Interview: Brad Tursi of the band Old Dominion

Brad Tursi is a highly accomplished, multifaceted artist. He’s a member of the band Old Dominion, and, in addition to this, a highly respected songwriter. Tursi has written songs for countless artists including Kenny Chesney’s “Save It For A Rainy Day”, Tyler Farr’s “A Guy Walks Into A Bar”, and many more. A guitarist, songwriter, and performer - Brad Tursi and I talk about all things songwriting, Nashville music scene, his definitions of success, and even a bit about golf…

Photo: The Country Daily

OK: My first question is a bit of a two-parter. So, Old Dominion is obviously a really successful band, having received a lot of awards and accolades. Was that something that you guys always knew was inevitably coming your way, or were there moments of doubt? What did that look like? And then, in addition to that, I assume the journey to becoming successful is not one that happens overnight. Is it hard to stay motivated and keep going now that you feel like you’ve made it?

BT: Our motto was always that this is never going to work. So, you know, yes, of course, it took a long time. I mean, Old Dominion became successful when I was 32 or 33, so it took a long time to get there. As far as the awards and stuff, I think that of course we appreciate those and it's always nice to be recognized by your peers and whatnot, but we’ve tried to concentrate on what got us there in the first place, which is just trying to write the best songs we can and let the art kind of dictate what happens in the rest of our career. There's always pressure to grow as a band, not just artistically but commercially as well, as we're a band that aspires to be commercially viable. So, that takes a certain amount of compromise and recognition. But, we just try to be grateful for what we've done and being able to make a good living being with our friends.

OK: Yeah, definitely. I think that's a really good outlook. And it makes a lot of sense. So what does your day-to-day look like? Are you constantly doing stuff for the band? Are you doing your own stuff? What does that look like, especially when you're not touring?

BT: When I'm not touring my days consist of writing songs for other artists. That's kind of why I moved to Nashville in the first place. You know, I never planned on being in another band. So I still write songs for other people. And I play golf in my spare time. That's my hobby. So I'll either go play it in the morning early, 7:00 or 8:00, then go write at 11:00. Then, you know, just catching up with friends and hanging around. And obviously there's stuff to do for the band, like this week, we're in the studio. So that's always fun. 

OK: How does the life of a songwriter compare to the life of a performer/songwriter for you? Is there one that you prefer or is it just totally different? 

BT: To be honest, the songwriting life is the best, it's very low impact. I don't care how successful you are or if you have all the amenities and whatnot, being on the road is just inherently exhausting. So, you know, it's rewarding of course to go play your songs and connect with the fans and realize that people actually listen to the music that you make, and even react to it. But you know, songwriting is pretty tough to beat. You usually work from 11:00-3:00 and I really enjoy creating stuff. Sometimes you can get into a regurgitation process where you're constantly on tour.

OK: Definitely. I always wondered, especially with bigger bands that tour so much and go to so many different cities, like that's got to get a little repetitive, so it's impressive when bands can bring the energy to every single show.

BT: Yeah, I mean, it definitely depends. A good show really depends on the band, and the sound for us, in our own ears, and if the crowd is good, then we're gonna have a great time. 

Photo: The Country Daily

OK: What's the process of working with other songwriters? Are there any discrepancies over creative autonomy or is it generally pretty straightforward and easy?

BT: It just depends, you know, everyone brings different things to the table. Some people are great singers. Some people are great lyricists. I used to write with the guy all the time, who has since passed away, but he didn't sing or play anything. He was an idea guy and lyrics guy. And so it was nice because, you know, I can write lyrics, but I can also sing and play, so it was kind of a nice combination. We weren't necessarily getting in each other's way and we were each doing our separate things and coming together to make it better. You tend to gravitate towards certain co-writers that you respect. It's a weird thing how, for some unknown reason, two people that are on the same page can be working on a line or a melody and they both inherently know when it's right. 

OK: I feel like it makes sense that you have to generally vibe with the person that you're writing with, or else there might inherently be some sort of contention. So that all makes sense to me as someone who doesn't write songs, but I can imagine. 

BT: Yeah, I mean, you inherently have to be pretty vulnerable. You have to be like, I'm gonna assume this or say this line and I have to be okay with the fact that somebody might not like that. It's nice to feel comfortable with the people that you're writing with. 

OK: For sure. How do you tend to combat writer's block and do you have any particular songwriting rituals even when you're not experiencing writer's block?

BT:  I tend to be most creative in the morning. So a lot of times I'll have my guitar by the bed and right when I wake up I'll grab it and just start going. I don't get distracted and usually something cool happens that I've never done before. So that works well for me, working in the morning, before I start to revert back into my normal patterns. But, you go through waves, like there will be one week when I’m writing great songs. And then there'll be a couple weeks where you're like, Oh, no I suck now. Right. You just kind of have to keep going, you know? 

Photo: Rolling Stone

OK: Right. I feel like that’s got to be important to remember for all songwriters that you're not a guaranteed  hit machine 100% of the time.

BT: Right. And lately I've been writing by myself, which is not what a lot of people in Nashville from country music do. A lot of times you're going in there and you're trying to create some songs for somebody else that might not have anything to do with your own life, sometimes that can be a kind of trade off. So it's nice for me, and it’s easier, to try to write songs about my own life. because all the information is already there in front of you and you don't have to dream it up.

OK: What's your favorite song that you've written?

BT: Oh, man, I don't know, that's hard! I mean, I'm pretty proud of ‘Save It For A Rainy Day’ that Kenny Chesney recorded, and I actually wrote that with the writer I was talking about earlier who had passed. 

OK: I love that song, I think that's a good selection. You kind of touched on the community of writers and how Nashville writers tend to work together. In addition to songwriters, it seems as though Nashville has a notably tight-knit community of artists as well. Is there any sense of competition between artists? Or is everyone generally pretty happy for each other's successes?

BT: In general everyone is happy for each other. I'm sure there's gonna be some, you know, real competition here and there. But healthy competition. I feel like people are pretty supportive of each other. It's a nice vibe for sure. It's hard to do this gig, but everyone supports each other and congratulates each other on all the successes.

OK: Looking back on your career thus far with the band, do you have any moments or achievements that stick out to you as your favorite?

Photo by: Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

BT:  It was really nice when we played Red Rocks for the first time, which we’re actually playing again in a few weeks here, but It's such a beautiful venue. But you know, it's hard to pick a favorite. Of course there’s always the awards, but for me, a lot of times you'll walk into the arena and see all these people setting up this giant stage, getting the guitars and drums, and I just can't believe that all these people are here our band. It’s definitely the little moments like that that are favorites for me. 

OK: Yeah, definitely. I could see it being a compilation of a lot of smaller, surreal moments that happen more often than the big moments, which is cool. To close, you mentioned that you love golf, which tour do you think would be more fun, your current tours with Old Dominion or the PGA Tour?

BT: Haha! Well, I’ll take a year on the PGA. Actually, I'd probably jump off the bridge after that because golf is so hard. I just played the other day and I was so bad. I'm like, nobody that's spent  as much time doing this can still be as bad as I am. I think they probably both have their upsides. I was actually at the Masters last week and it was great to watch.

OK: That’s awesome. Thank you, again, for doing this. I really appreciate it.

BT: Of course, anytime.