Craig Campbell is reconnecting with his voice in music. In February 2023, Campbell released The Lost Files: Exhibit A, his first album in a decade. He introduced the project with the lead single “Tractor Songs,” which was written solely by Walker Hayes.
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When he’s not working on music, Campbell can be found helming two businesses: his own indie label, Grindstone Recordings, and the Grindstone Cowboy coffee shop that he runs with his wife Mindy Campbell in Eagleville, Tennessee. Campbell recently spoke with American Songwriter about The Lost Files, what inspired the coffee shop, how he’s applied his artist career to being CEO of his label and more.
American Songwriter (AS): How did you get connected with Walker Hayes? I know he specifically pitched you “Tractor Songs.”
Craig Campbell (CC): I’ve known Walker a very long time. I think when he was signed with Capital in 2011, he had a song that came out and that was when “Family Man” came out for me, so basically kind of hit the scene around the same time and we’ve stayed friends. I’ve always been a fan of his. I think he’s a great singer, great entertainer, songwriter, musician, producer, all of that, and just always been in awe of his talent.
We ran into each other last year at a cancer concert down in Florida and we were talking and he’s like, ‘Dude, I got this song I’d love to send you. I think it’s the perfect Craig Campbell song.’ And I said, ‘Well, send it to me.’ “Tractor Songs” was a no-brainer. It spoke to me in a way that not many songs do, just because of where I am in my life and the things I think are important. If you listen to the lyrics of “Tractor Songs,” it’s very much where I am, me and my wife and my kids, and the priorities that I have.
This has actually been my philosophy from the time I moved to Nashville: I just wanted to play music and pay my bills. I wanted to be able to do what I love to do and make a living out of it. Making music is the most important thing to me [and] to make sure that my family’s proud of it and proud of me. It goes hand in hand. At the end of the day, if all I had was my wife and my kids and an old farmhouse on some little bit of acreage and a place to settle down and live and be free and, that’s what the song’s all about.
AS: You recently released The Lost Files: Exhibit A, your first album in 10 years. What was the process like writing and collecting songs?
CC: It’s been fun. A lot of these songs that are on this record were recorded with those record deals that I had and so I loved them enough to record them, to begin with, but for whatever reason, those songs never were released. So when I left those record deals, I was able to take the songs with me. I didn’t feel like those songs needed to be buried on a hard drive, so why not let ’em out?
“Sounds Like a Small Town” is a special song. “That’s How We Get Down” is a special song. “God and the Ground” was a song that I heard probably 20 years ago and I’ve loved it from day one. I love it as much today as I did the first time I heard it. A lot of times, you’ll record a song and then time will go by and it don’t hit you the same way, but this one has stood the test of time and that made me pay attention a little more to that song. It’s one of my favorites on that record.
AS: What inspired you to start your own label, Grindstone Recordings? What lessons did you learn being on other labels that you brought into this new endeavor?
CC: Me and my manager Maddy were saying, ‘Why don’t we offer this service to some other up-and-coming acts that moved to Nashville that are super talented, but don’t know what to do? They might have some resources, but they don’t have the direction.’ So that’s where we ended up signing Ethan Payne and Cody Cozz to offer that direction with the resources that they have and help them out with that. I’ve learned a lot. One of the biggest things I’ve learned from being signed to record deals is it’s important to me being that I was the artist, and now if you look at Grindstone Recordings as a record label, I know what’s important to the artist. Taking everything away from the artist on a creative level is something I’ll never do. I think that’s important for the artist to be able to say, ‘I want to cut this song’ and me say, ‘If you love it, then that’s all that matters.’”
AS: You and your wife opened up Grindstone Cowboy coffee shop in your hometown of Eagleville, Tennessee. What inspired that idea and how is it being a business owner?
CC: I had the name and I thought about, ‘Maybe this would be a cool name for a coffee shop.’ A couple of years passed by and I’m thinking, ‘Maybe we should open a coffee shop’ and my wife didn’t love that idea [laughs. I wouldn’t let it go. So eventually she was like, ‘OK, let’s do it, but we got to have this and this and this.’ I said, ‘OK, let me see if I can make all that happen’ and ended up making all that happen for her.
Over time, I started paying attention to coffee shops. I’d go to the airport and you’d see a line that you’d waiting, waiting for an hour for a cup of coffee and I didn’t quite understand it. Then I started doing some research and I found out that people love coffee and it’s more of a community. Doing some research, I realized that the coffee shop business is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the country. So then I’m like, ‘What do I need to do to make it successful?’ So I started looking at what would keep us from being successful, and competition was one. Then I realized that we didn’t have any of that. Location is key and I felt like the place that we picked out was perfect. It was about a three-year process, but we tried to take out as many ‘no’s as possible and we felt really good about it.
It’s been a blessing. It’s everything we dreamed it would be. To be honest, doing the music thing and touring and all that stuff this place would not be what it is without Mindy, my wife, running it. My greatest fear opening this place and then me having the continued music and touring and all that and then her being “stuck” with the coffee shop. But it’s not that at all and she loves it. We’re blessed.
AS: What else is on the horizon for you?
CC: The record that just come out was Lost Files Exhibit A, so Exhibit B is coming out in June. It’ll be another 16 songs, so we’re pretty fired up about that. It’s good times.
Photo Credit: Angelea Presti/Courtesy of Campbell Entertainment Group
