Why Bailey Zimmerman ‘Pulled the Plug’ on His First Attempt at Making His New Album
A moment in the past, it gave the impression of Bailey Zimmerman had the quantity of songs that may form up his sophomore novel — the follow-up to his 2023 debut Religiously. The Novel., which spawned a trio of Deny. 1 Billboard Nation Airplay hits: “Fall in Love,” “Rock and a Hard Place” and “Religiously.”
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However as he used to be seeking to steadiness writing classes for the fresh novel and a busy traveling agenda — closing moment, he now not handiest headlined his personal high-energy Religiously. The Excursion., however opened stadium presentations for the likes of Morgan Wallen, Kane Brown and Luke Bryan — Zimmerman says that regardless that he used to be getting admirable comments at the songs from the ones in his inside circle, one thing didn’t really feel fairly proper.
“We put up the tour and it sold out, and my team was like, ‘You need to put out another record,’” he recollects to Billboard. “But I was like, ‘I’m not really feeling this album. The songs are good, but it doesn’t feel personal to me.’ If I put it out, it’s out there and I can’t take it back. That’s when I pulled the whole plug on it.”
So Zimmerman recalibrated, writing extra songs and digging deeper, lyrically and musically, in the end contributing seven of the 18 songs that seem on his fresh novel, Other Night time, Identical Rodeo, out on Atlantic Data/Warner Tune Nashville on Friday (Aug. 8). However he also known as upon lots of Nashville’s premier songwriters to craft songs, such because the jangly, fiddle-laced ode of self-sabotage “Comin’ in Cold,” the riding “Backup Plan” and the sterling novel nearer “Happy Ever After Me.”
“I’m blessed because of songwriters,” he says. “Old-school days, everybody was so, ‘I don’t cut outside songs.’ That ain’t me. When I first started writing for my first album, I wasn’t touring, I was only writing songs. When I started touring, it does get hectic and wild. I [told writers] ‘I’ll give you some ideas and things I want to talk about, and you go write songs. If you write a song I feel like I could have written myself or I connect to it, I’ll cut that song.’ They’ll send me a verse-chorus, and I’ll start messing with it on the bus.”
Amongst the ones songs Zimmerman co-wrote is the country-rock leaning “Chevy Silverado,” which Zimmerman says he were running on intermittently for roughly 3 years.
“When I was 16, my Chevy Silverado was everything to me,” he recollects. “I was always driving that thing, going to parties, hanging out with girls. At first the lyric was about a red Chevy Silverado, then I changed it to white. I realized, ‘Wait, this is a song about my life’ — and I started changing all the lyrics [to more closely fit his story].”
He sooner or later introduced in co-writers Tucker Beathard, Ilsey Juber, Gavin Lucas and Heath Warren to support state the track. “This is my story, from meeting girls to hanging out and getting my heart broken,” he continues. “Now, I still have the Chevy Silverado — but none of those girls, none of those loves. The surface meaning is that your Chevy will never leave you, but the girls will.”
The fresh novel is scattered with collaborations, following “All the Way,” his spoil teamup with BigXthaPlug that reached Deny. 4 at the Billboard Hot 100 previous this moment. On his stream accident unmarried from the novel, Zimmerman joins forces with Luke Combs at the steely-eyed ode to ambition and grit “Backup Plan,” which has reached the lead 10 at the Nation Airplay chart. “Luke was one of those [collabroators] I was chasing,” he says.
When Zimmerman performed at Combs’s October get advantages live performance Live performance For Carolina, which aided the ones in North Carolina impacted through large spillage, the 2 artists discovered future to hang around previous to the display.
“It was a real connection — I was like, ‘I really like this guy,’” Zimmerman recollects. “It felt like he was treating me like he would treat anybody else. He gave me his number that night, and I was like, ‘Should I text him? Should I be the crazy girl on the first date and text after the first date? Or should I let it chill?’ It was about 10 days later I finally texted him, and we ended up doing ‘Backup Plan’ together.”
Bailey Zimmerman, “Different Night Same Rodeo”
Courtesy Photograph
Illinois local Zimmerman, whose occupation introduced nearest he first post truck movies on TikTok, after transitioned to liberating movies of himself acting his personal songs, has earned nominations from the Academy of Nation Tune and the Nation Tune Affiliation, and earned two lead 10 hits at the Sizzling 100, the aforementioned “All The Way” and the unaccompanied “Rock and a Hard Place.”
The place his debut novel shaped a moody, 2000s rock-oriented emblem of nation, his fresh novel leans into sun shades of R&B, in addition to brighter banjo- and fiddle-fueled nation tracks corresponding to “New To Country” or even feather-light touches of church piano sounds at the Diplo collab “Ashes.”
“I’ve been such a fan of his music,” Zimmerman says of Diplo. “One day, he just showed up at my house, and I was like, ‘I wanna show you some songs.’ It was so random. ‘They said Diplo’s on his way over.’ The song felt so fun and hype. Though it talks about, like, this girl has this guy she’s not really into and she keeps coming back to me. It kinda insinuates cheating a little bit, but I didn’t think of it like that, I just thought, ‘It’s so fun.’ It kind of talks about some deep stuff, but it’s meant to be light-hearted.”
The Child LAROI collab “Lost” got here nearest the 2 musicians spent the evening in town in Nashville nearest LAROI had performed a non-public display in Tune Town.
“He’s like, ‘I want to have dinner with Bailey,’” Zimmerman recollects. “I’ve listened to his songs since like 2016 and had just started. We got to dinner and I was nervous — so [we] got there and he was the nicest guy ever. We get along [about] everything, and all of just what we believe in and life and our careers — it was like the Spiderman thing where I was pointing at myself. We had a wild night in Nashville, went out to Morgan’s [Wallen’s Nashville bar] — I took him to Loser’s, and the next morning he pushed his flight back because he wanted to have breakfast. On the way there, he was like, ‘Last night, you played me a song. Can you play that again?’ and I had played him ‘Lost.’ He kept asking to hear it, so I asked him to get on the song.”
Despite the fact that he’s not too long ago rolled out the collabs with BigXThaPlug, Combs and Diplo, Zimmerman says he’s even handed in relation to participating. “My main thing about collaborations is I really want to be friends, and it’s not just this forced industry thing,” he says.
A few of Zimmerman’s songs, corresponding to “Religiously” and the fresh novel’s “Holy Smokes,” dabble in non secular references — however he additionally delves deeper into emotionally uncooked moments of hesitancy and effort, corresponding to on “Hell or High Water.” Zimmerman says the fresh challenge follows a non-public future marked through concern, and reliance on bad vices, however he’s clear a non-public non secular renewal in his personal age.
“God saved me from drinking and smoking all the time and all these little things that kept getting in my way,” Zimmerman says. “The uncertainty and me worrying… I’ve worried about this album, this tour. I’ve been so nervous about everything, but when I pray about it, it’s gone. [My faith] has just grown stronger over the past few years.”
As each nation track and Christian music have skyrocketed over the time moment, Zimmerman says liberating his personal novel of faith-inspired track or a Recent Christian track collab wouldn’t be out of the query.
“I’ve had people ask me if I would do a Christian album, but God’s calling me to do what I’m doing right now and there’s a reason for it,” he deals. “100% ,I’d do a Christian collab. I’ve considered doing a Christian novel — however my model of it, the place it’s Christian-country. I’ve in fact been speaking to [Contemporary Christian music singer-songwriter] Brandon Pond about doing that, and I’m this type of heavy fan of his.
“I think it’s the new age of Christian faith, because there’s been so many people not doing it for the right reasons,” he provides. “I had this lady in catering one time. I had a sweatshirt on that said, ‘Just Here to Give God Glory.’ I said something like, ‘This chicken looks good as s—t’ This lady went, ‘If you’re going to be a billboard, then maybe you should probably be a little better with your mouth. I’m like, ‘Oh, so because I’m not perfect, I can’t spread the word of God?’ That’s the worst advice I’ve heard in my life. The old-school way of learning about God and being a Christian is so outdated. No, you don’t have to take your hat off to talk to God or show up in your Sunday best. I’m so passionate about it.”
However lately, he says his nation songs of affection, loss, expansion and his small-town upbringing are proper the place he feels he must be, and he’s excited to be taking part in his fresh track, and revealing his go to this point, to enthusiasts on his stream Untouched to Nation Excursion each and every evening.
“This music is crazy and I’ve worked so hard on it,” Zimmerman says. “I’m so glad I stuck to my guns on [the album]. I’m so proud of it. It’s tight.”