CMT Blog: Thom Schuyler

I guess I'm feeling the need to explain what I'm talking about in the blog I'm fixin’ to write, because questions about where I'm from come up in almost every interview I do. I'm from Texas and live here still. But, in any interview that I do, whether it's with a magazine, a TV station or whatever, this question comes up: "So, what do YOU think about the Nashville music scene vs. the Texas music scene?" I don't know if they are asking me that question just to ask me (because of the obvious geographical differences), or if they are aware of the differences and want me to put my stamp on the answer.

Nashville music and Texas music are, in fact, very different. I love both places to pieces. I live in Texas now, but I'm not saying that someday I won't move to Tennessee. Nashville has been overly spectacularly wonderful to me. They have nice green trees and tons of talented people and meat-and-threes. If you don't know what a meat-and-three is, look it up or ask your favorite Nashvillian and they can tell you.

Well, anyway, here's my answer:

You can ask any Texas girl, but I think we are brought up with a little extra sass down here. I think they put extra sass in the chicken or milk or something, because most all of us have it. It's gotten me in trouble my whole life, but doing this for a living allows me to let it out more than I could if I worked some other type of job. I don't know what it is, and I can't pinpoint it, but if we are staying true to ourselves, like we are taught, then that sass will come across in our music. It may come across more in-your-face than you'd expected, or it might be downright not your style, but once you listen, you are kinda drawn to it, because it's tough, come-and-get-it, raw emotion.

When someone asks me about Nashville music, I say, "Shawn Camp, Jim Lauderdale, Monty Holmes, Radney Foster, Darrell Scott, Thom Schuyler, John Scott Sherrill, Billy Yates, Leslie Satcher, and the list goes on." These are some of my favorite writers behind the hits that the artists are singing. I mean, they live in Nashville, so wouldn't that be classified as Nashville music? These writers have written tons of hit songs for the likes of Josh Turner, the Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack, Sara Evans, George Jones, Faith Hill, Lacy J. Dalton, Martina McBride, and the list I'm sure goes on.

All I'm saying is, check out the behind-the-scenes on the CD booklets. We make those so we can give people the proper credit. I often find myself listening to the original writers’ versions because those are the most raw and in-your-face. I mean, a lot of times, writers are that -- WRITERS. But in this case, all the ones I listed above are singers and performers and musicians as well. They all write what they know and that comes across. Check some of those folks out and let me know what you think. Better yet, try to find some of their live shows. That will get you hooked.