BUZZNET Exclusive: Get To Know The CO!

Hey Buzznet readers,

You know how much I adore, The CO! Well, they were kind enough to let me pick their brains about all things… them of course. Here’s my exclusive interview with a great pal, Troy!

– Give BUZZNET a sentence or two that describes who The CO is.

Our music is genuine and we, in turn, are as well. Everything we are about induces and encourages hope from within yourself to propel you—and that is open to anyone and everyone. There is universality in that.

– What do you guys hope someone takes away from listening to your tunes?

That the specific song they were listening was made for them. I always like to say that once a song is written and recorded and put out—it, from then on, is the listener’s. Whether it’s about hope, love, sacrifice, anger, sadness or dancing…our music is for who needs it. Not the other way around. We don’t “live for the applause” as some other pop stars proclaim.

-For someone who has never heard of The CO, what song would you suggest they check out that will get them hooked?

Over the last five years, ever since it has been written, “Keep It Together” has been our anthem. It has reached as far across the globe as we can think of. It started trickling out years ago when we did a version of it with Tyler Ward. The following month, I was searching for it on YouTube and found a video of four kids covering it in a packed auditorium for their talent show. I couldn’t even pronounce the country they lived in. It was pretty amazing. That’s when I knew we had a song that would stick around. It is one that fully encompasses us; the best example.

– Does being a Nashville band bring any challenges or pressure to live up to the hype that comes from music city?

Everyone here in music likes to flex their muscles. You learn quickly what that looks like and push through the muck only to realize your best bet is to just do what you do. Everyone has their own plan and in reality pursuing music has NO blueprint in Nashville. You can’t be jealous of others’ achievements, only proud for them. Most of all—keep your eyes and ears to the ground. With Nashville getting more and more attention, if you want to have anything to do with keeping the genuineness of your band in tact, you have to carve your own road. It doesn’t matter what anyone else in this city is doing. That’s not being a prick, that’s just being honest.

– Some of your songs have been featured on ABC Family + The CW. What goes through your head when you all find out about something like that. Do you guys actually tune in to see it?

Actually, it’s always pretty surreal to see it. Since we are all usually doing other things, we usually don’t get the time to see every one of them. If anything, we catch a clip online. There have been a few that we were really thankful to the supervisors like Jon Ernst. We made sure to watch a series of episodes that he had locked a lot of songs from the new record on his ABC Family show ‘The Vineyard.’ Even if you aren’t following the show, it’s pretty cool to see how they saw that certain song fit into the scene. We spend a lot of time in LA hanging with a lot of the supervisors. And it’s not to schmooze. A lot of them have become our close friends. We go out with them. We jump on hotel beds (yes.) And have played house shows in their houses, like our buddy Chris Mollere’s (The CW’s ‘The Vampire Diaries’) place. Heck, our gal Madonna Wade-Reed is my go-to for girl advice. Always. She’s working on this show I am addicted to on The CW called ‘Reign.’ We’ve also had a long-running relationship with ABC Family and the ladies up there. Others include Alex Patsavas and the Chop Shop folks. Once you realize music people are people just like you it kind of makes all this hype and rat race seem irrelevant. A lot of music is just about the hang; everything else can fall into place pretty easily after that. You have to put the work in. Getting a song on a movie, commercial or show is always a great surprise. It’s not something you can pine over thinking about; but when it happens it’s a lot of fun.

– The CO will continue to tour this year. How are you crafting your setlist.

Most of it will be from the new record ‘Keep It Together’ but we have also added a few new incredible songs like our current favorite “Try to Try.” It’s pretty much the most introspective song about wanting someone to love you when you know they can’t. Another that people seem to be latching on to in the crowd and singing to is an epic one we call “Unstoppable.” It’s all about being all out there—not caring and running towards it.

– Guilty pleasure tour snacks?

Nothing would ever be guilty with snacks. Nate loves those neon gummy worms. He and I will pound those on the late drives back; we’re the only two who can actually handle driving that late so we do whatever we can do to stay awake. Collin loves Combos…we used to eat those a lot when we were in college.

– What else can we expect to see from you guys this year?

More music. We don’t just write a record and then stop. There’s plenty of material we haven’t even shared. So expect that. As for other things…you’ll just have to wait and see. That will be coming soon. XO

You can check out all things, The CO below.

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xx Gabbie