Rising Stars: Meet Jason Mcphail of Music Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Mcphail.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m originally from the Shawnee, Oklahoma area. I had moved down to Navarre, FL and was playing music for a living on the coast. I put out a music video called “Blackwater River” that did well on social media and at the advice of an artist manager out of Nashville, I ended up moving up here. I’ve been playing music and singing since I was about 11 years old (now 42) and it has always been a major part of my life. I went through a lot of hard times as a kid, moving around, living in government housing projects and having trouble in school. Life was really crazy and complicated for me as a child as I did not know my biological father and came from serious poverty. My mother had a lot of mental health issues that made life extremely complicated. Eventually I would end up moving in with the man I call my dad who was at one time in life my step dad. He is the one who bought me my first guitar, a Samick, from a small guitar shop in SW OKC called Lone Wolf Guitars. Music was everything to me. It didn’t matter what kind either. My first cassette tapes/cd’s were Motley Crue, Van Halen, ACDC, Garth Brooks, Korn, Metallica, Eminem, Skynrd, and more. I remember walking home from school and stopping at the record store and just thumbing through old records and tapes/cd’s. I would literally sit in my room with my acoustic guitar and read guitar tablature to learn new songs daily, Music wasn’t just fun, it was and is an outlet for me like many other creatives in the world. We see something, go through something, process an experience and have to put that experience out into the universe for others to see as well. I had some uncles that would pick around at family gatherings and thought it was awesome so that was kind of a motivating experience for me. Eventually I started playing in church and the consistency of playing and singing helped me to improve my craft to where it is today. I’ve always played events and gatherings so the bar scene came very natural to me, our entire family was basically a walking party with music, sports talk, and general rowdiness. Very much the blue collar story. I graduated High School from a town that had just a few thousand people in it back in 2001 called “Prague” Oklahoma. Prague is where I learned and fell in love with the country lifestyle. Friday night football, catfishing in the North Canadian River, hauling hay in the summers, real country shit. I did understand some of the country lifestyle before I moved to Prague in HS as I had a cousin who was on the PBR and was ranked #15 in the world I believe it was. His name is Dustin Hall, hell of a Bullrider: I remember going to the rodeos to watch him ride bulls long before his PBR days, man he’s tough. That lifestyle is real, and it encompasses so much. I was always more into music and sports. As an adult I earned a 4 year degree (bachelors in science of education) from Oklahoma Baptist University which is a liberal arts college in Shawnee, Oklahoma. I became a teacher and a wrestling coach for 6 years. I loved the impact wrestling had on the lives of the kids, and one thing I always noticed, was before every single match, the kids had headphones on. Music helps set the mindset for people, and that is so powerful! During that time I also owned and operated my own small farm and did construction work on the side to make extra money. Teachers in Oklahoma are not well paid so most teachers have some kind of side hustle. My farm was pretty small, just 5 acres with the front 2&1/2 being mostly pecan trees and the back 2&1/2 being tomatoes, peppers, onions, greens, radishes, squash, and potato’s. I was married at the time and after 17 years of marriage ended up going through a divorce, which was really hard. There wasn’t anything bad really, just two people who never had kids together (although I did raise two step daughters) and we grew into two different people wanting two different pathways in life. So I left behind the farm life. Eventually I met my girlfriend Tiffany and we took a vacation to Navarre, Florida. We fell in love with the coastal area and decided to move there and see what life would be like for us. Lots of live music, white sandy beaches, and just north of the coast, plenty of country to enjoy! That’s where I ran into the Blackwater River. For me, there is absolutely nothing (aside from music) better than floating a river in the hot summer heat, with a cold beer in my hand, and some hot links over a campfire. Florida had everything I could want. So I did what any artist would do, I wrote a song about the place I loved, I made a music video, and it did well. Where we lived, the internet wasn’t real great, so when I had my meeting with the artist manager via Skype (or whatever it is called) I had to do so from the local Waffle House parking lot, the minute we got off the call (Tiff and I) she looked at me and said, “guess we are moving!” She was actually all in for the move before I was. It would have been easy for me to sink in until the day I die. I mean, white sandy beaches, crystal clear water, country lifestyle of the local rivers, it had everything. But, I wanted to see how far my music could go. Tiff told me “you will always wonder, what if?” If you don’t. So we sold all of our things, and bought a camper and moved to the big city of Nashville, TN. Since arriving here about 14 months ago, I’ve had some absolutely incredible opportunities and met some unbelievable people. It didn’t take us long to make friends, our first real ones were Garrett and Robbie over at Wicked Ollies Vintage store. It’s seriously one of the coolest places I’ve ever been with so much history. I had no idea the real depth of country music until becoming friends with those two. I started playing writers rounds around town, just meeting new people. I played The Bluebird Cafe, Scoreboard, Nashville Palace, The Local, Live Oak, pretty much any place I could meet new people. Eventually I even got an opportunity to write a song with Niko Tripodis (unreal guitar player) and Troy Martin who has had several big hits as a songwriter including “Baby’s Gotten Good At Goodbye” by George Strait. What an amazing honor that was. Then I eventually found my way down to Broadway where I currently play music for a living. A friend I met from Wicked Ollies named Donny Lee (incredible performer down here on Broadway and touring artist) helped me get connected for some shows to help income wise. It took a little time and basically saying yes to every opportunity, but I’m now full time down there and play some of the coolest spots in Nashville. We have regular standing gigs at Legends Corner and Teddys Tavern each week and I couldn’t be more grateful. If you would have told me that at 38 years old I would basically be hitting the reset button on my life, and by 42 years old I will have written a song with a legend who has written for the king of country, and I would be playing music for a living with some of the greatest musicians on earth, and that I would be putting out original music recorded right here in Nashville, I would have told you that you are crazy. But here we are. I have some pretty big goals set for myself. Like many other artists, I want to sign a record deal, but not just to say I signed with someone. For me it’s not about validation. The music industry is always changing and evolving, and as an artist, I recognize that you cannot do everything yourself. You don’t even know what you don’t know, until you are inside it and then you do. I want to be able to stick to my passion, which is creating music that speaks to people on different levels. My baseline is very much southern rock/country, and depending on what the song calls for, it can lean all the way to the western side of things, or as far as a real rock n roll sound. But one thing is for sure, when you come see an original show of mine, it’s going to be an experience full of high energy, love, encouragement, and crowd engagement. When people leave from one of my shows I hope they feel amazing, can see my ability to write deep things, tell stories in my music, but also write simple fun songs full of energy. To see and feel the diversity in my writing and performing. Essentially to be authentically me. I want my music to grow and to go places, and Nashville is by far the best place for that to happen and I’m grateful to be here!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are always going to be challenges. When we first moved here, within the first 60 days, the water heater in our camper caught on fire, we had an ice storm that froze our water and our black tank, and moving from Florida, it was insanely cold! But, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
All of music and socials can be found at www.jasonmcphailmusic.com. For me life is a journey, so I don’t know if there is one thing so far I can say I’m most proud of. I don’t like to compare my art to others because I don’t make art with other people in mind or make it with the thought of record sales. Right now I’m independent, and to compete in the main stream world the amount of money you have to have is just not realistic. The music business is a business, and I’m just one person. So I like to focus on making music and content that I love and that speaks to my life experiences. I think the best song I’ve ever written from a story telling experience is one called “The Bull and The Rider.” Just the story behind it to me is really a great tale. Musically, I think a song I hope everyone listens to is one I wrote called “The Little Things.” I think every human being can connect with its message, and that message is that when life gets hard, to focus on the little positive things. It also happens to feature Kevin Post who is an unbelievable pedal steel player as well as a really great friend of mine named Kennedy Rose Crowe who is one of the best female vocalists I’ve ever heard.

Any big plans?
This year I’m planning to release two more studio songs, I probably have a hundred songs waiting but financially you have to kind of play the hand you are dealt. So I will release a lot acoustically and just a few probably full production unless somehow I can land a record deal that makes sense.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.jasonmcphailmusic.com
• Instagram: Jason_mcphail_music
• Facebook: Jason McPhail Music
• Youtube: @jasonmcphailmusic
• Other: Spotify/Apple Music – Jason McPhail