Brad Tursi, Co-Songwriter & Lead Guitarist For Hit Country Band Old Dominion, Talks About His New Solo Album And His Songwriting

For the past decade, Brad Tursi has been the lead guitarist and a key songwriter for one country music’s most popular bands, Old Dominion. He has co-written many of their biggest hits including “Memory Lane,” “Make It Sweet,” “One Man Band,” “Break Up with Him” and “Written in the Sand.” In addition, he’s co-written hit songs for other country stars such as Keith Urban, Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney.

On top of this, Tursi has just released his first solo album called Parallel Love. He is releasing this album on Columbia Records/Sony Music Nashville, with the cooperation and support of his Old Dominion bandmates. Tursi is launching this solo album and touring as a solo act, while still remaining a full, active member of Old Dominion.

Tursi’s album Parallel Love shows a different side to his music, including a more acoustic, folk style on some songs. This album is a collection of songs that he’s written over the past 10 years, and includes co-writes with top songwriters & artists Dan Isbell, Stephen Wilson Jr, Jessi Alexander and Matt Jenkins. Notably, the album also showcases Tursi’s expressive, heartfelt singing voice.

Some songs on Parallel Love are more commercial and hooky, such as “Church Bells and Train Whistles” and “Crazy Life.” Other songs are more acoustic and understated such as “Question the Universe” and “Where You Been.” Another highlight is the title cut “Parallel Love” that features female vocals by Tranni Anderson.

Tursi will be promoting his album by launching a solo tour this fall. The tour starts in Atlanta on October 3rd, and then he’ll be playing shows in Lexington, New York City, Boston, Indianapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities.

We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Brad Tursi. But before we get started, here’s a brief rundown of the hit songs he’s co-written for Old Dominion and other artists. For Old Dominion, he co-wrote the hits “Break Up With Him,” “Song for Another Time,” “Snapback,” “Written in the Sand,” “No Such Things as a Broken Heart,” “One Man Band,” “Make It Sweet,” “I Was on a Boat That Day,” “No Hard Feelings” and “Memory Lane.”

For other artists, Tursi co-wrote the hits “Save It for a Rainy Day” for Kenny Chesney, “A Guy Walks into a Bar” for Tyler Farr, “Light It Up” for Luke Bryan, and “Wild Hearts” for Keith Urban.

With Old Dominion, Tursi has won several CMA, ACM and CMT awards, and he’s been nominated for a Grammy award.

Here’s our interview with Tursi:

DK: I read that you’re from Connecticut. How did you get into playing guitar and writing songs?

Brad Tursi: When I was 13, I found my dad’s acoustic guitar in the attic. I opened it up and there was this beautiful guitar in this red velvet case. As a kid I was like “Wow,” and from that day I never stopped playing it. I taught myself how to play by listening to records and cassette tapes in my room, and figuring out how to play stuff.

DK: When did you start writing songs?

Tursi: Gosh, I probably wrote a song for my girlfriend in high school when I was 15 (laughs). I think between age 15 and 30, I wrote about 50 songs. But I didn’t really know what songwriting was until I moved to Nashville and pursued it as a career. Then between age 30 and 44, which is my age now, I’ve probably written a thousand songs.

DK: When you first moved to Nashville, was your goal to be a pro songwriter writing for other artists, or did you want to be an artist?

Tursi: When I moved to Nashville, I swore I would never be in another band again. I had been in bands since I was 16, and I had a record deal with another band before I moved to Nashville. I was always the lead guitar player in several bands. We did a lot of touring in bands and that can beat you up a little. I was actually going to quit before I moved to Nashville, but my dad convinced me to keep going.

So I moved to Nashville to be a songwriter, and then I ended up reconnecting with some of the guys in Old Dominion that I went to college with. At first I was just subbing for their guitar play for a while, but then their guy quit and they asked me to be in the band. I really liked their music, so I thought…What the hell. I’ll give it one more shot (laughs). And the rest is history.

DK: I read your songwriting credits, and it looks like you first had a hit with Tyler Farr with the song “A Girl Walks Into A Bar,” before you had hits with Old Dominion. Is that true?

Tursi: I think “A Guy Walks Into a Bar” was my first number one song, and “Break Up With Him” (for Old Dominion) was the second one. So “A Guy Walks Into a Bar” kicked it off. Since then, besides writing for Old Dominion, I’ve been lucky to have number ones with Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and Luke Bryan.

DK: In 2015, had a hit with Old Dominion, “Break Up With Him,” and a hit with Kenny Chesney, “Save It For A Rainy Day.” Can you talk about writing those two songs?

Tursi: With “Break Up with Him,” we were playing a picnic for Kohl”s department store (laughs); this was before we had any success We started this little jam at soundcheck, which ended up being the music for “Break Up with Him.” Then Matthew (Ramsey) and Trevor (Rosen) had the idea of it being a one-way phone conversation where you’re talking, leaving out what the girl would be saying. Then we finished it as a band together down in Texas at a friend’s house. That’s how that song came about.

With “Save It For a Rainy Day,” that was me and lead singer Matt and our late friend, Andrew Dorff. We would usually get together around 11 am, but sometimes we would get together at 9 am for a couple hours and see what happens. So that particular day we wrote “Save It For a Rainy Day” in like 45 minutes…it fell right out. And I would be at home making these demos, and I remember a couple weeks later Matt said, “You want a Kenny Chesney cut or not? Make the demo.” So I made it and we sent it to his manager. Then Kenny loved it and that’s how that song came about.

DK: Last year, Old Dominion had a hit with “Memory Lane” which I really liked. What inspired you and the band to write this song?

Tursi: With “Memory Lane,” it was me, with Jessie Jo Dillon, Matt and Trevor coming to the house one day. I had a vibe dialed up, with the drum loop and acoustic guitar that starts the song. Everyone seemed to like that vibe, and Jessie Jo had the title “Memory Lane.” Then Matt started singing, “If I can buy a house on Memory Lane,” and we thought that was a cool line, and we were off to the races. I think that song is a nice blend of an organic, rootsy sound, but also has that pop, 4-on-the-floor chorus.

DK: Most of your Old Dominion hits are written with your bandmates Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen. What’s your songwriting process when you’re writing with them?

Tursi: I think it’s different every time. Most of the time it will start out with a title. Everyone has their phone notes that’s full of titles. You start throwing out titles until you feel like you’ve found the best idea. I think that’s the hardest part, especially with a country song, is finding a good idea to write about. Once you have a good idea, it becomes a lot easier to write a song. And then Trevor is really great with little guitar licks, and I can play guitar and stuff.

With my new record, it’s different when I do a lot of these songs because I write them by myself. There are a couple songs on the record where I brought in some people to finish the songs. But I found that it’s more of a pure expression when I finish it by myself. I get to say what I want to sing. and have it sound the way I want it to sound.

DK: You’ve just released your solo album, Parallel Love. Have you wanted to record a solo album for awhile now?

Tursi: I hadn’t really thought about doing it until recently. Honestly, there’s so many songs I write that I know aren’t going to fit the band. They’re a little more mellow. I started doing it because I had the money now to pay for it and do it myself. It was a passion project. There’s so many songs that I would play on the couch, and thinking these songs deserve to be recorded. So I made the record, and then I handed it in to the label and management, just to be like, “Hey I made this.” And they said, “This is amazing. What’s your plan?” I said, “Honestly, if you guys didn’t like it, that would be the end of my plan. I would send it to my mom and call it a day” (laughs). I wasn’t going to shop it around. But luckily, they reacted really positively, which has been nice to see.

DK: Your new album seems to be more acoustic and mellow. Did you want to show a different side of your music?

Tursi: Yeah of course. I wanted to show this different side of me, and what I bring to Old Dominion, and what makes me happy when I enjoy creating. So naturally, it’s a different sound.

DK: I like your new songs “Church Bells and Train Whistles” and the title song “Parallel Love.” Can you talk about these songs?

Tursi: “Church Bells and Train Whistles” was a song that I had part of the chorus, and I brought that song into a co-write with Stephen Wilson Jr. & Ben West. Stephen Wilson is one of the most talented songwriters I know right now; we’ve written several songs together. I think he came up with that first line, “I was born with the pedal down out of heaven headin’ southbound.” What an amazing line. So we finished that and Ben West made the demo, and that’s the only song we didn’t re-record. I loved the demo so much that I just mixed it. There was no way that I was gonna beat this recording.

With “Parallel Love,” that was an idea that I read in a self-help, relationship book. I think a lot of times when people are in love and start to get into a relationship, they have this feeling like they’re supposed to be completed by this other person and intertwined, and they become attached at the hip. I think sometimes that’s unrealistic. People are there to support each other, and hopefully you don’t have to lose yourself when you’re in a relationship. And you grow up together in a parallel way. Sometimes you see eye to eye, sometimes one helps the other, and sometimes it’s a more of an individualistic path. That’s were the idea for that song came from, and I finished it with Dan Isbell, who’s one of my old friends and co-writers. Dan writes a lot for Luke Combs; he’s a great country boy at heart. So he can definitely add some of the country flair you hear in that song.

DK: I read that you’ll be launching a solo tour in October. Can you talk about your new tour?

Tursi: Yeah I’m excited. I was honestly surprised because our booking agent was like, “We should do this tour; we’ll put you in this room and that room.” Then he started getting all these offers which is exciting. With Old Dominion, I get to play all these big rooms and you have all these fans that are awesome. This will be a smaller tour. I’m going to have a band with me, but the theme will be An Evening With…so I’ll probably start out by myself and play some songs, and then slowly some band members will come out. Then after intermission, we’ll come out with a full band and play the record and some other songs. I’m excited…it will be a total different experience.