INTERVIEW WITH HALEY AND MICHAELS INTRODUCING YOU TO THEM AND TALKING ABOUT THEIR 2019 AND PLANS FOR 2020
It's that time of year where I bring you the first interview of my 2019 interviews of the years. Today's comes from US singer-songwriting duo, Shannon Haley and Ryan Michaels was were both born in California and are one duo I have loved discovering this year!
Morning, Shannon and Ryan. Hope you're both well. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview with me, it's wonderful to be featuring you!
Firstly, I would like you to introduce yourselves to our readers?
Hello! We are Shannon Haley and Ryan Michaels and together we are Haley & Michaels. We're a married country music duo based in Nashville, TN. We grew up 3 miles apart from each other on the other side of the country but never met until we were in Music City. It's great to be with you all. Thank you for having us!
How old were you were you decided to start writing your own songs? And when did you write and perform your first song?
Shannon: I was eight years old in third grade when I wrote my first song. I remember loving writing songs more than anything else. I performed in musicals starting in kindergarten, but I didn't perform my first original song until I was in college.
Ryan: I was in sixth grade when I wrote my first song. I was in a duo with my Dad called Family Tree. My family owned a musical instrument store so I grew up around a lot of collaboration. I performed my first original song when I was sixteen at a honky tonk that my Dad snuck me into.
Where did you first perform any of yours songs and how old were you?
Shannon: I was at a country club called "The Cowboy Palace" in Los Angeles CA the first time I performed some of my original songs. I was 18 years old and I found a band on craigslist that had been together a long time to back me up and learn my songs.
Ryan: Growing up I liked to place both country music and rock 'n roll. The country duo I was in with my Dad made our debut performance at the club house at my grandparent's mobile home park at the Cape Cod Village. With my rock 'n roll band we played on weekly basis at the empty storage space above the department store in our neighborhood. We never had any actual audience but every once in awhile a couple of girls would come watch us so we felt cool. In those moments.
What is your favourite country song and who is your favourite country artist (can be more than one)?
Favorite country artists: Garth Brooks, Little Big Town, and Keith Urban.
Favorite country songs: To Make You Feel My Love by Garth Brooks (though it was written by Bob Dylan), and What I'd Say by Earl Thomas Conley.
What is the most inspirational song you have heard?
Shannon: Imagine by John Lennon
Ryan: Living On A Prayer by Bon Jovi
Now to talk about your music in 2019 and plans for 2020
2019, has been one busy year for you both and if you don't mind, I'd love to talk to you about it?
It's been an incredible year! We were invited to perform at the ACM Awards official pre-party in Las Vegas, we got to play halftime Monday Night Football at the San Francisco 49ers Levi's Stadium, and we got to go on The Today Show and perform "Hail Mary" and release our debut album!
Your first and only single of 2019, was released back in March called Hail Mary, what was the reaction like to releasing the song?
It has been really wonderful having that song out there. It was originally released in a Netflix movie called "Walk. Ride. Rodeo.". After that, we released it on Spotify and to country radio. Since then, the song started with the 49ers and has begun to spread within the NFL. It's our favorite thing when someone will send us a message saying that this song has helped them through a tough time, or that it gave them inspiration to go after their dreams.
You've been out and about a lot in America playing lots of shows, how have they been for you? What are the audiences like?
We've been to over 140 cities this year performing our music. Our shows have been incredible and all over the map. We've played everywhere from Levi's Stadium to Waffle House to clubs in Nashville and country bars in the middle of nowhere.
You've played a half-time show in California last month, what an experience that must have been for you?
It was so surreal on a lot of levels. It's always been our dream to play stadiums. We never could have imagined that the first one we would play would be for our hometown football team the 49ers! We grew up watching all the games so to get to play for that crowd on that night was incredible!
What are the Nashville audiences like?
Nashville is truly a music lover's town. We've played at The Grand Ole Opry and The Bluebird Cafe and a common feeling with the audiences in Nashville is that people always listen and there seems to be a deep respect for the songwriter, which we appreciate because we write all of our songs.
However, just a few days ago you released your debut album called Hail Mary which featured 12 songs, how was putting all the songs together for this album?
Yes! We are so excited to have our album out now! We have been working on this album for years. We have written so many songs over the years so it was tough picking which ones to include. Ultimately we had to really both believe in the song and it had to represent our sound. It was important to us that we included all different types of songs, whether it be love songs or break up songs or anthems. We were both on the same page when all was said and done.
How long did it take you?
The first song we ever wrote together is called "The Price I Pay" and it's actually included on the album. So if you think about it, technically it has taken us our whole career together as a duo. But most of the writing and recording process itself took a little over two years.
What was the fan reaction like to the album?
It's been so awesome having fans reach out to us who have either been waiting for us to release music, or who are just now discovering us for the first time. We've loved hearing from people who have picked different favorites or who have said they are listening to the whole album all the way through! It's very rewarding to have a body of work out.
What's been your highlight of 2019, so far?
Releasing our album on The Today Show was incredible. But if we had to pick one, it would be performing "Hail Mary" at Levi's Stadium with the 49ers Monday Night Football!
What are your plans for 2020?
Our plans for 2020 are tour dates to support our album, continuing to write and produce more songs and evolve and grow musically and as people, to spend quality time with friends and more time with our cats.
And finally, before I let you go I would like to ask you both are their any plans for a UK visit in 2020?
Absolutely! We are currently making plans to visit the UK in the first few months of the year and we hope to be performing shows in 2020! We hope to see you there! Thank you again for having us!
Try stopping me being there if I am free.
Thank you so much for your time today, and I wish you all the very best! Hopefully speak to you both again soon.
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