Spotify: Mic Check Bonus Episode: Rising Country Star Corey Kent

Spotify will release a special bonus episode in its original podcast series “Spotify: Mic Check,” a series aimed at connecting fans with the world’s biggest creators from around the globe through exclusively intimate conversations. In this episode, rising country artist Corey Kent opens up about his journey from a small-town boy to a bona fide country star. 

You can listen to the full episode here.

From living on Five-Dollar Footlongs from Subway and sleeping in his truck to chasing his Nashville dreams, Corey Kent’s rollercoaster career has read like the lyrics of a country music song. In this deeply personal interview, Corey opens up about playing in a Western Swing band as a child, experiencing rejection at every turn in his music career, balancing fatherhood and music, the audacious stunt that led to him performing with Willie Nelson, to getting featured on the cover of Spotify’s Hot Country playlist (7.49M Likes).

Available to stream for free exclusively on Spotify, please see below for interview highlights in the episode. Corey Kent on being in a Western Swing band at age 11 and the sub-genre’s origins. “So Western Swing is this type of music that really became popular during the Dust Bowl. First off, I had no idea what Western Swing music was when I got asked to be a part of this band. There were some Hall of Famers that took me under their wing and there was nine of us, all under the age of 15. A nine-piece band, and they made it their mission to educate us on what Western Swing was…The music is like if you could infuse jazz with traditional old-school country.”

Corey Kent on being rejected from Oklahoma State’s music program and enrolling in business school there instead. “So I've approached music like a business as a consequence, which has been really helpful. But no, I don't have any formal training, I don't have any vocal training. It's just whatever sounded good, whatever felt right is what we've put onto these records. And I've had some really prolific, highly educated musicians tell me, ‘Hey, man, don't lose that.’ Now, at this point, if you go back, and you try to learn the theory, you probably end up overthinking a lot of things as opposed to just making music that people like yourself relate to." And that's really what it boils down to is I'm the most normal dude ever making music for people like me.”

Corey Kent on playing a sold-out Cain’s Ballroom show and the legacy of the venue. “You know, that legendary people cut their teeth there, and they're still playing there. Like, I saw Willie Nelson play there. Everybody from Kings of Leon to the Rolling Stones, and I think I'm nostalgic about it because that was where my first ever show was. I was 11 years old playing to a sold-out Cain's Ballroom. And it was for me, the venue that as a kid, I was trying to sneak in and hear concerts, and I'd get kicked out, and then I'd put my ear up to the door and listen to the concert.”

Corey Kent on spontaneously performing with Willie Nelson as a teenager. “It was the coolest moment of approval from a hero that you could ever imagine. I remember going, you know, ‘Nobody who's 16 is at this concert right now. Nobody from my high school is here. Nobody's going to believe that this moment happened. My uncle's getting a beer and nobody's here to witness this.’ There's a moment in the song where they take a guitar solo. I back away from the mic and pull out my phone. I'm like, ‘I got to get proof of this.’ And I take a photo, but I'm shaking so badly that you can't even tell who's in the photo. It's just a blur, like just a bunch of blobs on the stage.”

Corey Kent on living on five dollars a day and turning down his first publishing deal. “I was eating for five bucks a day. I didn't have a place to stay, I didn't have a refrigerator, so I just had to wing it and make ends meet. And then, a couple of years into being there, I ended up getting a publishing deal. But it was after a few other big other things happened in my life. I turned down a record deal in 2017. It's the only, only record deal I'd ever been offered. And I remember going, ‘I can't. I'm not the guy. Like, not the guy for this.’ So I walked away from that, and my whole family thought I was crazy. The only person that didn't think I was crazy was my now wife.”

Corey Kent on being the cover of Spotify’s Hot Country Playlist, “In two years to go from pavement company to the cover of the biggest baddest country playlist, with the guys that you listen to as a fan, grew up listening to on the radio, and bought tickets to their concerts. This is the playlist that they hope to get on. And you're the face of it? Crazy.”

Corey Kent on balancing fatherhood and career as a rising country musician. “First off, I don't think that there is such a thing as balance when you do what we do. Something gets compromised either way, whether that's shows or podcasts or me being at a soccer game. But what I try to do is, I try to project 20 years out. And 20 years from now, am I going to be more regretful for missing my daughter's soccer game or missing out on this show and this payday? And 100% of the time, ‘20 years from now, I'm going to wish I was there making those memories with my family.’ And that doesn't mean that you can be there every time, but when it comes down to it, 'do I spend the extra money to fly home for the 24 hours?' Absolutely. Yeah. Every time.”

You can listen to the full episode here.