“It’s been three years now but the heartache hasn’t gone away,” he admitted. “These feelings don’t dominate my life. I’m usually a very upbeat person. But I really loved my dad and miss him so much. I can be having a fantastic time, really enjoying myself, laughing, and then a thought of my dad will enter my mind. The fact that he’s not here to share everything with me really hits home.”
Cole has chosen to express some of these emotions in his Hot Country Songs chart and Country Airplay chart number one single, You Should Be Here. It is the title-track from his recently released second studio album which has debuted at number six on the Billboard 200.
“I wanted to write about losing my dad but didn’t want the feeling of the song to be too heavy. That’s why it’s about exactly the kind of situation I just mentioned. In the lyrics, I’m having a great time with friends but this vitally important person is missing.
“For me, it’s about my dad. For others, it could be about anyone they love. The person doesn’t even have to be dead. They might just wish their loved one hadn’t been absent from such a fun time. The song is so personal for me but it’s still accessible to other people on different kinds of levels.”
Unlike his worried mother, Cole’s father had endorsed his decision to leave the family home in Glennville, Georgia, and move to Nashville in search of a career in country music.
“I was a senior at Georgia Southern University working my way towards a marketing degree. My mother expected me to use this to get a safe, steady and well-paid job. I was throwing it all away to head off into the unknown.
“I know my decision broke her heart at the time and I’m sure my dad must have been equally concerned. But he had always encouraged me to follow my dreams and I guess he probably thought he would always have been there to help if things had gone badly wrong.”
Cole’s career choice stemmed from a chance meeting with country music star Luke Bryan.
“Luke had graduated from Georgia Southern before I was there but he had been in the same Sigma Chi fraternity house. He came to visit the house when he performed a concert in Statesboro and we met. I was playing the local fraternity house and club circuit, as Luke did when he was in college. We got on really well and kept in touch.
“It’s amazing how luck plays such an important part in your life. I’d never have met Luke if I’d joined another fraternity house. As it was, I told him about wanting to move to Nashville just at the time when he had a spot open for a merchandise salesman so I walked straight into a steady job.”
The experience gained from watching Luke’s many concerts during a three-year period proved invaluable.
“I could see how fans reacted to certain songs. I realised songwriting might be the way forward for me. I wrote for Scotty McCreery, Craig Campbell, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line and, of course, numerous songs for Luke. Some of them were really big hits and I became established on the country scene.
“I still had to self-release my first single, Chillin’ It. But I played a showcase for record label executives and signed with Warner Bros. Nashville. They took over the promotion of my single. It ended up topping the Hot Country Songs chart, reaching number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling over a million copies.”
His subsequent singles all proved hugely successful as did his 2014 eponymously titled debut album. Cole had made it, he was a star. There was just one problem. His dad didn’t live long enough to witness Cole’s rise to fame.
“He knew I’d become a successful songwriter and signed my record deal. I’m really grateful for that. But I so wish he’d still been alive to see Chillin’ It reach number one.”
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brief
Chevelle
American hard rock trio Chevelle return with their eighth studio album, The North Corridor, on July 8.
The band consists of brothers Pete and Sam Loeffler plus their brother-in-law Dean Bernardini who replaced a third Loeffler brother, Joe, in 2005.
They have sold more than four million albums in the US alone since their formation in 1995. Their last album, 2014’s La Gargola, was Chevelle’s most successful record to date. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and reached pole position on the US Rock, Hard Rock and Alternative Rock charts.
The trio have also enjoyed 14 top ten singles on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart including four number ones.
Joyride (Omen) has just been released as the lead single from The North Corridor. No official video has been made as yet but an audio post of the song has been uploaded by a fan at www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmUJF6Z9tEo
If you enjoy what you hear, all of Chevelle’s previous albums are posted in full on YouTube.
Karmin
No release date has been announced as yet but Karmin will soon return with their sophomore album, Leo Rising.
Married couple Nick Noonan and Amy Heidemann-Noonan have been releasing songs from their forthcoming album over the last 20 months. Many of these were issued exclusively to the free Karmin app. This can be acquired from their website, www.karminmusic.com
Available to everyone though is their latest single, Sugar. The original version was released as long ago as October 2014. But the new single is one of several remixes of the song. It is accompanied by a new video which is posted on the karminmusic website. The 2014 video can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYlVzGUpT0k
Other songs from the new album previously released as singles are Didn’t Know You, Along The Road and Yesterday, although the latter has apparently been removed from the final track listing. Videos were made for each song. They can all be found on YouTube.
The Temper Trap
Australian indie rockers The Temper Trap release their third album, Thick As Thieves, on June 10. It is the follow-up to their self-titled 2012 album which topped the chart in their homeland.
The title-track from their new album was released as the lead single. Although this song met with no great chart success, perhaps better can be expected from the band’s latest single, Fall Together. An official audio is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVlB6eF2Y3A
Although The Temper Trap’s music has continued to sell pretty well throughout much of the world, they have been unable to recapture the enormous global success of their debut single, Sweet Disposition.
Three videos were made for Sweet Disposition. The international version is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxKjOOR9sPU
The American version is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C8e7nNLZNs, while the original Australian video can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZJCU-aLqUw
Their previous two albums, Conditions and The Temper Trap, are posted in full on YouTube.
Mitski
Japan-born but New York-based Mitski Miyawaki releases her fourth studio album, Puberty 2, on June 17.
Two tracks have been issued as singles. The video for Your Best American Girl can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_hDHm9MD0I
Mitski’s latest single, Happy, tells anything but a happy tale. She says of the song; “The nature of happiness is that it passes through and eventually leaves. Then something else, sadness, anger, a low after the high, has to follow.”
There isn’t much high in what is a superbly made video. It depicts a relationship gone wrong which ends with a shocking and gruesome twist. The video is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ0O2vDT0VE
