Today we’d like to introduce you to Bradley Collins.
Hi Bradley, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and raised in Nashville and grew up around the music industry, particularly around songwriters and musicians. In fifth grade, I began playing drums before moving to guitar in high school. I was the music kid in school, but I put those aspirations away when I went to college. Knowing firsthand how hard the creative side could be, I stopped performing and focused on the business of music instead.
I went to Samford University in Birmingham and moved back to Nashville the day after graduation. My first job was a part-time position in the tape room at Acuff-Rose Music, home to songs by Hank Williams, Dean Dillon, and Tom T. Hall. It was like getting a master’s degree in country music songwriting.
From there, I landed at BMI as an entry-level executive in the Creative department. For sixteen years, I worked there, signing some of country music’s biggest names. I loved working with songwriters. I loved the discovery, the encouragement, the hustle. I loved it. I loved it until I didn’t.
I left in 2018, started a music publishing company, and began managing an artist, only to realize that everything I hadn’t loved at BMI was still following me.
The pandemic forced a reckoning. I looked at quarantine as a gift. I knew that if I didn’t use that time to write, I had no one to blame but myself if I ended up back in a job that made me miserable.
I moved to the other side of the guitar in 2021. That’s when I started writing songs, writing books, and leaving corporate life behind. The spark I had put away in college was still there.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The jump from behind a desk to behind a guitar is difficult. There are few success stories and no maps. When I left my industry job, I knew who my friends were. I knew who I’d hear from and who I wouldn’t. But when I announced I was writing songs, people removed me from text threads, stopped sending invitations, and colleagues I had helped for years vanished.
I keep coming back to this: just because you don’t know anyone who’s been on the same road doesn’t mean it isn’t yours.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a songwriter and an author, and what sets me apart is the road I took to get here. I spent twenty years on the business side of the music industry, signing and developing some of the biggest names in country music. That perspective, knowing the industry from the inside before crossing to the creative side, shapes everything I write and every song I co-write.
As a songwriter, I’ve had over thirty songs recorded. As an author, my children’s book When I Talk to God, I Talk About You hit the New York Times bestseller list in 2023. I have a second children’s book published as well. I also write a Substack called The Other Side of the Guitar, exploring my move from behind a music industry desk to life on the creative side. Several times a week, I co-write in Nashville while working on my debut novel.
What I’m most proud of is making the jump. The NYT list was a milestone, but leaving a career I had built for twenty years to start over as a writer and songwriter, and finding out it was the right call: that’s what I’m proudest of.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is helping others find their creative voice. There is one inside all of us, and it took a massive push for me to find mine. I want to be a resource for people stuck in jobs that don’t do more than check a box, and help them find their path earlier than I did.
In 2023, I established an endowed scholarship at Samford University, the first scholarship for creatives in the school’s history. I return to campus to speak to students and mentor scholarship recipients.
I spent years wishing I had that kind of help. Now I get to be it.
Pricing:
- When I Talk to God, I Talk About You — available on Amazon and wherever books are sold
- When I Talk to God, I Talk About Feelings — available on Amazon and wherever books are sold
- The Other Side of the Guitar on Substack — free to subscribe at https://substack.com/@bradleytcollins
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @bradley_collins
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-t-collins/
- Twitter: @bradley_collins
