There is no secret that I love
singers and songwriters. It’s also no secret that I’m pretty much obsessed with
people who are both. I found Jason Duke’s music a while back after seeing his name as a
co-writer on a ton of my favorite Josh and Kelsea songs. Well he quickly has
been added to my list of favorite artists. At first I was completely in awe of
his songwriting skills. I noticed that all my favorite songs had him as a
writer. Dibs, When I Think About You, I Hope It Goes Like That, etc. The list
was huge. Well after realizing he also sang I knew he would be on my playlists
forever. Now here we are a few months later and every new song is still blowing
me away.
Without further introduction, meet
the talented
JASON DUKE
Full Name
Jason Allen Duke
Age
36
Hometown/currently live
I grew up in Hendersonville,
Tennessee. I live in Nashville, Tennessee. I almost left once...
What made you want to start writing songs?
The Garth Brooks “Double Live”
album. There is a track on there that just inspired me to want to write. If you
listen to “Unanswered Prayers” on that album and just close your eyes after the
first chord, Garth sings the first line. He hardly finishes the line,
when the whole crowd starts to sing. The crowd takes over and sings pretty much
all of the rest of the words for the whole song. The first time I heard that
was the first moment I realized how powerful a song was! That was the moment I
knew I wanted to write songs!
Do you play any instruments? Did you teach yourself?
I play guitar and a little piano. I
pretty much taught myself, and picked up things from people around me who are
way better than me!
Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Not sure where to stop this list.
James Taylor, The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Eminem, Garth Brooks, Maroon 5, John
Mayer, Marc Broussard...
Where do you get inspiration to write your songs?
Mainly from real life. Almost
anything I write or am part of writing has some element of something I have
personally experienced, some feeling I’ve had, or some person I have had in my
life (good or bad). A lot of times on draw on feelings or experiences with my wife
and my son.
Favorite songs you have written/co-written?
Jeez, another list that I’m not
sure where it ends...here goes!
Move On (with Ryan Griffin and Forest Glen Whitehead),
Mountains (with Chris Yurchuck),
First Dance (just me!), Levi’s (with Ryan Griffin and
Jason Massey),
Ain’t Finished Loving You Yet (with Josh Kerr and Chris Yurchuck),
I’ll Keep On Loving You (with Lance Carpenter),
Dibs (with Josh Kerr, Ryan Griffin, and Kelsea Ballerini),
Nowhere Fast (with Jason Massey),
The Ones (with Nick Sturms),
Are You In? (with Dave Rivers and Chris Yurchuck),
When I Think About You (with Josh Kerr and Kelsea Ballerini),
Almost Forgot About That (with Ryan Griffin and Jason Massey),
Call It (with Ryan Griffin and Forest Glen Whitehead),
Neon Eyes (with Josh Kerr and Liz Hengber),
I Hope It Goes Like That (with Josh Kerr),
What Our Love Can Do (just me!) whew!
What moment in your music career is your favorite so far?
The day we wrote “Move On”. That
was the real first time that I KNEW we had nailed one. I had felt good about a
lot of songs, but writing “Move On” with Ryan and Forest was just perfectly
simple and great. I will be able to pinpoint that song as the one where I
started getting exponentially better every day.
Finish this sentence…if I could write a song for or with
anyone I would choose______.
I’d love to write with Michael
Peterson. I’d also love to write with Drew Womack.
Where do you see yourself in a year?
celebrating a #1 with any of the
above mentioned cowriters!
5 years?
On a house on a lake somewhere.
If I wasn't a songwriter I would be...
I would probably own a bar.
Okay, I always ask people to tell me one thing about themselves
that is random or strange that most people don't know!
I am a cancer survivor.
Ice cream and Double Stuffed Oreos
will be the death of me.
I hate negativity. (was that
negative?)
I met my wife when I was supposed
to be in Hawaii, but wasn’t.
HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE JASON DUKE JAMS: