Feb 10, 2023
My guest for this episode is a country singer-songwriter, Drew Ryder Smith. He just released three new singles, which were delayed because of a dilemma caused by the many other Drew Smiths on streaming platforms and elsewhere. But the songs are out now and they sound great!
The recording quality of this episode is quite good. Drew clearly had a nice home setup and his speaking voice is as good as it gets.
Drew has been a professional songwriter for about ten years but has recently decided to return to the life of touring and releasing songs as a solo artist. His work has been recorded in many countries including the US, Canada, Ireland, Germany, and Australia, by legends like Merle Haggard, Randy Houser, Rob Snyder, Jason Charles Miller, Kevin Denney, John Schneider, and Australian-Canadian country singer Gord Bamford.
Before becoming a full-time songwriter for a publishing house, Drew had it going on as a touring musician. He'd opened for Don Williams, Big & Rich, Lee Brice, and Lady A. He also opened for Merle Haggard at the Ryman Auditorium with industry executives, John Prine, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Keith Urban in the audience. He is the owner of Gray Sound Recording, working as a producer and senior mixing engineer, and the creator of The Before You Record Course.
Drew released a song called Exes in September of 2022, which was one of the 15 most added songs for digital radio for multiple weeks following its release. He just dropped three new songs titled The Bottom Of It, Call Me Back, and Don't Wake Me Up. We talk about these songs plus: website platforms (he's used them all), his home base of Nashville, his ties to Fort Worth Texas, growing up in Tennessee, pneumonia, songwriting vocationally, touring, recording, the origins of "Robonzo", some of our favorite legendary drummers, and more.
We spent quite a bit of time on pneumonia and Covid, but I only left some of that in the final edit. We may have digressed before ever touching on a music-related discussion. However, I think it was somewhat therapeutic for us both.
Please enjoy my conversation with Drew Ryder Smith.
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Mentions and Related Episodes
Drew's Behind the Scenes studio vocal effect
Drew's latest releases and socials
Being A Successful Gigging Musician – Jared Judge (Ep 225)
Getting Paid for What You Are Worth - Robonzo on The Gigging Musician Podcast
Resources
The Unstarving Musician’s Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo
Music Marketing Method – The program that helps musicians find fans, grow an audience and make consistent income
Bandzoogle – The all-in-one platform that makes it easy to build a beautiful website for your music
Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process.
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