 -Tara Adam Sanders grew up in Florida where he spent much of his youth surrounded by music. During the summers, he spent time in different studios with his uncle, professional musician, Scotty Sanders. Sanders fell in love with the recording process and after high school, moved to Nashville where he was soon writing songs that would be cut by artists like Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan. His previous singles, "Nothin' To Do But Drink" and "Thunder" were well-received by The Highway and Rolling Stone, respectively. Now as Sanders transitions from songwriter to fulfilling his dream of becoming an artist, he is readying the release of his fourth single, "About To." Sanders kindly took the time to talk about the single, what's ahead and more. You came to Nashville right out of high school; being involved in music is something you knew you wanted to do from very early on? Since the day I was old enough to talk, I never had any other dreams or aspirations - moving to Nashville was my only goal. My family, for the most part, all play and sing. They knew I had a love and drive for music and they supported me all the way. As you have written hits for others including Cole Swindell, Dustin Lynch, and Luke Bryan, did you always want to be a songwriter, or was the ultimate dream to be an artist as well? From day one I always wanted to be an artist. I remember around age eleven or twelve, my uncle, who has played with everyone from George Jones to Sam Hunt, encouraged me to start writing songs. So I took a chance and started writing; I had a knack for it and fell in love with the process. Fast Forward a few years later, I’m in Nashville with the right group of guys, writing. Now that you’re transitioning into more of an artist role, how do you choose what songs to keep and what to give to someone else?
When we first started I wrote with the goal to get as many cuts as possible. Now, I look at things more strategically, but I still go into every write with the goal of writing the best song I can write that day - whether it’s for me or someone else. It’s really on a per song basis. Recently, you released a new song, “About To.” Is there a story behind that song? I wrote that song with Josh Kerr and Forest Whitehead, both of whom had a hand in Kelsea Ballerini’s album. Josh had a melody going that felt very cool and as I scrolled through my phone I found the title "About To." I had been with Dustin [Lynch] a few days before the write and knew he was looking for songs for his new album, so I went into the write with the mindset of trying to write for him. We took the approach of writing the song as if Dustin would be singing it, but he ended up not cutting it. My publisher loved the song and really wanted me to do something with it. I was a little gun-shy at first because it was a different type of song than I had previously done, but we decided to go with it. It was cool to experiment with boundaries and go somewhere I haven’t yet been because from day one, I have wanted to show that there are several sides of me; so this song is just another layer to the onion – a side of me as an artist that people haven’t seen yet. Listen to "About To" HERE. Your previous song, "Thunder," and its video were well received by Rolling Stone Country. Will you be releasing a video for “About To?” We just shot one with FlyHi Films, who do Luke, Cole and Dustin’s videos, that we hope to premiere in October. We had several different companies come in and present treatments for the song, but I wanted to try to make the video completely different than what people would expect from the lyrics, which are just so visual. We wanted to put a different meaning to the song and Zach and his team nailed it. So far, you have released four singles. Do you have any plans for an EP or LP? I think maybe later this year we’ll be ready to put out an EP. I know that this business is a marathon, not a sprint, and that I want to be a part of it 20-30 years down the road. So I have to make sure I release music that’s representative of who I am and not follow trends. I want people to know that I’m not just a guy who can sing a ballad or a fun song. I can write it all and eventually, sing it all. I feel like to have a long career you have to pull off all of those things and I definitely want my EP to have several layers to it. Randy Houser, The Cadillac Three, and Easton Corbin are some of the artists you have shared the stage with. Do you have plans to go out on the road for the remainder of 2016? We spent a lot of time on the road opening for friends of mine for a couple years and all of the experiences were amazing, but now I’m trying to balance picking the right shows versus staying in town and writing. This fall, I have shows with Eric Paslay and Cam which will round out the year. And as I transition more to an artist, the ultimate goal is to tour and sell out stadiums. What are your plans for the remainder of 2016? In addition to touring, the video for "About To" will premiere on CMT where I will be a part of their Artist Discovery Program. I remember as a kid watching that channel and thinking, 'One day I'll have a video on there," and now it looks like we’re pretty close. It’s incredible. The next step is to hopefully find a deal and take it to the next level. But right now we’re continuing to build, working hard, trying to get better at what we do and trying to reach people with the music. To keep up to date with Sanders visit his official website Find him on Facebook and Twitter Purchase "About To" here Listen to "About To" HERE.
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