Interview: Corey Smith chats about the making of his latest album, ‘While the Gettin’ is Good’

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We sat down with singer-songwriter Corey Smith at the Rock The South Festival just a few days before his latest release, While the Gettin’ Is Good, hit stores. After 9 albums, and an impressive track record of independent success, Smith was ready to push the boundaries of creative freedom and take his music to the next level with this new record.

Despite self-producing his previous albums, Smith teamed up with veteran producer Keith Stegall to work on While the Gettin’ is Good. The decision to call in Stegall arrived after the first two sets of songs that Smith laid down the tracks for failed to meet his expectations for the album.  Smith says, “I felt like I really needed to work with somebody of Keith caliber to really help me get to where I wanted.”

Stegall was a natural choice for the project given his track record of working with artists who have managed to evolve sonically while still staying true to their artistry, like Alan Jackson and Zac Brown Band. Experience in helping artists pivot, yet maintain their identity, was important to Smith considering his well-established understanding of who he is as an artist. “He understood. He didn’t question me,” Smith explains. “He let me do my part.”

In addition to having a different producer, Smith switched up the tracking process for this album by bringing his road band in to play in the studio. “That was another important thing to me, that Keith was happy to do,” Smith says. “I wanted to use my band. They know me better than anybody else.” The benefit of that change, Smith explains, is that the record “sounds a lot more like what our live show sounds like and it’s mostly the acoustic guitar is out there on every mix.”

Smith’s acoustically driven sound serves as the unifying force between the songs on While the Gettin’ Is Good, which he wrote across a 5 year span of time. “One thing that was lost because of the songs being written over such a long period of time is that there’s not a a lot of thematic glue in the lyrics, but sonically, I think that glue is there.”

A sense of cohesion was important to Smith considering that his career has been built on creating unified albums.  “I’m not much of a singles writer,” he says. “I’ve never had a hit single.” Though he confesses that a hit single would definitely would be a welcome accomplishment, not being defined by one song opens up space for creative freedom. “I enjoy not having to fit a mold,” he says. Smith’s willingness to take risks and evolve explains why fans are still excited to listen to his music and eager to hear his tenth studio album.

Check out While The Gettin’ is Good on iTunes

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