Craig Campbell Says Luke Bryan Gave Him the Best Advice He’s Ever Gotten
Before he got his break as a solo artist, Craig Campbell toured as part of Luke Bryan's band as his piano player, and while he was on the road, he took the opportunity to mine the singer's experience for any gems of wisdom for an up-and-comer.
Campbell says during that time, the artist shared with him the best career advice he’s ever received.
"We were sitting down having dinner one night and I was just picking his brain and I said, ‘Is there anything you can tell me, any advice you can give me to get my career moving?' And he said, 'If you’re not writing songs you need to,'" Campbell recalls to Sounds Like Nashville. "I took that advice and went back to Nashville and got to work and it was truly the best advice I ever got."
Campbell certainly took it to heart, as the artist has been pouring his soul into his music ever since. He adds that regarding songwriting, he’s learned it’s important to write from your own experience.
"It’s hard to write a song you don’t know anything about. Pretty much every song I’ve written is either something that’s personal to me or something I know somebody’s been through,” he explains. “Just write about real life, that’s what it’s about.”
Doing so enabled Campbell to get a cut on Garth Brooks' most recent record Man Against Machine — an honor many songwriters in Nashville were clamoring to achieve. He co-wrote the track "All-American Kid" with Brice Long and Terry McBride.
"There were a lot of writers in Nashville trying to get songs on that album. I don’t even know how it happened," he admits. "I got a phone call one day and they said, ‘Hey, Garth wants to record one of your songs’ and [they] asked me how I felt about it. I said, ‘If Garth wants to record one of my songs, by God, Garth can record one of my songs.’ It was huge to have Garth record that song."
Campbell recently released his single "Outskirts of Heaven," which details the setting he hopes will surround him when he reaches the end of his life. The song is now available on iTunes.