Adam Sanders Hoping He’s ‘About To’ Score a Breakthrough With New Single

Adam Sanders is best-known to country music fans through songs he's written for other artists, but he's taking his best shot so far at solo recognition with the release of his new single, "About To."

Sanders has garnered some positive attention already. His 2014 debut single, "Nothin’ to Do But Drink," was a Highway Finds track on SiriusXM. In 2015 Spotify chose the rising singer as of country’s Ones to Watch.

His second single, "Somewhere That You Don’t Go," was another Highway Finds selection in 2015, and Sander is hopeful that "About To" shows a completely different side of his artistry. The track begins sparsely with his vocals over simple piano chords, then builds into a soul-country jam with synthesized percussion and sound effects for an ultra-modern twist on country music.

"I think each single that we've released, we've tried to show depth, and just tried to show growth as an artist," Sanders tells Taste of Country. "This single, compared to any other ones that I've released in the past, is a 180-degree difference, in my opinion. It was just fun to release something that we could experiment with some new sounds, and go to boundaries a little bit to show a side that fans haven't seen of me as an artist."

The North Florida native took up music very early on, and he used to spend summers with his father in Nashville. His uncle is Scotty Sanders, a widely-respected musician in the Music City scene, and he was the first one who encouraged Sanders to write his own songs as a way into the business. Sanders also got some early insight into the recording process by shadowing him at recording sessions, giving him a little bit of an edge when he first went in to record his own songs.

Still, he says, "I know just enough to be dangerous. There's guys out there that have a lot more experience than me. I just know, when I hear something I know when it sounds right, and I think learning the  terminology of the session world and the recording world was something that I had to learn and am still learning today. So I definitely think it helped me to be thrown into the scene a little bit. But we're learning a little bit very day, and I don't think you'll ever learn everything that you think you should know."

Sanders established himself with cuts from Luke Bryan, Dustin Lynch, Cole Swindell, Dierks Bentley and Scotty McCreery, including two No. 1 hits; Swindell's "Aint Worth the Whiskey" and Lynch's "Hell of a Night."

"I just feel like I knew that songwriting is my strong suit, if you will, and I just focused on that, and I knew that it worked in the past for other artists that started writing songs and they started getting cuts, and then someone says, 'Well, why doesn't this guy sing them? He's writing them all,'" he shares. "So that was sort of my approach and my plan, and so far, so good. We're right where we want to be, but we still have a long way to go."

Sanders' background playing fairs, festivals and any local events he could helps him as he goes out on the road supporting artists including Bryan, Swindell, Eric Church, Thomas Rhett and more.

"Relationships are so key in how you treat people out on the road, and in any way in life," he observes. "So I just try to be helpful in any way that I can. My job as an opener is to get the crowd fired up and ready for the headlining act, and that's what we try to do every time we go out and open for someone, is just try to bring a party and a fun atmosphere, so that when they get onstage their job is a little easier."

He's working on an artist deal, with an eye toward releasing an entire album, and Sanders has a very specific vision of how he wants his career to play out.

"I want to be an artist that doesn't necessarily sing about one particular thing. I wanna be a guy that can sing a ballad and it be as country as you can make it, and then I wanna be a guy also who can sell out a stadium and sing fun, up-tempo songs," he shares. "So I think the album, when we get into that, is gonna show a lot of layers, because I think to have longevity in this business, you've got to be the guy that can do all of it."

He's aware that is going to entail much more hard work that's still in front of him.

"I realize this business is more of a marathon and not necessarily a sprint, and so to me, today is just one day to get better and continue to work on my craft," Sanders reflects. "I wanna be around for 20 or 30 years, one step up the mountain at a time."

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