George Birge was at a crossroads the day he wrote “Mind on You.” In between an artist career and a songwriting career, Birge says the song was penned during an eight-month period where he was “in limbo.”
Videos by American Songwriter
“I was a songwriter,” he tells American Songwriter. “I was trying to get outside cuts from other people. I’d gotten a little bit of nudge from Clay Walker: ‘Hey, man, give the artist thing a try.’ But I still wasn’t totally sure that I was going to do it.”
Birge wrote “Mind on You” about his wife and how he felt when they started dating and how he still feels about her today. He says the song is about “somebody that consumes every thought you have and it’s part of every decision you make. It’s like this borderline infatuation thing.”
[George Birge Shows in 2024 – Get Tickets]
The country singer wrote the song with Colt Ford, Jaron Boyer, and Michael Tyler. He says they all knew it was special the day they wrote it, but he wasn’t doing an artist project at the time and it was different from what Ford does as an artist so they decided to pitch it to Jason Aldean.
“Jason was a huge influence on my sound and I felt like there was a lot of overlap in the way that I learned to write and the music that I listened to from him coming up,” Birge explains.
Birge sent the song to Aldean’s producer and the singer loved what he heard. Within 24 hours, the song was on hold. It was a pivotal moment in Birge’s songwriting career.
“That was super gratifying for me to get that nod of approval from somebody that I idolized,” he says of Aldean wanting to record the song for his album. “That was the biggest thing that ever happened to me at the time. He was fresh off Entertainer of the Year, he’s got sold-out amphitheater tours. I felt like that was my big break as a songwriter and I thought that was the direction I was headed and that was a sign that I’m doing the right thing. But as always in this town, the best-made plans are usually the ones that don’t work out.”
Within six months, Birge started to get some traction with “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” a song he shared on TikTok at Walker’s urging. Soon, he signed a record deal with RECORDS Nashville. When talking about new music with his label head, Birge recalls being told that it was a mistake to give “Mind on You” to Aldean.
[RELATED: George Birge’s Dream Is Realized in Live Performance Video for “Mind on You”]
“He was like, ‘This is going to be your debut single and it’s going to change your life. So you need to call and ask for it back,’” Birge remembers. “Sitting in the chair I am now, having my success with this song and having it change my life is amazing. But also, I look back at that guy that had nothing going on and this was his first ever taste of success having Jason Aldean cut his song. I don’t know what world I was living in that I was crazy enough to ask for that song back and bet on myself who had nothing going on instead.
“It almost feels fated that it happened that way. Jason was super kind, gave me my song back, was excited for me and we just caught wildfire. It ended up being the most added song in America at country radio,” he marvels. “It was a year and a half battle, but kept inching along and now has completely changed my life as an artist.”
“Mind on You” is currently top 5 and rising at country radio. Birge finally met Aldean in person two months ago and was able to thank him in person for his understanding and for giving his song back for the singer/songwriter to record.
“We talked for almost 30 minutes,” Birge says. “He was amazing. He had said he had been watching the song and that he had been rooting for it and he was really excited to see it do what it was doing. Even better than that was he had talked to me about how he’d seen a lot of parallels in his career and what I was doing. He had had a couple of failed record deals out of the gates when he moved to Nashville.
“He talked to me about the live show and going from clubs to theaters to arenas and amphitheaters and what that was like and being true to your brand and being honest in your songwriting and being stubborn in the music that you put out and not sacrificing on that. I left that conversation feeling inspired and feeling 10 feet tall, just having that guy who has basically conquered the world rooting for me and paying attention to what I’m doing and seeing overlaps in what he did and what I did so that was really cool.”
As 2023 comes to a close, Birge is more reflective of the whirlwind and successful year he’s had as a solo artist. Next year marks his 10th anniversary of moving to Nashville and he’s proving the adage of Music City being a ten-year town true as his song is approaching the No. 1 spot on country radio.
“I almost get choked up every time I think about it because it has been the hardest, longest journey of my life,” he admits. “There were several times where I wanted to quit and I wanted to give up and I was very blessed to have my wife and other people in my life that didn’t quit on me and that believed in me chasing this. These last few months have been the best of my life because I don’t have to think about who I am anymore.
“If you have this irrational confidence and have no plan B and you’re honest and you chase it, I think people connect with that. I think people start to root for for you if they know it’s honest and that you’re putting everything you have into it so I feel super honored that [‘Mind on You’ has] taken off the way that has.”
Photo Credit: Rich MGMT / Courtesy Sweet Talk Publicity
