On the cusp of moving to Nashville, the award-winning singer and songwriter sat down to talk with Local Spins about the next step in his burgeoning country career. (Podcast, video)
As a guy shaped by rock ’n’ roll who graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in computer information systems, Kris Hitchcock may seem like an unlikely candidate for country music stardom.
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In fact, there was a time when he wasn’t sure if he even liked country music.
“I always had made fun of country music until I started playing it,” he says of growing up in Jackson County enamored of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Bob Seger.
“I thought it was something that was twangy and Southern and not what I was into until I really listened to it and realized that there were so many great stories and writers that came from the genre.”
Since then, Hitchcock – who even boasts an engaging country drawl – has embraced country music hook, line and sinker, emerging as one of the region’s most promising country artists and songwriters: Not only was he among a select group of artists chosen for a 2013 ASCAP program that pairs up-and-coming writers with veteran Nashville publishers, he later won ASCAP’s prestigious Leon Brettler Songwriting Award.
HEADING FOR THE ‘EPICENTER OF MUSIC AND RECORDING’
Indeed, Hitchcock officially moves to Nashville on Sunday with his fiancee, Ashley, ready to immerse himself in the vibrant, teeming community of world-class songwriters, musicians and industry movers and shakers.
“From an industry point of view, Nashville is kind of the epicenter of music and recording. I’ve been traveling there for years anyway. I just feel like it was the right time for me,” he says. “We’ve done so much here in West Michigan and feel like we’ve conquered a lot of stuff, and we want to take it somewhere else. We’ll see what kind of doors we can open down south.”
Before that, however, Hitchcock made a stop at News Talk 1340 AM (WJRW) for Local Spins Live to talk about his plans and play a new Michigan-drenched summer tune, “That’s How Summer Goes,” that he’s “really fired up about” from his most recent EP, “American Fire.” Listen to a podcast of the show here and check out a video of his performance below.
Hitchcock and his band, Small Town Son, also plan a couple of celebratory farewell concerts for West Michigan audiences as he makes the move to Nashville: He’ll open Celebration on the Grand at Ah-Nab-Awen Park in downtown Grand Rapids at 3 p.m. today (Friday), then headlines a much-anticipated show on July 26 at The Intersection, where he’s opened for many a touring country star over the years.
“We’re excited because we grew up playing The Intersection and playing a lot of opening acts for big groups that have come through,” he says. “We’re fired up to bring as many fans from the area as we can over there.” Get tickets and more information about that all-ages show online here.
Hitchcock, 28, certainly has shared stages with the best of Nashville – including Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Justin Moore, Eric Church, Jason Aldean and others – traveling thousands of miles to crisscross the country, playing 200-plus shows a year and creating a real buzz for his music.
THE FRANKIE BALLARD CONNECTION
It’s an impressive record thus far, especially considering that the Grass Lake High School alum unintentionally fell into his country music career thanks to fellow Western Michigan University grad and rising country star Frankie Ballard, who recently scored his first No. 1 country hit.
“Frankie got signed out of Western Michigan when he graduated and his band was left to play some shows without their front guy,” recalls Hitchcock, who knew the band’s drummer.
“I kind of just jumped into the stuff that they had left behind and pieced the band back together and started taking over
those shows. It was an accident at first. We just wanted to keep playing and as I started to do it more often I realized how much more fun it was than sitting behind a computer all day. So I finally quit my job and got after it.”
Hitchcock made his recording debut with Small Town Son in 2010 when he released the self-produced “Burning Good Rubber,” an impressive inaugural foray into West Michigan’s country scene, both as a writer and a performer who’s cultivated a fast-growing audience of young fans.
“I think that country has become the working man’s music for a lot of America, and particularly West Michigan, which has a lot of working people,” he offers. “It’s becoming more corporate, but it’s still very traditional and (has a) hometown feeling. Young people are looking for something that they can talk about, and rock has moved away from what it was before and country has moved into what rock was, which is people’s music.”
He hopes to make further inroads – not only with performing, but seeking recording and publishing deals – as he settles into Nashville, where he’s already played venues such as the prestigious Bluebird Cafe.
“There’s times that I don’t write and I go nuts and feel there’s too many ideas I need to sit down with. But there’s also times that I get on stage on a Friday and I think, ‘Oh man, where have I been for a week? This is where I need to be,’ ” he concedes. “So I don’t want to pick one. I hope I never have to, because I want to keep playing and keep writing all the time.”
For more information about Hitchcock, his touring schedule and links to purchasing his music, visit krishitchcockmusic.com.
Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
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