Welcome to Stories Behind the Songs. This is a weekly podcast hosted by Chris Blair in Nashville, TN. After over 20 years in Nashville and owner of the famous music venue The Listening Room, CB has become friends with some of the biggest names in music, the writers behind the hits and amazing industry leaders. In this podcast, he sits down with those friends and shares their stories. You’ll hear about the songs you know from radio, you’ll hear from brand new artists and much more. Whether you have dreams of being in the music industry or just love great music, this podcast is for you!
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In this week's episode, Faren also talks about some of the songs that she’s released herself like her powerful 2023 single, “The Rug” written with Austin Goodloe and Lydia Vaughan. She shares about not wanting to be a part of the “artist rat race”, getting a FaceTime call from Lainey right after winning a Grammy while sitting on the sofa in a facemask, going on tour with Luke Combs where she played with Brantley Gilbert and Willie Nelson, playing arena shows in a writers’ round format, and developing her very own Nashville songwriters’ girls club.
Don’t miss Faren’s upcoming September shows at The Listening Room Cafe in Nashville, TN to hear her amazing songs like “The Rug” and the stories behind them.
We’ve got Sammy Arriaga on this week’s brand new episode of Stories Behind the Songs! I’ve known Sammy for over 10 years, and it was such a good time to catch up with him today.
Sammy and I talk about his 2021 album release, Boots x Beats, which features songs like “COUNTRY SIDE” and “take my phone.” Sammy goes into how the Miami music scene he was raised in with heavy R&B and EDM influences meshed with the storytelling of country music to create the unique sound he has today.
We dive into his recent single, “The Boat”, which he shares the story behind and plays a verse/ chorus of. Sammy plays several other songs including “COUNTRY SIDE,” one of his popular Spanish covers, and a fan-favorite unreleased track.
In this week’s episode, we also discuss 615 House, his recent tour of the U.K. with fellow rising country artist, Gareth, how to maintain artistic integrity while also writing for sound bites and short attention spans (using the example of Ella Langley and Riley Green’s smash hit, “you look like you love me”), how the title of his 2016 EP, Banjos ‘n’ Bongos, doubles as his motto as an artist, and the amazing advice he would give to his younger self - to lead with humanity over ambition as a songwriter.
If you enjoyed this week’s episode, make sure to share it with your friends and give us a follow. It’s our passion to share the Stories Behind the Songs, and it’s because of listeners like you that we are able to continue doing it.
It was great sitting down with Sammy - enjoy!
Brian White: Watchin' You (Rodney Atkins), Jason Aldean & more!
Season 2
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 • Duration 01:01:37
I’m so excited to have my good buddy Brian White on this week’s episode of the Stories Behind the Songs podcast!
Brian White’s career in music has spanned over many decades and many genres - he got his start in Christian and gospel music and toured for about 15 years doing that. He eventually fell in love with the storytelling of country music and has become a true legend here in Music City.
Brian not only has plenty of hits to his name, but he’s written more than a few country classics as well. Some of my personal favorite cuts of his that we cover in this episode are “Watching You” released by Rodney Atkins, “Blame It On You” by Jason Aldean and “Roll On Mississippi” by Charley Pride.
He also has cuts with Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins, and Gary Allan and Christian cuts like “Holding Out Hope To You” released by Michael English and “The Promise” by The Martins.
In this episode, Brian and I also talk about the difference between CCM and country songwriting, starting out as a youth pastor following God’s calling for his life, and, as usual, the stories behind the songs!
I’ve wanted to have Brian on the podcast for a longtime - in a lot of ways, he is a big reason that The Listening Room is where it is today. He was the one who organized the fundraiser in the early days when we were struggling that was a turning point for us and in turn also played a role in inspiring our "Sound Good. Do Good." program that gives back to non-profits every month.
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with your friends and give us a follow. It’s our mission to share the Stories Behind the Songs and highlight the songwriters behind the stories, and it’s because of listeners like YOU that we are able to do it.
Rocky Block: Man Made A Bar (Morgan Wallen & Eric Church)
Season 2
Tuesday, June 11, 2024 • Duration 48:50
We’ve got Rocky Block with us for this week’s new episode of Stories Behind the Songs!
I have known Rocky for years because I was close friends with his father and it’s been so cool to watch his career take off, from playing bass on a cruise line to having several top 40 hits, all within just a few years.
It seems like Rocky has a writing credit on every hit single and #1 album lately. He’s collaborated with some of the biggest names in country music and has too many great cuts to list, but a few highlights include: “Can’t Help Myself” by Dean Brody, “Man Made a Bar” by Morgan Wallen and Eric Church, “Cowgirls” by Morgan Wallen and Ernest, “Broadway Girls” by Morgan and Lil Durk, “Whiskey Bent” by Cody Johnson and Jelly Roll and other cuts such as “Hammer to the Heart” with Teddy Swims who he says is not only a “generational talent” but also just a super nice guy.
In this episode, we also cover his collaborations with Larry Fleet and Ashley Gorley, signing with Big Loud Publishing, writing “Jupiter” with Georgia Webster, being a fan of the artists he’s in the writer’s rooms with, and finding inspiration with new co-writers.
He also gives us a quick performance of “Cowgirls”, and as always, we get to hear the story behind it - the idea for this one came from the TV show, Yellowstone!
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with your friends and give us a follow. We are passionate about sharing the Stories Behind the Songs and getting to know the songwriters behind the stories, and it’s because of listeners like YOU that we are able to continue doing it.
And thanks to our sponsors for all that you do for us! We appreciate you! More on our sponsors and other links below...
Jordan Feliz: Valet job to The River
Season 2
Tuesday, June 4, 2024 • Duration 01:14:29
Jordan Feliz, GMA Dove Awards Winner and Platinum selling Christian artist, joins us for this week’s Stories Behind the Songs!
Jordan has definitely come a long way in the industry. He started his career in Nashville working as a valet to make ends meet and living paycheck to paycheck. We actually met for the first time while he was doing the valet here at The Listening Room. Jordan talks about how this exposed him to meeting so many other talented musicians that worked here and played the stage.
Jordan’s first ever release, “The River,” was also his first #1 song - crazy! He’s gonna talk about how the song idea came from a verse-of-the-day notification on his Bible app and how he wrote it with Colby Wedgeworth, Jeff Pardo, and Joe Silverberg. In the co-write, they talked about the Bible verse for hours but once they started writing, the song came together in just 45 minutes.
“The River” spent 15 weeks at #1 on Christian charts which is so impressive and very difficult to pull off - especially in Christian music - and this just goes to show what a great song it is and how much it speaks to its listeners.
In this episode, we also cover Jordan’s calling to Christian music, starting out leading worship at youth group, the complexities of Christian radio, writing a song for The Chosen Christmas movie, life on the road as an artist, having features with legendary Christian artists like Lecrae and Toby Mac, and his upcoming single “Praise God for That.” Which is coming out In just a couple weeks on June 21!
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with your friends and give us a follow. It’s because of listeners like YOU that we are able to continue bringing the Stories Behind the Songs from legends in the industry.
Brian Fuller: I Could Be That Rain
Season 2
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 • Duration 01:11:45
Singer/Songwriter Brian Fuller joins us on Stories Behind the Songs this week!
Brian moved to Nashville young and hungry in 2021 and has been all over town since then. He was one of Chris Blair's Unsigned Artist of the Month back in October 2023 and since then has landed a major cut with “I Could Be That Rain” for Randall King and a pub deal with Sony Music Publishing. Side note, if you haven't heard the behind the scenes from a publisher's input, check out our episode we did with Rusty Gaston, President/CEO of Sony Music Publishing.
Brian recently released the song “Blue Skies Beautiful,” written with Brandon Kinney, and he just released a song on May 24th that he wrote with Joey Hyde and Justin Wilson called “That Girl Can Drive.” Definitely give that song a listen anywhere you find your music - it's a great one… At The Listening Room, we’re all about supporting the songwriters behind the songs our favorite artists are putting out, but it’s always fun talking to someone like Brian who is killing it at both songwriting AND artistry.
In this episode, we’ll also take a dive into Brian’s favorite lyrics from his song - “Blue Skies Beautiful,” his love/ hate relationship with the “oversaturated” music industry, and figuring out how to say something that’s been said a thousand times in a new way when he's writing a song. As usual, we also get to hear Brian play some of “I Could Be That Rain” and “Blue Skies Beautiful.”
Make sure to check out Brian’s single that just came out, and if you enjoyed this episode, share it with your friends, give us a follow, and check out our SBTS Spotify playlist - highlighting the songs written by our podcast guests. We are passionate about sharing the stories behind the songs and highlighting the writers with those stories, and we need your support to keep going!
Emily Landis is here with us this week on Stories Behind the Songs! It was so good to have her onstage with us.
Emily is killing it right now after being in Nashville for 12 years - she has recent cuts with artists like Tiera Kennedy, Dylan Scott and Gabby Barrett. She got her first #1 hit with Gabby Barrett’s “The Good Ones” written back in 2018 which ended up getting multiple CMA noms for Song and Single of the Year. You’ll hear how this song started with just a title and was almost trashed - we’re very glad she didn't do that! We also go over “Stuck In My Ways” - one she wrote for Lauren Watkins who is the current opener for Morgan Wallen. This song’s writing process began similarly to “The Good Ones” and has an awesome story behind it.
While sitting together this week, we also discussed Emily losing her first pub deal with Big Machine which motivated her to make more contacts, play more rounds and get her name around Music Row. We cover the story behind “Chasin’ Tornados” - written with Jamie Moore and Lainey Wilson, and Emily answered the question - melody or lyric first when she's writing songs? And, as always, Emily performs a couple of her songs for us - “The Good Ones” and “Chasin’ Tornados.”
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with your friends and give us a follow. It is our mission to bring you the Stories Behind the Songs from the songwriters themselves and it's because of YOU that we get to keep going.
Brice Long: Heartache on the Dance Floor (Jon Pardi) & more!
Season 2
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 • Duration 59:37
We’ve got Brice Long with us on the podcast this week. Brice has enjoyed a successful 25+ year music career. As a songwriter he has had over 100 of his songs cut with artists such as Garth Brooks, George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Hank Williams Jr, Randy Houser, Josh Turner, Reba McEntire, Gary Allan, Cody Johnson, Chris Young, Jon Pardi, Easton Corbin, Lainey Wilson, Casey James, Darryl Worley, Randy Travis, Gretchen Wilson, John Michael Montgomery, Porter Wagoner and many more.
Brice has tons of wisdom to share when it comes to getting a start in music city. This is a guy who started off struggling to pay his bills and has come full circle with several hits for major artists and his own foundation which he created to give back to the community.
This week, we focus on the stories behind "Nothing On But the Radio" by Gary Allan, "Heartache on the Dance Floor" by Jon Pardi, and "Like A Cowboy" by Randy Houser.
Brice had a record deal with RCA and got dropped, but secured a #1 with Gary Allen that same year. He talks about his collaboration with Jon Pardi on several songs, emphasizing hard work and the importance of jumping on a good opportunity. On this episode, we also cover his work with Randy Houser, including the CMA-nominated "Like A Cowboy," opening many doors and his foundation, "Back to Back," helping over 150 families in the community. Brice is extremely humble and throughout the episode, consistently credits God mixed with hard work for his success.
If you enjoyed this episode, give us a follow and check out our Stories Behind the Songs playlist to hear more of the songs Brice has written throughout his career.
We also want to shout-out our sponsors Sennhesier, Imperfect Aesthetician, and Alclair In Ears – if you’re looking for a good set of in-ear monitor make sure to take advantage of 10% off by placing an order at alclair.com/sbtsongs!
Alright, let’s get to it - here is Brice Long.
Podcast Show Notes:
Brice's Instagram -
Davis Loose: John Deere Tractor Beer
Season 2
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 • Duration 32:24
Davis Loose joins us today and man I have loved getting to know him these past couple years. I met Davis when he was just 16 at the St Augustine’s songwriter’s festival. I host this festival every year out in Florida and the year I met Davis I was genuinely surprised by how talented he was. He is a fantastic songwriter and performer so when I heard he was thinking about making the move to Nashville, I told him he'd have a job at the Listening Room.
Davis has been in town for just 2 years now and during that time he has - grown his network to writing with guys like Mark Irwin, went from serving tables here at the Listening Room to playing our main stage, writing a song that made its way to American Idol, and puts in the work writing 5 days a week. Davis has one single out so far titled - John Deere Tractor Beer and tells the story behind this one and plays a piece of it for us.
Davis is young and fresh in Music City and has a lot of great work left to do. Right now, he has the opening slot on Randy Houser’s upcoming tour, is continuing to play songwriters festivals, and continues to write and build his camp with some iconic songwriters here in town.
We had a lot of fun during this one and are so excited to introduce you to one of Nashville’s up-and-comers. You can find Davis on Instagram @davisloose and be sure to check out his recent release “John Deere Tractor Beer” anywhere you get your music. It's a great one.
If you enjoyed this episode, give us a follow and click that notification button to stay up to date when new episodes are released.
We also want to shout-out our sponsors Sennheiser, Imperfect Aesthetician, and Alclair In Ears – if you’re looking for a good set of in-ear monitor make sure to take advantage of 10% off by placing an order at alclair.com/sbtsongs!
Alright, let’s go - here is Davis Loose!
Podcast Show Notes:
Davis' Instagram - @DavisLoose
Davis' YouTube - @davislooseAnd follow us, Stories Behind the Songs, here:
Listen/Subscribe/Follow - HERE
SBTSongs TikTok - @SBTSongs
SBTSongs Instagram - @SBTSongs
SBTSongs YouTube - @SBTSongs
Chris Blair's Instagram -
Chris Blair's Website -
The Listening Room's Website -
TLR's Instagram -
TLR’s TikTok -
Chris Blair: The story of The Listening Room
Season 2
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 • Duration 43:30
Well this week took a turn! As I was sitting down ready to interview Davis Loose (who I did end up interviewing and his episode comes out next week!) my staff had tricked me and he took over the interview!
It was a surprise and I wasn't sure how it would go, but we had a lot of fun. So on this episode, you get to hear more about me...Chris Blair. You'll hear how I got into music, what moved me to Nashville and how I ended up starting The Listening Room. You'll hear the struggles I went through in the beginning and what I did to overcome those. It's a little of the story behind me and TLR - so I hope you enjoy it!
As always, a big shoutout to our sponsors: Sennheiser Microphones, Imperfect Aesthetician and Alclair In-ears. We have a new discount for Alclair, so if you need a great set of in-ear monitors check out Alclair.com/sbtsongs.
And follow us (and me), here:
Listen/Subscribe/Follow - HERE
SBTSongs TikTok - @SBTSongs
SBTSongs Instagram - @SBTSongs
SBTSongs YouTube - @SBTSongs
Chris Blair's Instagram - @ChrisBlairMusic
Chris Blair's Website - ChrisBlair.com
The Listening Room's Website - ListeningRoomCafe.com
TLR's Instagram - @ListeningRoomCafe
TLR’s TikTok - @ListeningRoomCafe
#sbtsongs
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