Exclusive Q and A: Darryl Worley Gears up for 'One Time Around'

posted in: Country • Exclusive Interviews

Darryl Worley fans are in for a red-hot summer.

Worley’s first album in two years, One Time Around, is slated for June release, the same month he’ll host the three-day BamaJam music extravaganza, and that’s just for starters.

The man behind more than twenty charted hit singles including A Good Day to Run, I Miss My Friend, Have you Forgotten and more took some time from his busy schedule to talk to OurStage about his latest single, his new album and more.

OS: We’ve missed you! Where have you been?

DW: I took a little time off. I have still been touring but I put the whole routine of grinding out one album after another on hold for a while. I have a little four-year-old daughter and I needed to eliminate something from my busy schedule to be a better dad. We toured pretty heavily last year and had a good year, but we’ve been off the radio for almost two years now. I got back in the mood to work on music. I made my own record on my own dime. I had no problem putting a deal together…with complete funding from outside sources.

We have a real determined team of people together that are excited to make this thing work and we’re having a blast working it. Watching it start to grow is a hoot. It’s your baby and people out there are very receptive.

OS: Everybody loves the single “You Still Got It.” How did that song one together?

DW: I went over [to work with co-writer Brent Jones] and he had the chorus written; the chorus can be elusive and [it’s important to get it right because] sometimes it defines the whole song. I said “Do you have the whole song?” and he said “No I want to write it with you. I know you are crazy about your wife and this whole new chapter in your life.” Brett has a whole new chapter in his life, too. My wife and I have been together a little over four years and we have a four-year-old daughter so we knew that’d be the point of the song. So we wrote about just us being who we are and grinding away on the road. When we are away from our significant others, they just need to hear how we feel. We got into this discussion and that’s how the song came out.

And the video is very, very sweet, almost like a mini movie. It follows this couple through their whole lives until their older years when they’re walking holding hands. I think when we were filming that I was the most relaxed and comfortable I’ve ever been in front of a camera.

OS: Even though you’ve been touring so much, it still has to feel like you’re ramping up again. How did you get yourself in the mindset to put out this album?

DW: It always starts with songwriting for me. We wrote about eight or nine brand new things and then we said we are ready to start cutting a few things. The first time we went into the studio we cut five or six tracks that day. Then I only had to come back and cut a couple things. When I went back again, we cut a couple of older songs that had been on previous records but had gotten lost in the shuffle. We just had a lot of fun. The coolest thing is being able to go in and set your own time limit. Before, there were always people breathing down our necks. I know people have deadlines but there was just too much creative interference. I know people mean well, but but they interfere with the creative process. You can hear we’re relaxed [because] we found some great feelings for this music. We didn’t try to create that Nashville wall of sound; we left breathing room in the songs and they have a great groove.

OS: Is there a secret to getting that purer, more natural sound?

DW: Try to stay out of the way and let songs go where they want to go.

OS: Now that you’ve lived with “You’ve Still Got It,” for a while, what are your thoughts about it?

DW: I think this song might surprise us all. I think it’s going to do really well because it’s a single that appeals to the females in the audience. I mean, guys are usually out listening to their music!

OS: Why did you choose “One Time Around” as the title track of the new album?

DW: I don’t know if that song is the perfect song to describe this body of work but it does have some significance. This is the first time and only time, really, we kind of put all the components together ourselves. It’s almost like it describes the body of work, too. I believe I called on some earlier music influences to make this album. It probably has hints of those blues kind of influences, an almost R&B kind of sound sneaks out from time to time. It’s a really good album title because we are doing it like we think it should be done.

On the financial backing, one of my partners is seeing us through this whole thing and I just think “This is it, man, because if there’s anybody to point a finger at, well, I did it.”

OS: Having said that, what do you want your fans to know about this album?

DW: I think I would want the fans to know that we took the time to put together strongest package of songs we ever did. I’ve never been nonchalant about picking singles. I pick every song as if every one is a single. That’s worked out in my favor. On this, I started with the song that I felt should come first.

OS: Do you think your fans will rally around this record?

DW: My fans definitely get it. People have been saying “Please get around to recording songs,” but they know we don’t have this crazy label mentality that we have to put out a new product every year.

OS: So you’re very involved with BamaJam 2012, including as its spokesman. What should fans expect from the festival?

DW: The line up is crazy, insane. We have so many people coming to this thing. I told my manager “Dude, there is no way this line up is not going to bring people in.” We have Tim McGraw, the Zac Brown Band, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Eric Church. Every night is a big night. It is amazing and I’m excited about the line up not to mention what is going to be available to fans. There is all kinds of stuff like a water slide that is the longest in the world. There are new developments all the time.

Find out more about Darryl Worley, his upcoming tour dates, and more on his Web site.