Takin' a Walk Nashville: The Inside Story of Adam Wright – One of Music City's Premier Songwriters

Host: Sarah Harrelson
Guest: Adam Wright
Date: December 4, 2025
Podcast: Takin’ a Walk (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

In this episode of Takin' a Walk Nashville, host Sarah Harrelson sits down with acclaimed Nashville songwriter Adam Wright to discuss his creative journey, the realities of the songwriting industry, his new solo album "Nature of Necessity," and how he balances creativity, music-making, and life changes in today’s Music City. The conversation is a warm, candid, and sometimes humorous exploration of songwriting, collaboration, and personal creativity.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Adam's Musical Beginnings and Influences

• Adam grew up in Newnan, Georgia, surrounded by music from his father and grandfather (both pianists).
• His initial love was piano, influenced by jazz standards of the '20s-'40s (03:33).
• A Chuck Berry record at age 12 sparked his obsession with guitar.
• Early songwriting emerged from necessity when his high school band ran out of cover songs (03:33–04:15).

Adam Wright ([03:33]):
"I started as a piano player...then I heard a Chuck Berry record when I was about 12 years old and just lost my mind about guitar and needed a guitar immediately."

2. Moving to Nashville and the Industry Reality Check

• Adam and his wife Shannon moved to Nashville after advice from his uncle.
• Regardless of previous experience, Nashville resets everyone—“you're starting over” (04:15).
• Early career: gigging in bars, playing for little money, but with plenty of joy and shared commitment (05:27).

Adam Wright ([05:27]):
"Some of my favorite memories...were the two of us just dragging a giant PA system around to bars and restaurants...It was not very much money, but a whole lot of fun."

3. Breakthrough as a Professional Songwriter

• First major cuts were two songs for Alan Jackson; both landed on an album and provided a windfall that allowed Adam and Shannon to buy a house (06:19).
• The industry shifted dramatically with the arrival of Napster and the decline of CD sales, upending the economics of being a songwriter (08:12).

Adam Wright ([06:19]): "We didn't have publishing deals or anything. We just...they were just our songs. And, man, the record did well...We made enough money to put a down payment on a house."

4. Songwriting Economics and Adaptation

• Pre-streaming, songwriters could make a decent living from album cuts; not so anymore.
• Adam supplements his income with studio work (guitar, piano, vocals) and live performances (08:36).

Adam Wright ([08:36]):
"They're geared towards the ownership of a master recording...the publishing money off that is almost non-existent...So I offset that change by doing studio work...and I play shows and whatever else you can do to sort of hang in there."

5. “Nature of Necessity” — Adam’s Latest Album

• Released September 2025, the album is a folk-leaning, lyrically rich collection.
• Adam resists the notion of a grand "story" behind the album—it emerged from habit and creative necessity, not life upheaval (10:06, 10:41).
• The album, like his others, captures a “swell of inspiration”—a period where new artistic ideas take shape.
• Some tracks (“Dreamer and the Realist,” “Heaven When I Die”) predated the others but still belong thematically (11:55).

Adam Wright ([10:41]):
"If you have that in you...to make a piece of work and put it out in the world, that's a hard thing to not do if you have that inkling. And I've just always had that inkling."

6. Songwriting Influences and Lyrical Philosophy

• Bob Dylan: Adam acknowledges Dylan’s towering influence but feels a complicated, not wholly reverential, relationship with his work.
• He admires Mark Knopfler as “the greatest living songwriter” and places Knopfler’s writing above Dylan’s for personal resonance (12:45–14:21).

Adam Wright ([13:16]):
"His [Dylan's] figure looms so large over the craft of songwriting...It's very hard to accurately assess the quality of it because he's synonymous with it."

7. Painting & Other Creative Outlets

• Adam is also a painter, but finds it as challenging and frustrating as songwriting (14:36–15:34).
• For Adam, creative pursuits are rarely “relaxing”—they are labors of love.

Adam Wright ([14:44]):
"Painting is very frustrating because I'm...still not very good at it...My wife will say, 'Why don't you go relax and paint?' and those two things are not compatible."

8. Album Production and Collaborators

• Album’s sound shaped by live trio sessions: Adam (vocals, guitar), Glenn Worf (bass), Matt Chamberlain (drums).
• Harmony vocals: Shannon Wright (Adam’s wife), Anna Liddell (also mixing engineer).
• Adam initially wanted a stark “live” album, but after hearing the harmonies, began overdubbing more vocals—while preserving organic imperfections (15:52–17:40).
• Notable guests: Lee Ann Womack and Patty Griffin contribute their unique voices (17:48).

Adam Wright ([17:48]):
"Talk about two really unmistakable voices...you know each of them when you hear just a few notes out of their voice."

9. Studio Experience

• Recorded at East Iris Studio (formerly House of Blues), notably in “the Sun Room,” designed after Sun Records (18:13–19:01).
• First time tracking his own project there.

10. Life Balance & Playing Live

• Continues to perform live as much as possible, with encouragement from family and producer Frank Liddell (19:12–19:33).
• Tour dates and info kept up-to-date on his website and social media (19:39).

11. Favorite Places for Inspiration

• Walking and biking are important creative outlets.
• Favorite Nashville walks: Around his home outskirts and at Percy Warner Park, where he once got so lost on a bike, he had to call his wife to rescue him (20:01–20:31).
• Also enjoys walking around Music Row, reflecting on Nashville’s ever-changing landscape.

Adam Wright ([20:22]):
"You can get a little turned around over there [Percy Warner] sometimes...I took a bike up there...and I genuinely got lost."

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the compulsion to create:
  "If you have that in you, you just always...If that is something that you feel is important to you, to make a piece of work and put it out in the world, that's a hard thing to not do if you have that inkling." – Adam Wright (10:41)

• On surviving as a songwriter post-Napster:
  "They're geared towards the ownership of a master recording...the publishing money off that is almost non-existent...So I offset that change by doing studio work...and I play shows and whatever else you can do to sort of hang in there." – Adam Wright (08:36)

• On Dylan vs. Knopfler:
  "Mark Knopfler, to me, is the greatest living songwriter, in my opinion. And he's an absolute worshiper of Bob Dylan's writing. But I think Mark Knopfler's writing...I hold in higher esteem personally. He does something for me that Bob Dylan does not." – Adam Wright (13:16–14:21)

• On album production and authenticity:
  "There's so many imperfections in it that I've come to find charming in a way...their voices kind of started the whole, 'we're overdubbing on this.'" – Adam Wright (17:40)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Adam’s Musical Upbringing: [03:07]–[03:33]
• Starting in Nashville: [04:15]
• First Major Songwriting Cut: [06:19]
• Industry Changes (Napster, Streaming): [08:12]–[08:36]
• Making a Living as a Songwriter Today: [08:36]
• The New Album — Habits and Process: [10:41]
• On Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler: [12:45]–[14:21]
• Visual Art and Painting: [14:36]–[15:34]
• Album Collaboration and Recording: [15:52]–[18:13]
• Favorite Nashville Walks: [20:01]–[21:08]

Summary

This episode imparts deep perspective on the shifting landscape for professional songwriters, the pulls of creative compulsion, and the personal joys and challenges of Adam Wright’s multidisciplinary creative life. Whether discussing the “window that closed” as digital sales took over, opening up about the compulsion to make art even without a grand narrative, or sharing lighthearted misadventures in Percy Warner Park, Adam’s story is relatable to anyone navigating a creative career.

Find Adam’s latest shows and updates:
AdamWrightSongs.com
Follow his album Nature of Necessity and new projects on social media.

Summary compiled with original language and tone for a rich guide to this episode of Takin’ a Walk Nashville.