← On the Bus with Troy Vollhoffer
On the Bus with Troy Vollhoffer
BONUS EPISODE: Nate Smith
00:17:27
We’re travelling back in time with this never-before-heard conversation between Troy and Nate Smith at his very first appearance at Country Thunder. Since then, he has blown up and become a household name with some of the catchiest tunes in country music.
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- [00:00]
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- [00:31]
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- [01:05]
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- [01:49]
Troy Volhoffer
Welcome back. I'm Troy Bolhofer and you're on the bus at Country Thunder. We're coming at you with backstage stories from the six annual Country Thunder Music festivals held across North America. Get ready for real talk about the state of the music industry with thoughts, insights and stories from some of the biggest stars, executives and professionals in the music business. Hey everybody, it's Troy Volhofer here from Country Thunder on the Bus and we have a great show lined up for you today. We have Nate Smith here live in Phoenix, Arizona.
- [02:16]
Nate Smith
Country Thunder what's up my friend?
- [02:18]
Troy Volhoffer
How are you man?
- [02:19]
Nate Smith
Dude, I. I am very excited to be here. This is going to be a fun day. Seems like everybody's pretty revved up. So.
- [02:24]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah. Were you anywhere last night? Did you Play last night?
- [02:26]
Nate Smith
No, no, we just got to town. We just kind of got our feel for the. For the Arizona vibe out here, you know, and had a good night. So we did a little pregame, let's put it that way.
- [02:34]
Troy Volhoffer
Super cool. Yeah. Everyone says yeah, man. We went out last night and parted our asses.
- [02:37]
Nate Smith
We partied. Okay. We partied really hard. Okay. I'll be honest. Like, really hard. I took an IV before. Like, it was one of those things.
- [02:42]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah. You look great.
- [02:43]
Nate Smith
Thanks.
- [02:44]
Troy Volhoffer
I haven't seen you since your birthday party.
- [02:46]
Nate Smith
Is that crazy? We hung out on my birthday.
- [02:48]
Troy Volhoffer
It's great. So congratulations on your success. Your career is going definitely in the right trajectory. I mean, holy smokes, done some great things. So let's talk about your upbringing. Like when you started out, you came.
- [03:00]
Nate Smith
From Paradise, California, Just a chubby kid from Paradise, California. Had like so many, so much acne. My brother said he could find a Ryan's belt on my face. And it was really, it was disturbing, you know, but I grew past that. Started washing my face. No, but just small town, like normal stuff and just, you know, good community in the foothills, kind of in the mountain.
- [03:20]
Troy Volhoffer
So who was your inspiration? What turned you on to music? And when did you start playing and singing?
- [03:24]
Nate Smith
Man, My earliest memories honestly was like Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks, that kind of thing. And just kind of started off that way and just loved singing immediately. There's a video of me at three, like jamming on a plastic guitar. I think I said the F word on it, singing johnny, be good. So it just. It's always been in me, man.
- [03:42]
Troy Volhoffer
Oh, fantastic. Fantastic. Well, you know, it's pretty interesting to see your success in Canada also. I mean, congratulations on that.
- [03:50]
Nate Smith
I love Canada.
- [03:51]
Troy Volhoffer
That's the longest running number one, I believe as a. Of a new artist coming out.
- [03:55]
Nate Smith
I could not believe that.
- [03:56]
Troy Volhoffer
Have you done much work in Canada?
- [03:57]
Nate Smith
Yeah, we've. We did Boots and Hearts. Absolutely wild. I'm sure you're those guys. Great people. Nuts. I mean, the Canada fans are just a whole nother level. It's crazy. And then we did shows in Edmonton and Calgary. We did Ranchman's, which was pretty, pretty awesome spot and looking forward to getting up there. We're going to be playing in, in May at the Horseshoe. We're gonna do a couple shows in a row.
- [04:19]
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So.
- [04:20]
Nate Smith
Very excited to get back there.
- [04:22]
Troy Volhoffer
No, and it's interesting because now you have an international career in front of.
- [04:25]
Nate Smith
You, which is like, what?
- [04:25]
Troy Volhoffer
Pretty darn good.
- [04:26]
Nate Smith
Come on.
- [04:26]
Troy Volhoffer
Right?
- [04:26]
Nate Smith
Come on. That's amazing.
- [04:27]
Troy Volhoffer
What were you Doing three years ago at this time, Four years ago at.
- [04:29]
Nate Smith
This time, I was working in a hospital. I was working in ICU and trauma and just like seeing the craziest stuff you can imagine. You know, I'm chest compressions on CPR on people all the time. And. And you know, just people at their absolute, like, worst family, you know, it was. It was a crazy thing. But I loved bringing, like, joy to people. Like walking in a room like, what's up, everybody? Can I get you anything? And hugging every. It felt like family within the first few hours. The sunshine I tried to be, man. Yeah. And I just. I love people a lot, you know, so that's what's cool about doing this now is like, I'm still helping people in a different way and, you know, so that's pretty cool.
- [05:01]
Troy Volhoffer
Did you buy that watch when you got your first number one?
- [05:03]
Nate Smith
You know what I did? Well, actually, no. So I bought. I bought this watch the day I saw my record deal.
- [05:08]
Troy Volhoffer
Beautiful.
- [05:09]
Nate Smith
But Chief and Simon, my management, you know, that, you know, obviously they bought me a Rolex on the day it went number one. So they kept their promise. They said they would do it and then they did it. And it's. It's great. I love it.
- [05:19]
Troy Volhoffer
That's fantastic. Yeah. Let's. Let's go back to very beginning of the tick tock thing that started your whole career really like a rocket ship. How did that come about? And what were you thinking? What were you doing? And at the time?
- [05:31]
Nate Smith
And I was moving to Nashville on a GoFundMe with pretty much no money, you know, but enough to get here and stuff. And a friend of mine was like, you got to try the tick Tock thing. And I'm like, that's not very country. It doesn't seem like it's a country. Like guys like, yeah, yeah, I'm on Tik Tok. You go on. There ever was. I'm gonna spit my chew and watch Tick Tocks. Like, I just don't see that, you know, but this was early days. There wasn't a lot of country artists doing that. So just started posting stuff on there and it seemed to really connect. And I noticed that there was a definite correlation with view counts and Pre saves on TikTok with DSP streaming numbers and then ultimately radio, you know. So it's just an incredible platform to like build the story of a song, you know, all the way through. So by the time you get to all the other partners, they're just fired up about it. So I'm very Thankful.
- [06:14]
Troy Volhoffer
So when it started to go viral, how did that feel? I mean, that was your first taste of real success, I believe.
- [06:19]
Nate Smith
I was like, yes. I was really excited, man. I'm like, oh, my gosh. They like the song. This is crazy. And I got to start seeing people use the song for moments in their life, like proposals and stuff like that. And I'm like, that is cool. Like, there's a lot of good songs out there. You sure you want to use mine? But, yeah.
- [06:31]
Troy Volhoffer
And that's how that led into the record deal ultimately.
- [06:33]
Nate Smith
I mean, it led into my publishing deal, I'd say that. And then I wrote songs with Sony Publishing for about a year and a half and then. Which was the best artist development possible because you're in the rooms, always on a microphone, singing, learning your voice more and more in this. In this level, you know, and then, yeah, just continued to put songs out using the TikTok method or whatever you want to call it, and it was helping every single time. And then we were ready for a record deal.
- [06:56]
Troy Volhoffer
That's fantastic. Yeah. How many songs on this record did you have part of writing?
- [07:00]
Nate Smith
Well, oh, gosh, over half, probably. I'd say congratulations. Thanks, man. I. But it's like, to me, it doesn't really matter if I write them. I mean, I want to write songs, obviously, I love doing it, but for me, it's like, it's just about the song. So, like, there's such good songs in Nashville, like, it would be crazy not to cut them, you know? So I'm always in a room, like, I love the song we got today, but send me a whole folder and I'll listen to every song you guys got, because, I mean, that's where you find the gold. And, you know.
- [07:23]
Troy Volhoffer
You know, it's funny. I was listening to Tim McGraw one day tell the story, and, you know, he said, you know, I don't write a lot, but I'm the best song picker in the business. Hey, he's had made a career out of picking songs.
- [07:36]
Nate Smith
Come on. Come on. That's no joke. That's a good way to look at it.
- [07:39]
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Your fever is high and the pressure to log in at work is too. But when you finally decide to take care of you, there's Instacart. Just because that one perfect co worker of yours is attending all meetings camera on while she's sneezing, coughing, and aching, doesn't mean you have to do the same. Take it from us. Trying to stay on top of things will only get you further behind. Instead get everything from tissues and teas to cough suppressants and comforting soups delivered through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes. If anyone needs anything, they can just redirect their questions to that one perfect co worker of yours.
- [08:10]
Progressive Insurance Ad
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too. With the name your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today@progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law.
- [08:43]
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- [08:48]
Troy Volhoffer
Yes. Cool.
- [08:49]
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- [08:58]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah, so everyone has their own kind of vibe. And what kind of writer rooms have you been in? Who have some of the people you've written with?
- [09:04]
Nate Smith
Everybody from, you know, Tranny Anderson, James McNair to Ashley Gourley and just Lindsay Rhymes. Obviously, I've been doing a lot of stuff with him with Whiskey on youn. We wrote that one together. But everybody's been willing to write with me and I can't believe that, you know, so it's been pretty fun to figure it out. And it's like, funny. Like when you work with somebody like Ashley Gourley, you know, it's like all the hype. You know, the guy's got like 70 number ones. All this stuff. I go in the room and within 10 minutes I'm like, that's why. Okay, I get it. Like, he's so smart. Like the way that he comes up with ideas, marries the lyric with the melody perfectly, and it's always the right choice.
- [09:36]
Troy Volhoffer
Ashley writes for the piano, doesn't he?
- [09:37]
Nate Smith
He does, he does. And then half the time I noticed, like, so half the time he jumped up there, did it on the piano. The other half he was sitting down. But he would just like sit there. And by the time he said said an idea, he'd already thought about 30 ideas in his head. It seems like, like it was that vibe. It was like, whoa, you know?
- [09:52]
Troy Volhoffer
And he's prolific. He's been a triple play multiple times.
- [09:55]
Nate Smith
You know what he said to me? Too. I'll never forget this. He said. He said, my job is. Is to write a song that. That nobody can sing but you, but then everybody can sing. I was like, what? Like, I had to think about it for a second. Like, a song that only you could cut, but everybody could sing it. That goes. It was kind of a genius thing. It's perfectly tailored for you, and then, like, you get a crowd singing it, you know, so well, fans.
- [10:15]
Troy Volhoffer
If you don't know who Ashley Gourley is actually, Gorley is probably one of the most successful Nashville songwriters in. In this era of. Of music. And to have that privilege, to be able to write with somebody, like, who's written so many number ones, I mean, that must be.
- [10:30]
Nate Smith
And he's so cool. Like, he's such a. He's such a bro. Like, he's just awesome. Yeah.
- [10:33]
Troy Volhoffer
You know, I met his dog. I've not met him yet. He lives down the street from me, so, yeah, his dog was lost one day, so we met his dog. I have not had the opportunity to meet Ashley, but I look forward to it.
- [10:43]
Nate Smith
You will.
- [10:43]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah. We live in a pretty cool street because we have Tom Douglas, who's. Well, you know.
- [10:48]
Nate Smith
Oh, I know where you're at. I know where you're at.
- [10:49]
Troy Volhoffer
And then Ashley at the end. Right. So it's like writers row. It's super cool, right? Very. You know, something on that street. A vibe, man. Yeah. Yeah, it's very cool. So what's your plans this summer? Tell me about your tour. Tell me about what's going on.
- [11:01]
Nate Smith
Obviously, we're doing some Country Thunders, so that's pretty freaking amazing. This is my first time even getting to attend one, so this is the best way to. To be able to attend. I'd say just jump up there and make some noise. So I'm so excited. Thank you for having us on that, man. I really mean it. It's. It's. It's amazing. We're doing more festivals. We've got. My album is dropping April 28th, and then we've got a surprise. I don't know when this is going to air, but we've got a surprise coming that day. So very excited about. And then we're hopping on the Thomas Rhett tour, so we'll be out with him and Cole for 45 dates. And then I'm going out with just Cole in the fall as direct support. We got a Morgan Wallen show coming up in about a week and a half with Hardy and Ernest, and it's at the stadium. It's gonna be freaking insane. I can't believe that he's letting me hop up there. You know, Bailey called in sick, you know, or something. I don't know what's going on, but I got. I got the spot. So I was like, thank you. Thank you.
- [11:51]
Troy Volhoffer
That's a great slot to be. I mean, that's probably going to be one of the largest grossing country tours of the year, so to be getting a slot on that.
- [11:58]
Nate Smith
God, man. You know what I mean? Like, it's. It's. It's very special. So I'm very grateful for that.
- [12:03]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah, you're in great hands there, you know? So your first time on a bus? When was your first time on. Yes.
- [12:09]
Nate Smith
Yeah. Well, here's the funny story. So I went out this last fall with a guy named Larry Fleet.
- [12:13]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah, Larry Fleet.
- [12:13]
Nate Smith
Absolutely freaking amazing. Amazing, amazing artist. Good guy, Good guy. But I. I got to open up for him for a couple weeks, and he gave me a bunk on his bus, and I went up there just acoustic and did that whole thing. Turns out the bus that we have was Larry's bus. So we had. It's like a full circle moment where it's like, this is my bus now. What the heck? And this is my first time with a band and everything, going on a bus and doing the thing, and everybody's so rested, you know. I feel great.
- [12:36]
Troy Volhoffer
Good. We got many more years ahead of you on a bus and maybe a plane.
- [12:40]
Nate Smith
And, hey, you know, I won't be greedy, but I'm just. I'm so happy that everybody's comfortable.
- [12:46]
Troy Volhoffer
So who were your inspirations? Like, who. You know, where'd you get your vibe from? Like, who really was the one that said got to your heart and inspired you to become an artist?
- [12:55]
Nate Smith
God, man, That's. That's one of. That's. I don't know if it's easy for some people, but, like, that's such a split thing for me. I mean, Mike, I feel like everything has led up to this, you know, but, like, my favorite rock band is probably Nirvana. I just. I just. I just. I don't know what it is. I'm obsessed with the legend of it and, like, the whole conspiracy and stuff, but the songs really got me. But, I mean, the beats of Michael Jackson, the rasp in his voice, the way that Garth brought this tenderness to his songs, but it was so authentic of the way he treats his fans. And my dad got me into 70s classic rock and stuff like that, and obviously Journey and. And it's been just such a Hodgepodge of things, man. And then once you get to Nashville, it's like you're in these rooms and you're developing what's coming out of you. All these things go in. It's like, what's. What's actually going to be coming out, so. And I think that's what makes. And you just got to lean into whatever that is, you know, and just like, hey, like, I'm gonna be myself completely.
- [13:44]
Troy Volhoffer
You know, See if you started writing the next record.
- [13:46]
Nate Smith
We're working on it always. Yeah, I'm always. I've got people coming out on the bus this year and stuff, and, yeah, definitely got to follow it up.
- [13:53]
Troy Volhoffer
Yeah. So just to explain to our listeners, a lot of writers go on tour with the artists, running down the highway, sitting at festivals during the day, sitting at stadiums or theaters or arenas in the parking lot writing songs. Yeah, that's such a neat thing, because I think country music is the only actual form of music that has that style of writing. How writers write together on the road, you don't see that in rock and roll so much.
- [14:19]
Nate Smith
Wow. Yeah. I wouldn't know. I've heard that, though. You would definitely know.
- [14:22]
Troy Volhoffer
But it's pretty neat. It's a really cool thing. And so many great songs have come off of tour buses, you know, I mean, going over the course of time. But, you know, man, I really appreciate you coming out today and doing this thing. I know you. Thank you. A burden to come and do an interview.
- [14:38]
Nate Smith
Such a burden. Oh, my God. No, I was really looking forward to this because we've already hung out and, like, I was like, this is just gonna be a good time and hang out with my buddy. So I'm. Yeah, I'm so happy to be here, man. I really am.
- [14:48]
Troy Volhoffer
Well, thank you for everything.
- [14:49]
Nate Smith
Thank you.
- [14:49]
Troy Volhoffer
You know, Country Thunder on the bus. And Nate Smith's gonna be performing this afternoon and come catch him at any of the future Country Thunders if you haven't attended. And thank you very much, Nate. Appreciate it.
- [14:59]
Nate Smith
No problem. Thank you.
- [15:00]
Troy Volhoffer
Thanks. Thank you to our guests on this episode. Don't forget to, like, subscribe and leave a review whenever you listen. Until next time, I'm Troy Volhoffer, and you're on the bus at Country Thunder.
- [15:24]
Progressive Insurance Ad
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance, too. With the name your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today@progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law.
- [15:58]
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Save on Cox Internet when you add Cox Mobile and get fiber powered Internet at home and unbeatable 5G reliability on the go. So whether you're playing a game at home yes go or attending one live, you can do more without spending more. Learn how To Save@cox.com Internet Cox Internet is connected to the premises via coaxial connection. Cox Mobile runs on the network with unbeatable 5G reliability as measured by Ookla LLC in the US 1H 2023. Results may vary not in endorsement. Other restrictions apply.
- [16:28]
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