As they say in Nashville, “It all begins with the song.” Without songwriters coming together to craft a captivating song, there would be no big radio hit, no national tour and no adoring fans. NRA Country’s current Featured Artist, Houston Phillips, is one of the hottest new songwriters, working behind the scenes on Nashville’s famed Music Row writing songs that will spark an emotion when you hear them on the radio. NRA Country’s Vanessa Shahidi sat down with Phillips to ask him about the intersection of his two passions—music and the great outdoors.
VS: You’ve written songs for Jason Aldean, Tyler Farr, Jerrod Niemann and Colt Ford, among others. How does your love for the outdoors impact your songwriting?
HP: Coming up with the idea for a song can be the hardest part as a writer. Some of my best songwriting ideas have come from being out in the woods hunting with no one else around. If I didn’t have that, I’m not sure I could do what I do for a living.
VS: Have you had any memorable outdoor experiences with other artists?
HP: Oh yeah. Tyler Farr and I have been friends a long time and we do a lot of hunting and fishing. We’ve hunted turkey in northern California, fly fished in Utah, sword fished off the coast of Miami and hunted a lot of white-tail deer at his house in Tennessee.
VS: What is your favorite personal firearm?
HP: My papaw handed down a Browning A5 Humpback 12 gauge that is my favorite gun I’ve ever owned. Love that thing.
NRA Country is a lifestyle and a bond between the country music community and hard-working Americans everywhere. It’s powered by pride, freedom, love of country, respect for the military, and the responsibilities of protecting the great American life. Visit nracountry.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For more information on Houston Phillips, check out MV2Entertainment.com.
