BTD Radio presents…. Hicks! 

Welcome back to the studio. I am so excited to hear what has been going on with your music since we spoke last! Let’s get started!

H: So glad to be back. Thank you… Well this crazy ride just keep getting crazier and crazier, but in a very very good way. Been to Nashville a lot writing new songs. Went to Dallas TX and shot a video. Wrote a really cool song with Randee Lee. Went to see my pal Steve Wariner play. Great show. And we hung out in his tour bus after the show. Quick trip to London and I was a guest on the TV-show Country Sessions. Will air in UK in Feb 2017 on SKY-TV. Did a live show in Malmoe Sweden on national radio. Then we went to Marbella Spain with the family for a much needed vacation. And in between all that tons and tons of promotion. Well I’ve been around doing a lot of fun stuff. Meeting some amazing people and carved some great songs.

I am loving your new fabulous hot single, “Stomp a Little Louder.”  I would love to learn more about this song. Could you tell me all about it?

H: I actually wrote this song with Mr Country Legend Himself Steve Wariner.  I got to know Steve in London when we played the British CMA. After the show he invited me to Nashville to write with him. I went straight back to Sweden packed my bags and flew to Nashville. And we wrote some amazing songs. Stomp A Little Louder is one of them. 

I love the message of this song. What ever you want out of life Stomp A Little Louder to get. Be all you can be. Do everything you can do to get there. It will work. I promise. Look at me I’m stomping as loud as I can… hahahaha…

It has been #1 for four weeks in a row on CMR Nashville Hotdisc Top 40. #1 on CM&T a video chart that airs in UK on SKY-TV.  #1 on Deep Fried Country (USA) #1 on spin increase on New Music Weekly country chart.

And the coolest thing about this song is not only did I write it with Steve Wariner him and his son Ryan plays the guitars on the track. How cool is that. You know I’m a huge Steve Wariner fan. I have his cd’s in my collection and now we are working together. If any one would have told me that when I started out. I would never had believed them not in  million years. I mean what are the odds for that happening… I’m just so very grateful for getting to do what I do.

Writing with Steve is just so much fun. It’s kinda effortless just like the song wrote itself. We were laughing most of the time having a great time and then all of the sudden Steve said. “I think the song is done” and I was like “Is it?” “Yep” and we laughed some more.

I’m thinking about releasing the demo track that we did in Steves studio. It’s crazy fun to listen to. There are a lot of weird stuff in it.

I see you also have a video for “Stomp a Little Louder” and there is someone special who makes a cameo. We would love to hear more! How long did that take to put together?

H: Yeah that cameo part is just one of those crazy things that is going on in my life. I went to Dallas TX to shoot the video. Guess who’s in town playing the same weekend I’m there? Yep… Steve Wariner. Like I said before we went to see his show and we hung out in his tour bus. We talked about Stomp and the video shoot. How cool it would be if he could be in the video. So I said let’s shoot some scenes here with my phone and see what we can use. He said “Hell Yeah”

We shot the video in three days. And edited it for two. I am so proud of this video. Nick Del Toro who shot, directed and edited it is just amazing to work with. 

The video is a collaboration between me and GASP/Better Bodies, a fitness clothing company. It’s their tank tops I use on stage and in the video. 

Will there be an album following, “Stomp a Little Louder?”

H: Working on it right now. I haven’t set a release date yet. Still writing and recording. I have grown a lot as an artist, singer and songwriter. so the new songs have a little deeper sound. It’s still Hicks all the way but just a bit different. I have written some ballads and even some political songs, they have a little attitude… Been advised not to write that kind of stuff but I have to get it off my chest. I’m not that political correct. I’m a straight shooter and I wanna keep it real. And if you can’t do that in country music where can you do that. To me that is what country music is about in a way. We need more rebels.

Since we spoke last you also released a single, “I Belong to You.” Who are you singing about in that song?

H: I am singing about my wife. We got married last year. 

We’ve known each other for about fifteen years. So we were friends long before we started dating. But for different reasons we didn’t became a couple until now. You know when it’s right it’s right. 

The last time we spoke back in Jan 2015, you released “Hayride” and “Mamas Kitchen.” How are these releases different then the two new songs? Has your music career changed since the release of these two songs?

H: Mamas Kitchen was the song that started this crazy roller coaster ride for me. It open the doors to country radio and a lot of charts all over the world. Hayride took off even more. More charts and more airplay. Same thing with the two latest releases. It’s like every song is a little more successful than the previous. It’s growing it’s growing… 

Now there’s a lot more people who know who Hicks is. 

My career has changed in the way that I play bigger events. I headline some country festivals. I do more TV and radio shows. A lot more people know who I am and what I do. 

What do you find is the hardest part about your music career? What’s the easiest part? Is it everything that you thought it would be?

H: I’m trying not to focus on the hard stuff. It’s so easy to get caught up in that, and just see obstacles and hardship. It’s not that I’m just seeing pink clouds everywhere. But when you start talking about it and focus upon it, you invite it even more. And then you meet other artists and you talk about it again. And all of a sudden it’s a reality.

I focus on the fun parts like writing songs. Winning awards. Getting nominated. Getting a lot of airplay all over the world. Meeting cool people. Having fans. Playing live.

It’s everything I thought it would and then some. I’m having the time of my life. It’s a lot of work but the rewards are so great.

And that is what my latest single Stomp A Little Louder is all about.

What are some of your most memorable experiences in your music career that you can tell us about?

H: Winning “Best European Country Act” at British CMA. I can still get goosebumps all over thinking about that night. It just blew my mind. Sometimes I look at the trophy and say to myself “Yep. It’s there. I’m not dreaming” 

Winning that award gave me an invitation to play CMA Fest in Nashville and represent Sweden. Huge huge honor. 

Writing songs with Steve Wariner. Biggest dream come through ever.

Any tours coming up? Special events?

H: Going back to my home town in a few weeks. Gonna headline a show called Country X-Mas Night. Really looking forward to that.

Working on a UK tour this upcoming summer.

Playing Vamos Country Festival in Scotland in May.

Working on a radio promo tour in the US.

Flew out to London and was a guest on the TV-show Country Sessions. It will air on Sky-TV in UK in Feb 2017.

What can we expect to see from Hicks in the next five years?

H: My biggest aim is to land a song top 10 on Billboard. When the album is out I will focus a lot more on touring and play festivals. And I wouldn’t mind writing a song to Brooks And Dunn (hoping they’ll get back together) or even better do a duet with them.

It was a pleasure interviewing again, anything else that you would like to add? Any Shoutouts?

H: A Big shoutout to Michael Stover at MTS Management. Hardest working guy in the Music Biz. Also a Big shoutout to Lee Williams at Django Promotion/CMR Nashville. Major shout out to country radio all over the world for spinning my music. To all my friends and fans who support me. My amazing producers Erik Martensson, Victor Broden, Anthony Rankin ans Andreas Rydman.

For more info on me and my crazy world go to hickscountry.com