Adam Sanders has been midwifing stardom and success for Nashville artists for years. He co-wrote the No. 1 hit by Cole Swindell “Ain’t Worth the Whiskey” and was also a co-writer on another chart topper, Dustin Lynch’s “Hell of a Night.” Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley and a number of other artists have recorded his songs.
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That’s all fantastic and Sanders is proud of all those songs, but there’s only one problem. That’s not why he came to Nashville.
Adam Sanders left Lake City, FL for Nashville with the dream of being a country singer. Becoming a big star would be nice, but if he could carve out a career and be able to make a life singing his songs, he’d be a happy camper. That’s why he moved to Music City in 2009. Two years later, he had a songwriting publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog. Not long after he was slingin’ hits with the best of ‘em and became one of Music Row’s hottest young songwriters.
But again, he didn’t just come here to write.
“I moved to Nashville to be an artist,” deadpans Sanders. “Songwriting just happened to be my way of getting my foot in the door and will always be a huge part of my story.
Songwriting surely got his foot in the door but, even with all of his success, his singing aspirations never waned. Now with the release of his new song “Make Em Wanna Change,” that artist dream is ramping up in a big way. Not his first shot behind the mic by a long shot, Sanders has been releasing songs since 2012 and even put out an EP back in 2018. He’s done alright with them too having sold over 70,000 singles, scored over 70 million Spotify streams and his self-titled EP charted at No. 33 on Billboard’s Country Albums.
“Make Em Wanna Change” however, just feels bigger. Bolder. The kind of song that fits so well it feels like it would be a crime if anybody else were singing it.
“Like all my songs, this song was pitched around town for their projects, but everyone just said, “Great song, but this just feels like too much of an Adam Sanders’ song,” which to me showed me that I had established a brand in my sound. After teasing it on my social media accounts and getting such a big response from it, I knew that this had to be the next release.”
Raised during the heyday of 90’s country, that is more than evident in his sound. Real. Authentic. Like a guy who grew up IN real country music and not just around it. Think about the way Garth sounds when he sings. There’s no act there. That’s no facade. That’s just him. It’s who he is. Sanders fits in much the same way.
“I’m a product of the 90s. 90s country is what made me have a dream of being in the music industry someday. So much of my sound stems from that era of music. I love how this song just seems to have a vintage feel but is still very modern in the production. I’ve joked that I felt like I could have heard this song on the Tim McGraw Everywhere album from ’97.”
Photo Credit: Ford Fairchild
