Get To Know: Heath Sanders [Exclusive Interview]

Get to know about one of country music's most authentic and promising newcomers!

Written by Jeremy Chua
Get To Know: Heath Sanders [Exclusive Interview]
Heath Sanders; Photo Credit: Ford Fairchild

A down-to-earth country-lovin’ man who’s lived out everything he writes, and finds peace in life’s simplest things. That perhaps is one way to describe Valory Music Co./Big Machine’s new artist, Heath Sanders.

The rising country singer came from a humble profession of working in oil fields when his cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Either Way” went viral on Facebook. Bobby Bones of the nationally syndicated namesake radio show then caught wind of it and had Sanders on air for a phone interview, before inviting him for an in-studio chat and performance. 

What followed after was an overwhelming response and support from family, friends and the internet of country music fans. In fact, the encouragement was so strong that it pushed Sanders to fully believe in an untapped potential—to strike out on his own as a country singer. 

Heath Sanders; Cover Art Courtesy of The Valory Music Co.

In December 2019, it was announced that The Valory Music Co./Big Machine Label Group had signed the Marshall, Arkansas native to his first ever record deal. After over a year of developing his artistry, Sanders has released his debut EP, Common Ground. The four-track project, co-written by the singer, includes the stirring and heart-rending title track, an anthemic up-tempo love song, “Love Needs Makin’,” the emotionally-rich “Can’t Undo I Do” and his debut single, “Old School’s In.”

Sounds Like Nashville got to chat with him earlier this month about the EP, his artistry and the journey that led to Nashville. Check it out below! 

What was life like in Marshall, Arkansas?

Man, if I could put it in just a couple of words, I would say “slow and simple.” A town of about 2000 people and has been about 2000 people since I was born. We didn’t have any TV, cell phones and stuff like that. So, you just had family and work and you had fun. That was really it. I mean, my life kinda revolved around fishin’ and huntin’ and church and family, and that’s really all it was. We never went on vacations, we never went out to see the world. We just kinda stayed there and survived and loved each other.

Who were your biggest influences growing up?

I had a lot of gospel and Christian influences, with bands like The Isaacs and the Manuel Family Band. But once I fell in love with country music, I think Shenandoah really inspired me a lot. They’re a really, really amazing band. Obviously Garth Brooks struck a nerve in me as a youngster. He’s just an incredible human being. We had so many great artists back in those days. Those 80s and 90s artists, they were larger than life. The Tracy Lawrence’s, The Doug Stone’s and people like that really seated country in me. 

Talk about the door that led to your Bobby Bones Show appearance in 2019.

Man, it was crazy! I just got in a truck that morning and went to the wells by myself. I also lived by myself outside of the three or four dogs that I had. Bobby was my only friend from six to ten in the morning. It was just me and Bobby, Amy and Lunchbox on the radio, and they kept me laughing and going. After I posted my cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Either Way” in February of 2018, and about four days after it went viral, Bobby Bones ended up reaching out to me on Facebook. It was so funny, because I had never written a song before and I sat down on that Sunday morning to write my very first song. I was sitting there with a pen in my hand and my guitar on my lap and my phone went off. It was Bobby Bones, the biggest radio DJ in America! He reached out to me and asked me to be on the show the next morning on a phone call. Of course, I was a nervous wreck. I was just scared to death. I’ve never been so scared to death in my life! But, it all worked out. He had me down for the show and I ended up finishing the song I was writing the day he contacted me, [which I sang] live on air on his show. It changed everything. Once I walked out of that studio, my whole life changed. I still am grateful, I still am. I still have those same old feelings. Even though we’ve been at it for three years now, I’m still just so grateful to folks [who made this happen]. I couldn’t have done any of this on my own. Every person who’s played a part in it, it’s taken them to make it happen.

Was there a moment in your life that made you certain you wanted to become a country singer?

I was still in the oil field when this music career had kinda started. I started realizing [then] that there’s an actual chance for me to make a career doing what I love. It was hard to walk away from a job like that, a job in the oil field that’s very secure and can give you a great future for your family and stuff. But, it all just boiled down to the fans as I started seeing the responses online. My mom also wrote me a letter one time. My mom had never written me a letter before, and she really took a lot of time and put a lot of love into that note. I think it was about two pages long. She gave me every reason why I should pursue country music and why I should go after my passion. I think, seeing my mom, family, friends and even my co-workers get behind me [pushed me forward]. A lot of times, when I went to work in the oil field, a lot of the guys would call me up and say “Man, what are you still doing here? Get out there and do what you love and make a living singing country music and writing songs man.” I think it all just came to a point where the choice really wasn’t in my hands—everybody just kinda made it for me. I’ve always been one to listen to wise people and to elders and things. They always tend to steer me in the right direction, so I didn’t see this as any exception. It was really their guidance.

How would you describe the overall sound of your debut EP, Common Ground

We really wanted to hit all four bases on this EP. It is kind of a sampler. I really wanted to pick all four songs that exemplified a few of my different writing styles, give it to folks and see what their response was. If they wanted my voice to sing to them in the southern rock style (“Old School’s In”), or if they want more of the “Love Needs Makin’” thing, or that slow ballad (“Common Ground”), then I just want to make the fans happy. That’s really what it was when we picked this out. It was more like, “Let’s give the fans who’ve waited for two years for new music something, and let’s let them give us some feedback and see what they want.” I think it’s really what it was for me. 

“Common Ground” is a phenomenal, heart-rending song. How did writing that come about?

Up until three years ago, I was just another hillbilly from Arkansas. I had never been North of Missouri, I’ve never been West of Texas, I’ve never been South of Louisiana. What this career has done for me is that it’s allowed me to visit a lot of places I had never imagined I would. I never imagined I’d go to Chicago or out to California or up to Pennsylvania to play shows. [It’s also given] me some perspective and made me realize that there are folks just like me all over the United States and all over the world. You know, I always say, the first time I went to Chicago, I realized that there were just as friendly people in downtown Chicago as the old men sitting there in their overall sippin’ coffee in the gas station in my hometown. I think that’s really where the basis of the song came from. I sat down with Jeremy Bussey and Jay Brunswick and I was like, “Man, I just want to write something that hits home with everybody. What does the world need right now?” Obviously the United States has been kinda torn apart for the last several years and I just wanted something that would speak to everyone. Bussey looked at me and said, “I got a big title if you want to write it.” I said, “What’s it called?” And he said, “Common Ground.” As soon as he said it, I knew what he meant man. We all end up in it. That song just kinda spilled out of us. It was really one of those outer body experiences. This doesn’t happen many times. You almost float outside yourself and watch three men really focus and hone in on one thing. It was almost like church, [with] some spiritual side to the process when we wrote it. It was just one of those things where when we got it written, I just stepped back and couldn’t believe I had taken a part in writing that, you know? It seems so special to me. 

“Can’t Undo I Do” is another highlight with such such an important message, especially for today. What’s the story behind that one?

This is so funny—I actually got the title off a divorce lawyer’s sign off a billboard! It had a big wedding ring on it that said “undo I do” and “call the law offices!” (laughs) So, the first time I saw the sign, I wrote the title and was like, “Man, that’s hilarious!” I wanna write something funny. But obviously between the time I got the title and actually started writing the song, it had been a few weeks. It really gave me some time to sit around and think about my momma’s past relationships and my past relationships. I got to thinking about the few women that I’ve [driven] away from that I shouldn’t have. I’ve messed up time and time again. I think it comes natural to us men to be stubborn and to mess up. I think what really the song was was I thought to myself and built a hypothetical situation in my head: if there were a happily married man somewhere [who] got into a fight with his wife, and he’s walking out to get into his truck tonight to leave her and drive away from the best thing that ever happened to him, what would you say to him? If he turned the radio on and “Can’t Undo I Do” came on, what would you say? That’s really where the song came from—just that place of knowing the power of music. It’s incredible, and maybe that song will save a marriage. The power of music [has] no constraints on it and that’s really where it came from for me. If you had a chance to save somebody’s marriage tonight with a song, what would you say?

If there’s one thing you want fans to know about you, both as a person and an artist, what would that be?

I just want folks to know that I’m just like they are. I think if you’ve ever been to a barbecue, you’ve met somebody like me. I want them to know, also, that the things I sing about, I truly lived. If I sing about a callus hand and work boots, or just surviving or living on a dirt road or loving a woman, it’s because I lived it. And that’s where I write from. I don’t make things up. I can’t. It’s just impossible for me. In a nutshell, I just want people to know that I’m real and I’m sincere in what I do. At the end of the day, by the time I retire, if all people say about me is “he is real and he is sincere,” that will be enough.