“One of the reasons I wanted to be a songwriter was because no matter what’s going on in life, whether it’s good or bad, my situation or my family or friends, all I can think about is how can this go into a song. That’s how I knew there could never be another path for me.”
With close to 500
shows under his belt since the time he was 19, Preston Summerville could be the
face of determination. He's never cut a song he didn't have a hand in writing, and he's spent the last three years as a successful independent
I wanna start by
getting to know you a little better. I read that you grew up on a chicken farm
in the same hometown as Sam Hunt?
I did. My grandparents built
chicken houses. When I was little I started working on the chicken farm. I used
to have to work when I was a kid before school. I would wake up and work with
the chickens and then I’d go to school and all the kids would look like they
just woke up and they’d ask me why I was tired. I had been up for three hours.
Well I bet that
helped you develop your strong work ethic?
Exactly. When I was a kid I used
to hate it. But now, I’ve realized that I learned at a young age what hard work
can get you.
At what age did you
start diving into the music side of things?
Well I got my first guitar when I
was six. But like every other six year old who gets a guitar, I beat on it and
threw it around. When I was about twelve years old I started really getting
into it. My dad had showed me a couple chords and songs on the guitar. So after
baseball practice or baseball games I’d make all my buddies listen to me play.
They were just amazed by it. I just thought it was really cool to be able to do
something my friends couldn’t do.
It kinda grew from tryin’ to show
off to my friends as a little kid to being something I just couldn’t put down.
Since the time I was 11 years old there might be a handful of days where I
haven’t played guitar.
When did you take
the leap and move to Nashville?
I moved in February. It’s been a
recent move. My hometown is maybe 3 ½ hours away. So from the time I was maybe
19 or 20 I started to meet people and I would schedule co-writes up there and
drive up in the morning and do two co-writes and I could drive home. It wasn’t
a “have to” move because I am lucky enough to be closer than a lot of people.
You have a hand in
writing all the songs you record, right?
Correct. I’ve never cut another
song of anyone elses that I haven’t been a part of.
How do you prefer to
go into a writing session? With ideas already in your head or with a blank
slate?
I guess it kinda depends on the
writer that you are with. I’ve been on my way to a co-write where I’ve said
‘God, give me something to write about’ because I had nothing in my head to
write about in that moment. I like to hit scan on the radio and I’ll catch a
line from another song and it’ll pop an idea in my head. Just random lines from
songs that have nothing to do with my take on the phrase. That tends to spark
an idea in my head.
Other times, I’ll go in with half
a song written. There’s actually been times where I’ve gone in with a whole
song already written that I just wasn’t completely satisfied with. Bringing in
another strong songwriter can sometimes help me out and finish a song
completely.
I’ve written songs where we just
go in and I’ll pick up a melody on a guitar and start seeing what falls into
place.
If you could write
with anyone, who would it be?
Eric Church. He’s like my hero. I
look up to Eric Church a lot. He started getting pretty big when I was about 18
or 19 and I was in college. I started learning a lot of his songs. I don’t
know, there’s just something about him. I’m a fan of people like that. There’s
a lot of great singers in country music and a lot of great songs out there. But
I’m a huge Gary Allan fan. Gary Allan is obviously famous but not crazy
popular. When Gary Allan sings, you feel something. THAT’s what I’m a fan of.
“I’ve got my party songs, my drinking songs, and stuff but
I’ve also got my deep down songs. That’s what I really love about music. That’s
what I really enjoy about songwriting.”
As I was listening
to your EP a few days ago and I kept thinking, “I wonder how often Preston gets
compared to people like Sam Hunt and Old Dominion?”
It’s started to happen a little
bit more. As a songwriter, I can write pop songs, rock songs, Christian songs,
anything. [The comparisons] have started happening more recently than it has
before because I’ve moved to Nashville and started to meet more songwriters and
work with more people.
There are people who say ‘this
isn’t country music’ and ‘we don’t like this’ and honestly I used to be kinda
like that too. But the thing is, once I made it to Nashville I started getting
to work with tons of people who all had different ideas of music and what they
thought would work. I’m not scared to change anymore. Change is good. Think
about it, between Hank Sr. and Waylon Jennings, that’s nothing alike. But the
thing is, the people who get so much criticism for being different and changing
music, those are the ones who eventually become the rock of that brand of
music.
The more I’ve been in Nashville
the more my eyes have been opened. I don’t think I’m necessarily changing who I
am, I’m just experiencing new things and I’m learning new things along the way.
Let’s talk about
‘How Do I Get You Back’ for a minute.
What was the story
or idea behind this track and how did it come together?
I actually wrote that with a good friend
of mine in Nashville. She’s actually the one who started it. She sent it to me and
it’s still crazy to me that we wrote that song completely through email. She
sent me some lyrics, I added some lyrics and a melody, I put my twist on it and
it all just kinda fell in place. It wasn’t completely written from a life
experience. It was just an idea she’d had and I went in and changed some things
that she’d written from a girl’s perspective and adjusted it to make it more
mine.
Your new single
‘Bottle’ comes out this week (September 4th). Tell us a little about
this song. Was this a song that you knew immediately had potential to be a
single for you?
Um, not really. It seems like all
the songs that everybody else likes aren’t always my favorite. It just always
seems to happen like that. That song actually came when I was eating with my
wife and her family at Texas Roadhouse and I had ordered a beer or something
and someone made a comment like ‘I can’t believe you drink that’ and I said ‘I
don’t even like the way it tastes, I’m just lookin for the buzz at the end of
the bottle’. As soon as I said that I pulled my phone out and wrote it down.
I do that a lot. From high
school-college and the past two years I probably have 15 notebooks full of
ideas and verses and even complete songs that I cold never remember how to play
again.
With a jam packed
touring schedule (playing with Lady A, Sam Hunt, Tracy Lawrence, Luke Combs,
etc.) is there anyone you are super excited to share the stage with?
I’m playing a show with Donnie
Millsap that I’ pretty excited about. Tracy Lawrence is top notch to me too.
I’m really excited for that one.
Future?
New music? Videos?
More touring?
Hopefully sooner rather than later
I’m gonna try to work on getting a full album out. It’s hard. And expensive.
Some nights I’m out there and I’m
like ‘why am I doing this’. Then other nights where I leave the show thinking,
‘THIS is why I do this.”
Afraid Of?
I don’t really like scary movies.
They get my adrenaline pumping too much I think. I don’t like spiders. I don’t
like snakes. And honestly, not being successful. That’s a huge fear of mine.
If you weren’t in
the music business, what would you be doing?
A farmer.
Biggest musical
inspirations?
Eric Church. Plus I grew up
listening to a lot of Alan Jackson, ALABAMA, George Strait, Garth. Yeah, all
those guys.
Tattoos? Meaning
behind them?
Yep, I have two. One of them is a
cross and has my grandad’s name in it and the day that he died. The other one
is lyrics to a song I wrote for my other granddad.
What’s one thing
that people might not know about you?
I’m actually a pretty quiet
person. I’m kinda shy off stage. I’m not a wild guy who is crazy loud. I’m the
guy that can sit at home all day by myself and just play guitar and write and
go outside and cut the grass and be happy.
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SPECIAL THANKS TO PRESTON SUMMERVILLE FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH THE TENNESSEE LIFE. LOOK FOR HIS NEW SINGLE 'BOTTLE' ON SEPTEMBER 4TH AND STAY TUNED FOR OUR REVIEW THE SAME DAY.
FOLLOW ALONG FOR UPDATES:
WEB || TWITTER || FACEBOOK || INSTAGRAM
SPECIAL THANKS TO PRESTON SUMMERVILLE FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH THE TENNESSEE LIFE. LOOK FOR HIS NEW SINGLE 'BOTTLE' ON SEPTEMBER 4TH AND STAY TUNED FOR OUR REVIEW THE SAME DAY.
