Check out our exclusive interview with Craig below and let us know what you think of his new album. Did you pre-order your copy yet? What’s your favorite Craig Campbell tune?

 Do you feel like there’s a big difference with your new album when compared to your last?

Not a big difference. There’s definitely a different just in some of the things I’m talking about; the subject matter and topics. The production is a little bigger, it’s going to sound bigger on your radio. That was our goal, we wanted it to keep it the same but make it different.. if that’s at all possible. I think we’ve pulled it off.

Have you been surprised at all with the success of “Outta My Head”?

Not at all. I guess the surprise with me is that it ain’t doing better than it is. It’s really close to being in the top 30, and we’ve really worked hard to get the single up there. I’m thinking that once it gets into the top 30 it’s going to take off. I’m not surprised at all, it’s a hit song.

Is there a song that you consider to be your favorite on the new record?

You know, there’s a couple of them on there that I have special connections to. We listen to hundreds and hundreds of song to try to narrow it down to these twelve, all twelve were favorites, so it’s hard to just pick one of them. “When She Grows Up” is a special song to me, I wrote that about my little girls. “When Ends Don’t Meet” is a song about the struggles of  a husband and wife and making it work while still having each other to lean on. It’s very much me and my wife.

Each song has a meaning behind it and there’s a reason why it’s on the album.

Now, you wrote with your wife on one of the tracks…

Yeah, we wrote a song called “Topless.” Which, you know, if there’s going to be somebody to write that song with, it’s perfect to have my wife with me on it.

How special was it to have one of your daughters open up “When She Grows Up”?

Oh, that’s what I wanted. I’ve had that recording for a couple of years now and I have been waiting for the perfect spot to put it. When we recorded “When She Grows Up,” it was perfect, and I sent it to my producers and said “y’all, we really need to put this on this song, whether it be on the front or the end.” I am so glad that it made it on the album.

How was Europe and were you surprised about country fans overseas?

I wasn’t surprised, I’ve just never been so I didn’t know what to think. They love, love, love country music over there, and actually, they love more of a traditional sound. They had me and Martina McBride, and between the two of us I think they got what they wanted. I had some fun over there, that’s for sure.

You’ve been on some pretty tours, but do you have a favorite story about Luke Bryan or Blake Shelton?

I’ve only been at one show of Blake’s, but Blake and Luke were both at that one. I’ve done seven or eight shows this past year with Luke. I will say that there was this festival and I was there, Justin Moore, Lee Brice, and Luke were there. Anyways, when I was doing my set Luke came out, he didn’t tell me he was coming out, but he came out without his shirt on so I immediately became invisible to all those girls. All they saw was Luke with his shirt off.. but it was pretty cool.

So, how did you come up with your album title? Is there a special meaning behind choosing “Never Regret”?

Well, there is a song on the album titled “Never Regret.” Ironically, the title of the album and that song really don’t have anything in common. I thought about it and thought about just me and my journey while I’ve been in Nashville, and all the decisions I’ve made, and all the thing I’ve done, that have brought me here. I love where I am and I don’t regret anything I’ve done. I live my life and that’s the way I try to run my career: no regrets, I never regret anything I do.

You co-wrote six of the songs on this record, is it important to you to write your own songs?

You know, its important I think to be able to throw those songs on there and try to give my perspective, to see how I feel about certain things. At the same time, even if I wrote it or not, I try to sing the songs I can relate to and I feel like we’ve chose twelve really great songs and I just got lucky that six of them were mine.

Now this one is a little bit more of a fun question, if you could hit the road on your dream tour.. who would you hit the road with?

Now everybody wants to tour with George Strait, especially now that he’s on his last Cowboy Rides Away Tour. I’d love to be on that one. I’ve done several shows with Luke, but it’s always fun to get down with him. I’ve done several with Alan Jackson, but its always a blast. It don’t matter to me, man, as long as there’s somebody out there to listen to me sing.

If you could write with anybody, past or present, who would it be?

Oh, wow. Past or present… Kris Kristofferson would be neat to write with, just to say “I wrote a song with Kris Kristofferson.” It may suck, but hey.

I saw that respect is a big thing for you, can you share a little bit why?

Well, respect is something that I was always taught, whether it was with my elders or just the female being, to respect my momma and my fans. I think my fans deserve respect too by just dressing up. Whenever they come to a show, they spend money on tickets, and I just think it’s important for me to look my best. I don’t know if that has anything to do with respect, but.

I read that “Outta My Head” was actually sent to you by mistake. Is that true?

Well, it was already on hold by another artist. Another artist was going to record it, but we called those guys and said “hey, we’re going into the studio next week,” and they were gracious enough to give it to us to record that same week.

—

Craig Campbell’s “Never Regret” will be released on May 7th. Pre-order your copy now through iTunes or Craig’s official site.

Reach out to Craig on Twitter – @craigcampbelltv – or Facebook.com/craigcampbelltv.

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Shortly after the release of his sophomore record and in honor of his late father, Craig will host the inaugural Celebrity Cornhole Challenge to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation’s colon cancer research efforts. The announcement of June’s event comes at a timely moment as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is coming to a close.

“This tournament will benefit colon cancer awareness and research, which I am very passionate about,” states Campbell. With a smile in his eyes, he continues, “my father passed away at the age of 36 from the disease, and what better event to benefit colon cancer care than a ‘Cornhole’ tournament.”

Just last week, Craig joined Alan Jackson to perform at the Stars Go Blue concert in Nashville to benefit the Colon Cancer Alliance.

Check out Craig’s official album cover below. Which album are you picking up on May 7th?

Craig Campbell’s official cover for Never Regret.

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After moving from his hometown of Lyons, Georgia to Nashville in 2002 to pursue his country music dreams, American Country Awards nominee Craig Campbell quickly picked up work as a keyboardist in Luke Bryan and Tracy Byrd’s bands and was later discovered playing a regular gig at legendary Nashville honky-tonk, The Stage. Since signing with Bigger Picture, he has entertained crowds across the U.S., Australia and Switzerland and performed for national TV audiences on Fox & Friends, Huckabee and Marie and has been profiled in HLN’s series Road Warriors.

The singer-songwriter has earned well-deserved praise from the country’s toughest critics for his 2011 self-titled debut album, which has sold more than a half-million tracks. Campbell’s autobiographical lead single, “Family Man” was a top 15 hit followed by fan-favorite “Fish.” His current smash “Outta My Head” is the title track to his recently released 5-song digital EP and the lead single from his sophomore album, set to release this spring.

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Craig recently released his Outta My Head EP which includes brand new songs from his upcoming sophomore album plus his newest hit single “Outta My Head.” The Outta My Head EP is available everywhere digital music is sold and an exclusive version of the EP is available for fans to purchase at Walmart stores nationwide.

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Craig Campbell’s official album art for his Walmart-released Outta My Head EP.

Outta My Head “Walmart Exclusive” EP – Official Track Listing

1. “Outta My Head” (Brandon Kinney, Michael Carter, Cole Swindell)
2. “Keep Them Kisses Comin’” (Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip)
3. “This Old Guitar” (Craig Campbell, Rob Hatch, Jason Sellers)
4. “You Can’t Drown Misery” (Craig Campbell, Jameson Clark, Rob Hatch)
5. “Family Man” -Live from Gstaad, Switzerland (Craig Campbell, Jon Henderson, Joel Shewmake)
6. “Fish” -Live from Gstaad, Switzerland (Craig Campbell, Arlos Smith, Ashe Underwood)

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KIC: For those readers who may be ‘meeting’ you for the first time in this blog, can you give us a little bit of a back story as to how you became a singer/songwriter?

CC: You know, I’ve always played music as far back as I can remember.  I always played piano for my church.  So, it’s something that’s always been inside and I needed an outlet.  Long story short, I moved to Nashville in 2002.  Started playing on Broadway, a little piano for different people.  Played piano for Luke Bryan for awhile; played for Tracy Byrd.  And, I was writing songs and singing demos and trying to find my way here in Nashville, and finally in 2008, I met Keith Segal and Michael Powers and we made a record, and here we are on album two. 

KIC: We know breaking into the music industry can be grueling. Tell us about what you had to do to make your dream come true!

CC:  You know, when I first moved here, I worked at an apartment complex doing maintenance.  And then I met my wife, or soon-to-be wife back then, and I lost my job at the apartments and she owned a tanning salon, so I just, you know, she put me to work cleaning beds and signing people in, and I did that for awhile and we bought a Sprint PCS cell phone store, did that for awhile, weird stuff. Then I just started singing demos and I was making really really good money singing demos here in Nashville.

KIC: Where were you the first time you heard your own voice singing on the radio? What went through your head in that moment?

CC:  Well, I was in between Atlanta and Chattanooga when I first heard Family Man on the radio for the first time, and at first it was, we had the volume turned down so it was background noise and I said wait, I know this song, and then I thought maybe the CD was in, and then I realized no it was not.  There were three of us in the car, and when one of us realized it was on the radio, all of us realized it and we turned it up as if we were a bunch of idiots running down the road singing it to the top of our lungs as if we never heard it before. And it was a good day.

KIC: Be honest, do you turn the radio up and sing along when you hear yourself on the radio?!

CC: No no, shoot, anytime my song comes on the radio, I turn it up and make sure everybody hears it!

KIC: When you are writing songs, from where do you draw your inspiration?

CC: Inspiration is all around me. My little girls, my wife, just things – life in general – past, present, things I want to do.  It’s country music, I think.  It’s at least how I look at it.  It’s inspiration all over the place.

We know that Luke Bryan had a hand in you writing music to perform yourself. Have you ever written with Luke?

CC:  No, me and Luke have never written together.  He’s the type of person, at least from what I’ve gathered, he has his own formula, and you know, it’s the same way with me, since I’ve been writing songs, I have a handful of people I write with and I enjoy it and I know we write good songs together, and uh, and as an artist, it’s hard to really branch out and start writing with new people because of the lack of time.  When I’m home, I want to either spend it with my family, or spend it with somebody I know I have a relationship with and we can write songs and not waste our time kinda thing.

KIC: Your wife, Mindy, is also a country singer, correct? Any plans for the two of you to write or record together?

CC: Yes, she sings and writes.  We write together every now and then.  We’ve written a song that I think is going to make my new album called “Topless,” but as far as recording, we’ll see.  That’s always been something we’ve wanted to do.  Hopefully the opportunity presents itself pretty soon. 

Tell us the truth, does Mindy fish?

CC: Of course she does.  What are you talkin’ about?!

KIC: Speaking of Fish, when you were writing and recording that track, did you automatically know it was going to be a hit?

CC: No, we didn’t.  We finished it and realized that we did have a good song, but then it wasn’t until I started playing it out live and playing it on my radio tour that we realized it was an actual radio hit. 

KIC: Which well-known artists inspire you in your own career?

CC: I was a huge Travis Tritt fan and Alan Jackson, and basically all the early 90’s guys.  Clint Black and Tracy Lawrence and what not.  It’s just all those guys had a big, big influence on me and my career.

When on tour, what are some of your favorite things to do, other than performing?

CC: We play a lot of golf.  We play a lot corn hole.  I take my boat out with me.  Target practice every now and again.

KIC: What about your most embarrassing moment on stage? We know you have one!

CC:  You know, I haven’t ahd any big embarrassing moments YET.  I haven’t fell.  I now that’s going to happen one day, it’s inevitable, but I haven’t had any crazy things happen yet, but I’m sure it’s around the corner somewhere.  I opened up a show for Luke Bryan in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and it was about 7,000 people there and I had all my guys wear Alabama Crimson Tide t-shirts, but they all put them underneath the shirts they had on, so about half way through the show, I had them all walk up to the front and basically rip their shirts off and underneath was the Alabama stuff and the crowd went crazy.  And, me, at the end of the show, before my encore, I went backstage and changed into an Alabama shirt and I also wore a Bear Bryant hat, came back out, the place went nuts, and before the show was over, I signed the Bear Bryant hat and threw it out into the audience.

KIC: You have said that your single “Outta My Head” was a hit as soon as you first heard it.  What stood out to you the most about that track?

CC: The guitar lick was pretty catchy.  And just the story.  The line right before the hook “I got you off these walls; I got you out of my bed; but I’m no better off; can’t get you outta my head” and I thought was brilliant and I listened to that song a couple times and I was singing that line over and over and over throughout the rest of the day and I was hooked. For me, that was a perfect storm for a hit song.

KIC: You just released your video for “Outta My Head” … How do you go about creating the stories for your videos?

CC:  That was all Mason Dixon.  He wrote the treatment and we just approved it and went in and did an amazing job.  He definitely had the exact idea of how the song should be portrayed on screen and we executed it and I think it turned out great. 

KIC: How did it feel the first time you heard that one of your own singles hit the charts?

Oh it was, shoot, a big deal.  I got a call from Luke Bryan one night and he said “Hey, just want to all and tell you congratulations on being Top 40.  It was back when Family Man first went to Top 40 and I said “I appreciate it” and he said “There’s a lot of people who would love to have a Top 40 song, just be thankful” and I said “I am.”  It was just sorta cool that Luke Bryan would call and congratulate me.

Quickfire:

Fishsticks or tuna fish? Tuna fish

Favorite country song? “Anymore” – Travis Tritt

Last song played on your iPod? Rick Trevino “Doctor Time”

What is your guilty pleasure? My Harley

True or false: You are wearing pajamas and a cowboy hat right now. That’s false

And, finally, a few quick holiday questions:

Fake tree or real tree? Fake

What type of cookies do you leave out for Santa? Chocolate chip

What gift are you hoping to find under your (fake/real) tree this year? Hopefully a new hat rack for my…I got a couple new cowboy hats and I don’t have nowhere to put them.

We would like to thank Craig and his promotional team for setting up this interview.  We absolutely loved speaking with him and getting to know more about him, his family, and his career.  Everyone make sure to pick up the special five-track EP of “Outta My Head,” available today!

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“Outta My Head” is a high-octane up-tempo track with an evocative lyric that describes the struggle of lost love. Produced by Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band) and Matt Rovey and written by Brandon Kinney, Michael Carter, and Cole Swindell, the mesmerizing track showcases Campbell’s rich, warm baritone and expansive range.  The single is available for purchase HERE.

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Craig’s new single is a co-write by Brandon Kinney, Michael Carter, and Cole Swindell. It was produced by Keith Stegall (Zac Brown Band, Alan Jackson) and Matt Rovey. It’s a high-octane track that shares the story of lost love, showing off Craig’s vocal range.

Craig will be hurrying back to the United States after his dates in the Swiss Alps. His next American show is September 25th in Atlanta, Georgia.

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“I really want to blow Miles & Music out this year and make it bigger than ever,” said Bentley.  ”We’ve had the chance to help a lot of communities across the country, but the heart and soul of this event is in downtown Nashville with Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the artists and friends who come out and help us raise money. It’s my favorite thing we do all year.”

Beginning at Harley-Davidson of Columbia (1616 Harley Davidson Blvd., Columbia, TN), the event will consist of a one-hour scenic ride that will finish up at downtown Nashville’s Riverfront Park. The fun doesn’t stop there: after the show, Dierks will hold a concert with special guests Sheryl Crow, Chris Young, Brantley Gilbert, The Cadillac Black and Craig Campbell. More artists will be added to the lineup in the next few weeks.

Fans can purchase tickets for the ride, concert and commemorative T-shirt for $50. Those looking to attend the concert only can purchase tickets for $20.  Special VIP packages are also available.

All proceeds from the event will benefit Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 17th at 10:00A CT through TicketMaster. For more ticket info, visit www.dierks.com.

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