Veteran musicians and songwriters, Kristy Osmunson and Jon Stone, writing for Rascal Flatts and Kenny Chesney step out to perform their original songs.
NRR: Hi Kristy and Jon.
Kristy: Hi, how are you doing?
NRR: Doing well. And good to catch up with you two and the debut album was released on August 5th.
Kristy: We are excited to have a CD out.
NRR: Two years ago you released a EP on Curb records.
Kristy: Yes, we put couple from the EP on the album and been spending the time with a body of work. It has been a process and a lot of self-discovery and a lot of development of what we do and playing live as songwriters and in the studio. You know it’s a process.
NRR: Yes, its processes that will this song work or this part of the song work while stressing yourself out (Laughter).
Kristy: Yeah, true.
NRR: Jon, You written songs that were recorded by Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney and Blake Shelton. The songs that you wrote that they recorded did you feel I rather sing these songs but is best they sing them?
Jon: Well, you know not really, because I wasn’t really in the artist situation that I am in now when those songs were written, and those songs were really written for solo acts opposed to a duo that has an entirely different sound than any of those acts.
NRR: Are there songs you rather sing though the other artists make them sound better?
Jon: Each song is different. There are some songs that I love that I am closer to that I would have recorded. I think what we did for the American Young record is that we are focused in and written found the write songs for American Young so is hard to regret that.
NRR: I have been listening to the songs and they are really good
Jon: Thank you.
NRR: When you and Kristy start writing the songs, where do you get your inspiration from?
Jon: I think every song writes down their experience of life especially of what it is; taking a bunch of notes throughout the day or week of good ideas or things that make you feel something. And you get together and talk about them and see if anything clicks. Everybody’s process is different, and I can only speak the way I do things and how Kristy and I get together. I think everybody has their own process.
NRR: When you writing the songs for this album, were these songs written while recording the EP?
Jon: A couple of them were. I am the worst when songs were written. We had one of the songs from the EP which was “Love Is War” that we remixed it and put it on this record, and that was fun to do. And “God Sent A Train” and “Soldier’s Wife” that were also remixed. Those are the only songs from the EP, beyond those three were being written and recorded for this LP
NRR: “Love Is War” was featured on ABC’s television show “The Bachelorette”?
Jon: It was, it was
Kristy: It was premiered at Belgium, and it was really fun over there while we were in Europe for a while, and we performed our first gig at London and went back a year later. And now heading back in a week and we are really excited.
NRR: How is your music being received at London?
Kristy: Great! We feel a huge transition of Country moving to the UK. I think there is a huge surge of all Country music over there and for some reason they grabbed onto American Young (Laughter) even more than they did on this side of the pond. It’s kind of fun.
NRR: For some of the songs on the new album like “Love Is War” that is pretty much self explanatory for a relationship song. Did you take it from a sarcastic point of view or a serious point of view like friction in a relationship?
Kristy: Yes, that is what “Love Is War” is about you fighting through the hard times.
NRR: And “Point Of View” is about each other’s perspective?
Kristy: (Laughing) is pretty much Jon and I describing different scenarios where we are talking about each other. It’s our take on each other as I laughing talk about Jon’s shortcomings and he talks about mine.
NRR: You wrote eleven of the twelve songs for the album. Who wrote the other song that you didn’t write?
Kristy: Did we put “The Thunder Rolls” on here by Garth Brooks?
Jon: No, “Love is War”
NRR: Covering Garth Brooks “The Thunder Rolls” for the EP is taking a big leap
Kristy: Well if you’re going to learn something and give your perspective on a classic that is one of the best to pull from.
NRR: Lee Brice sings on the song “Eighteen”. Did you ask other country singers to sing on the album or just Lee Brice to sing on this one song?
Jon: He co-produced American Young, so that was a pretty easy transition.
NRR: For the shows at London, are you doing any headlining shows or just as a support act?
Jon: A little of both, right?
Kristy:
Yeah, we are playing a show at Manchester that is ours, then a festival at Canary Warf which will be a good time
Jon: And I’m sure other shows will pop while we’re over there
NRR: There are plans for you to tour the US?
Kristy: Yeah, we will defiantly be on the road for next six month visiting radio and playing shows and like to jump on the road with our buddies so that will be fun. So yeah, it will be a busy six months and really excited about it.
NRR: The song “Soldier’s Wife (Don’t Want You To Go)” is a theme for the military?
Kristy: Yeah, we felt there is different side of the conversation of military songs that have not been told that is from the wives perspective. So we are interested in having diverse conversations.
NRR: That is good to know because you usually don’t hear it from their perspective from the spouses of what they have gone through and going through.
Kristy: Yes.
NRR: Kristy, you’ve wanted to work with Jon?
Kristy: Yeah, I have always liked his song writing and who puts yoga in a song has won me over (laughter).
NRR: (Laughter) Yeah, but he wasn’t in the video doing yoga.
Kristy: That’s okay he wrote the lyric and that is a Jon lyric.
NRR: That song “A Woman Like You” is a good song When you perform do you have full band with you or just you two on stage?
Kristy: Right now, we’ve been doing just a duo acoustic so right now we will continue doing duo acoustic. We have a band they were with ones with us in the studio to cut the record. So it’s been exciting to grow up with the musicians that naturally just came up to play. We really have had the best in Nashville to gravitate to this new band and incredible and such a blessing to have Grammy-nominated musicians who want to jam with us.
So, you know it depends on what the gig calls for where we can do acoustic or a full band. Jon and I are such writers at our core that is the first and foremost of what we do. For me as a writer in the room, I try to be honest in the room and write the situation that that is applicable to the current for the people that are there or something that is happening in the world right and to our conversation of the time.
So, when we started writing what is natural to us and our conversation between the two of us, then all of sudden we developed this organic dynamic. So we couldn’t really go back after that, so we are focused on what Jon and Kristy are experiencing as American Young.
NRR: When you perform do you perform all the songs you recorded for the album and perform other songs you have written for other artists?
Kristy: Yes.
Jon: To answer your question we play songs we have written for other people in our sets sometimes and it’s fun to sing something that we are part of when the opportunity calls for it.
NRR: Thanks for your time to talk about the songs and the album.
Kristy: Well thanks for telling your friends, and your friends and getting we all appreciate it.
American Young
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