They say Music City is a 10-year town before making it, but that isn’t the case for new comer Heath Sanders who’s had quite the quick and unique path that shot him to his recent record deal with The Valory Music Co.
In early 2018, after working in the natural gas wells for nearly a decade, the Arkansas native posted a living room cover of Chris Stapleton’s “Either Way” on Facebook and immediately went viral as millions watched and shared.
Unable to deny his passion for music any longer, the now 35-year-old sold his hunting rifle in exchange for a PA system that would allow him to play in bars and venues around the region. But what really got him to go all in was a hand-written letter from his mom, listing all the reasons he should seriously go for it. It was then that Heath gave his two weeks at the gas company and was invited to Nashville for appearance on the The Bobby Bones Show, where his honesty, kind nature, and talent have only taken him up from there; as he later found himself signing with a major label group and touring alongside country stars like Chase Rice, Drake White, and more.
Photo Credit: Ford Fairchild
Recently releasing his first EP Common Ground, the title track really gives listeners an idea of who Sanders is as a person and an artist; realizing that after performing in so many places and meeting so many people, there really is a common ground in humanity.
“It’s kind of why we ended up putting that on the cover of the EP. It really does go back to how much this industry has changed me as a person and has contributed to me as a person. I’ve even gone to places like Chicago and California and I’ve met people in downtown Chicago that are as sweet, nice, and caring as the 4 or 5 old men that sit and drink coffee in their overalls in the gas station every morning in my hometown. It was just an eye opening experience,” he tells Celeb Secrets Country. “I really want to put that on the forefront of all of this. If a hillbilly form Arkansas can blend it and get people to accept him in Chicago, man we can all make this thing work for all of us. ‘Common Ground’ was extremely special to me and I got to write it with two of my best friends in town so that’s a plus.”
Other songs on his 4 track EP include his first radio single “Old School’s In,” “Love Needs Makin’,” and “Can’t Undo I Do,” which gives men the stern but loving advice to put their pride aside, keep their vows, and admit when their wrong in the relationship. When asked where the inspiration for the song came from, Sanders shared that the idea came to him on the road after passing a divorce sign that got his attention.
“The funny part of it is that we were actually going to Atlanta to play show and there was a sign on the side of the road with a big wedding ring on it that said, “Undo I Do. Call the law offices of so and so.’ It was a divorce lawyer sign and I thought that was really funny and I looked at my tour manager and I said, ‘Man, if that isn’t a country song I don’t know what is,'” he explains.
At first, the singer-songwriter got a good laugh out of the sign, but after giving it some more thought later on, he started to focus on the more serious side of divorce.
“I wrote it down and ended up taking it to town, but after spending some time really giving it some thought about what I wanted to write the song about, I watched my mom go through a couple marriages and I’ve watched my dad be married and divorced. I myself have never been married, but I really build this hypothetical thought in my head. Obviously being a single man, I’ve had relationships before that I’ve ended and regretted,” the 35-year-old says, “I’ve regretted driving away from that person, so I think what it really boiled down to for me was building this hypothetical thought in my head of, “how many men right now, as I’m writing this down, are driving away from the love of their life or the best thing that has ever happened to them? And if tonight a man got in his truck to drive away from his home and leave his family, what would you say to him? What would you say to change his mind in that truck and in that moment if your song came on the radio?’ I think once I decided that was the angle that I wanted to take and that was the message that I wanted to deliver, the rest came pretty naturally.”
If this is what Heath has already produced in only a few short years, Celeb Secrets Country can’t wait to see what’s on the horizon for the Arkansas native. You can keep up with the budding artist by giving him a follow on Instagram at @heathsandersmusic.
LISTEN TO ‘COMMON GROUND’ EP BELOW:
