9879,9880,9881,9882,7982],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17695"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17707,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17695\/revisions\/17707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}