Drew Baldridge at Boots and Hearts 2019 [Interview]
Drew Baldridge came a long way from home to play his first Canadian show at Boots and Hearts 2019, and it’s one that he will never forget.
The Patoka, Illinois native hit the Front Porch Stage on Friday afternoon to share his music with country music fans and then he took a few minutes to sit down with us to talk about the experience, his music, and his career.
We asked Drew about making the trip north and what it meant to him to play in Canada. He told us that it was a huge deal. He said that he always dreamed of playing music, but never quite like this.
“I always dreamed of playing music. (But) I never dreamed past my county line. Most of the time it was just like, I’m gonna play music for these people. You start doing that and you’re like, I’m gonna play music for Illinois, where I’m from. And then it just grows, you know, and I never dreamed we’d be in Canada playing country music. It’s like a dream come true to be up here.”
Drew told us that it blew his mind to look out into the crowd and see people singing the words to his songs. He admitted that he didn’t know what he was getting himself into when he signed on for the festival. He had no idea if people were going to know who he was or his songs. There hasn’t been any Canadian radio play, but he has had SiriusXM play his single Rebound, and Spotify is there too with his entire catalogue of music so far.
We asked Drew about his influences when he was younger and he rattled off names like Josh Turner, Brooks and Dunn. But he didn’t stop there. He added in Michael Jackson as a big influence on what he wants to do on stage. “It’s not just the singing industry. It’s the entertainment industry,” he told us. And when he and the band get up on stage he wants to entertain people and give them their money’s worth by putting on a show that includes some dancing and fun to go along with the singing. We followed that up by asking who he looks up to now that he’s on the road and doing this for a living and without a moment’s hesitation Drew had Eric Church’s name ready and out of his mouth. He talked about his songwriting, his fans (the best in country music he thinks), and he told us that when they had the chance to play one show with him, he thought he was gonna die.
Our conversation turned to what’s coming next for Drew Baldridge and he told us that it might be a while until he has his second album out, but there is new music. He recently released Middle Of Nowhere Kids and She’s Somebody’s Daughter and is focused on that right now. Middle Of Nowhere Kids is at country radio and Drew wants to put the time and effort in to get spins and make sure that country fans have a chance to hear it. That’s the plan right now, everything else comes after.
We admitted to Drew that we don’t know much about Illinois other than the Cubs, Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the 90s, John Hughes movies, and Rockford native, NBA Champion Toronto Raptor, Fred VanVleet. Because of that, we have no idea what the music scene is like and had to have him what it’s like.
He laid it out like this, Patoka is about five hours south of Chicago, an hour and a half from Kentucky, and only 4 hours from Nashville. The small rural town didn’t have a gas station when he was a kid and it was an hour drive to the nearest mall. So when he heard country music and songs like Brooks and Dunn’s Red Dirt Road, it connected with him. Just like anywhere else, country music is there and like most small rural areas, it’s a popular genre.
Before we wrapped up with Drew, we asked him if he had any big goals for the future. He just got to play the Grand Ole Opry and check that off of his list, but we wanted to know what else he dreams about. He gave us two goals. 1) Play at an award show like the ACMs of CMAs. 2) Have a sign in his hometown saying Home of Drew Baldridge. “I think that would be like, I’ve done it, I’ve made my people proud of me. And that’s what I want. I want my family to be proud of what I do, I want my friends to be proud of what I do, and I think that would be about the biggest checklist I could probably ever get to know that where I come from, I had an impact.”
After working the crowd, singing his songs, and officially introducing himself to Canadian country music fans for the first time, Drew Baldridge had a lot to be proud of himself. It might take a village, but he put a lot of work in himself. We have a feeling we’ll be hearing and seeing a lot more of him in the future. Maybe even on a sign in Patoka, Illinois.
5 Quick Questions with Drew Baldridge
interview photos: Whitney South, stage photos: Joshua Murray
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