cmo: "Honesty" is continuing to make quite the buzz on the charts, with radio,and with your fans. How would you describe the impact this single is having on your career?
Rodney: Well, I kind of call this song, career-wise, it's just a kiss from God. It's a blessing. Artists search and search for songs that will connect for a new artist because the familiarity is so low. People don't know what you look like. It's just so unbelievable to find a song that people are relating to. To have a song that people will actually pick of the phone and call the station to ask. It's a blessing.
cmo: How would you describe the whole process of recording your debut album, and what is a typical day in the studio like?
Rodney: My ride was really up and down. Going through this, I kind of went through two or three producers. Searching to create something that was different. Something you really feel connected to. Mike Curb allowed me to go in the studio and ultimately co-produce, basically the whole album. It was an experimental process of kind of learning what your sound is. Getting in there, digging and trying to figure out what your ditch is. Typically in the studio, we just kind of go in and you have the greatest players (musicians) in the world. A lot of them are in this town. You get those guys in and you get people around you that you really respect, and you get their input and allow them to do what they do. You take that and hopefully create something that you really feel connected to. I'm just really intense when it comes to getting in the studio. I like to be able to take my time.
cmo: What kind of songs do you look for (or write) when you go in the studio?
Rodney: When we were looking for songs for this album, we wanted songs that I could really feel connected to that were things I could honestly say. And in writing songs, there were several songs, (who knows how many songs I wrote) because it took about two years to make this record. There were some things I wrote, you get a good idea but it takes you somewhere that maybe you can't really relate to -- We tried to find songs that were representative of me. That's why the title of the album became "Honesty." Because every song on there is something I really felt connected to.
cmo: What is your favorite song on this album and why?
Rodney: That's really hard. I feel really close to a lot of the songs. It would probably have to be the song I wrote for my parents, My Old Man. It was just a really really personal song. There's a song called "Someone To Share It With" that is a real personal thing. It's how my wife and I survived my first year of marriage, I guess. It was the result of that. I feel really close to that song.
cmo: One of my favorite songs on your album is "I Will Come To You." How did this song come about, and when did you write it?
Rodney: That song I wrote with a fellow named, Bruce Gaitsch and my co-producer. His name is Ted Hewitt. We got together and I had just this idea. Basically the chorus of the song. I told them what it was, and Bruce started playing the melody and it all kind of fit together. I really love the way that the song moved and what it said. It's saying about somebody just having complete faith in their love, and while the other person is just trying to figure things out. I just love that commitment of I know this is it. I played this song for my wife, and I wasn't sure what I had, and when I played it for her, she said "I love that." That's a hit.
cmo: I love the song.
Rodney: It's funny you say that because it almost didn't make the album. As they sent it out to radio and advance copies to you guys, it keeps coming back and people are picking that song as a single.
cmo: I hope it becomes one of your singles.
Rodney: Thank-you very much.
cmo: Where do you find the ideas and inspirations when writing songs?
Rodney: Everywhere. I might get one from this conversation. I read. I'm an avid reader. I read lots and lots of stuff. Different types of books. Sometimes watching movies even you can get from a line somebody says. I just try to listen in conversations with people. Mostly from reading though.
cmo: What do you like to do in your spare time?
Rodney: Hang with Elijah. I have a two year old. Just turned two a couple weeks ago and he is my main man. He is my shadow. Every spare second, I am hanging with him.
cmo: Have you wrote a song for him yet?
Rodney: Not yet. It's funny.. I've written several songs. I wrote a song called "You're Too Good To Me." It's basically saying it's a prayer. I keep standing in his doorway after I put him to bed. I just stand there and look at him. Watching him breathe while he's sleeping. I wrote that song and I started writing a song.. I guess, we had been home two weeks with him from the hospital and I wrote a verse. And then, I had no where to go. Then on his first birthday, I wrote another verse. He might be asking for the keys to the car by the time I finish this thing. It's just such a personal thing. Everything I do now, it's amazing, I think about him.
cmo: That's it. Thank you for the interview.
Rodney: It was my pleasure.
cmo: Best of luck with your music career.
Rodney: Thank you very much. You too. Best of luck to you, too.
Exclusive Interview with Rodney Atkins
by Janelle Landauer
