EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Brandon Ratcliff Chats Backstage At CMA Fest

CMA Fest is always a whirlwind of incredible performances and small snatches of time with incredible artists and backstage in the media room here at Music and Tour News we were lucky to grab a few minutes with country artist Brandon Ratcliff to discuss his music, touring plans and more.

So we know that you’ve written with British artists such as Twinnie, that must be a lot of fun being able to work with UK acts?

Yeah, I love Twinnie, she’s amazing and you know I love it. I have not written with a tonne of them although I would like to write with more. There’s her and one other guy named Jon Green. He’s awesome, Jon is one of my favourite guys in town or from the UK to write with. He’s just brilliant, so next level. I have a write with him next week actually, so I’m looking forward to it.

And you have the new album out right now, ‘The Tale of Two Towns’, what was the inspiration behind the title for that LP?

The title and the whole record kind of came from a conversation I was having with my wife which was the hypothetical conversation of like who would I be if I never would have left my hometown versus who I am today. Because I did leave and I asked her one night “Have you ever thought about who we would be if we just never left Cotton Valley, Louisianna?” and she was like “Yeah I have, it’s kinda weird”. I was like “I know, thank God I grew up there, thank God I got out”. And I just kinda said it, not really thinking of a song and I remember kinda hearing myself out loud say that and I was like “Wow, that’s a really interesting thing to say” and I feel like a lot of people probably feel that way. There’s this constant sense of gratitude because you’re like well I am who I am because I grew up there but at the same time I don’t see a future there. And so I went with some good buddies of mine and I told them that idea. I was like “Hey, I got this idea about your hometown, it’s like weird, kind of like a love-hate relationship with your hometown where it’s like you’re glad you grew up there but you’re glad that you got out and the hook would be thank God I grew up there, thank God I got out”. And my buddy like almost without even really thinking about it for five minutes was like “It’s one dot on a map but it’s a tale of two towns. thank God I grew up there, thank God I got out”. And I was like “That’s it, that’s the song”. So as soon as I wrote that we wrote the whole song and I sent it to my management and my manager called me immediately which he rarely does. He’s a man of few words but he called me and was like “Man this is like a whole record, this has got a lot of meat on the bone you should just write all these chapters of this book of your life, and make it your record about the last ten years of your life since you left this town”. And so over the next two years, we proceeded to write it like chapter by chapter. It became sort of the philosophical argument that it’s posing like what is the better version of your life. What are the pros and cons of both of those things? When you leave When you’re the guy that left, what are the things you’re missing out on back home, versus what are the things you’re gaining because you left? And then to the people who are back home, cos I’ve got lots of friends and family who stay there and like trying to understand where they’re coming from too, so that’s kind of the questions that we’re wrestling with on this whole record. It’s going to be a double-volume record so now we’re working on the back half of the record right now and we have some good songs coming and yeah, I’m excited about it.

How have you found the fans are connecting to the music?

I think it has connected more with people than anything I have ever done in the past and I think partly just because it’s real. I think people ultimately know when it’s real and I think people are attracted to your real life so that’s kind of what I challenged myself to do when I wrote this record was be as honest as you can because when you’re doing the Nashville thing you can kind of be trying to write hit songs and write radio stuff and a lot of times that stuff can be like really far removed from your real life like it’s the furthest thing from autobiographical. So the challenge with this record was how do I write something that’s real to me even if it’s uncomfortably real and I did that on every song and I think the feedback that I’ve gotten from the fans is like nothing else that I’ve ever done so it is amazing.

And off the back of this, you’ve recently made your Opry debut what was that like?

It was amazing. I struggle with words with it the whole time and I’m a man of a lot of words but when it comes to things like that I’m like man it’s hard to put it into words. It was surreal. The Opry is a place I grew up going to because my family were in a band called The Cox Family and they played a bunch with people like Alison Kraus, and The Whites and all these people throughout the years that played The Opry. So I grew up walking those halls and going backstage and everything and never once did I think that I would be making my Opry debut. Standing in that circle and getting to sing my own songs was something that I’ll never forget. It was my daughter’s first show toon which was the best way to break her into the music industry and my mom even sang with me so for all those reasons it was a night that I will never forget. And I am looking forward to The Opry having me back anytime they want.

You mentioned your daughter, so how are you juggling fatherhood and your career?

It is tough for sure, first of all, it’s amazing all of the cliche stuff is true. It’s beautiful getting to spend time with my daughter is the thing that I look forward to most. Even right now like I love being away but as soon as I’m away for a few hours I’m like I gotta get back to see her cos she just grows so fast. Her personality is growing and It’s beautiful getting to create a life and to see that life start to grow into a little human. But it is wild juggling it with work and the thing I’m struggling with right now is how to find time to be creative. Because for creatives like you need mental real estate, you need silence and almost like boredom in some way and some time to like bang your head against the wall. And with a baby, that time just does not exist. She’s there and she’s crying or she wants you to hold her or she’s cackling or whatever so I’m hoping that she’ll get to the season soon where she can kind of sit there and hang out with daddy while he works on his songs.

Have you found that becoming a father has been inspiring for you in terms of songwriting though?

Yes, absolutely. It’s been inspiring in a myriad of ways but definitely the songwriting. it’s the most maturing growthful season of my life. Once you become a parent you feel like you’re in this little club and you’re like “Wow, I totally get so much more about life that I didn’t know. that informs your creative process and I’ve already written some songs in that vain that I might be on the second half of this record. So something might spark there.

Do you plan on touring this record?

Yeah, we just went on a little tour in April and May – an eleven-date tour and we’re trying to get out there and do as much touring as possible. I’ve got some dates this fall with Lori McKenna and just hoping to get out there and play as much as I possibly can and get these songs out in front of people.

So, one last question for you. Do you have a message for your UK fans?

First of all, I cannot wait to go to the UK because I have never been. Every year they do the C2C Festival and I’m like “Who do I have to talk to, to get me on this thing”. I want to go so bad. So yeah, I’m looking forward just to go there cos obviously Europe and the UK are places I’ve never been and there are a lot of beautiful places over there and I know the country music scene over there is very vibrant and that’s something any artist loves hearing because to have people who are really passionate about the stuff that you’re passionate about is all you can ask for.

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