B615: Hi guys – you each made your way to Nashville as solo artists before you became 2 Lane Summer – can you speak a little bit about your journeys into Nashville and how you came to find each other?

JH: Chris grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and I grew up in Naperville, Illinois, and we both grew up with a love for music, love for country, love for songwriting. And, you know, as God would have it, we just both moved to town. Chris had been in Nashville 10 years, and I were about seven, around the time when we had met, and we were both kind of running parallel tracks or lanes, if you will, in Nashville, being solo artists and songwriters, and we met through a mutual friend who put us in the songwriting room. And that's where Chris and I met with for the first time and it was really cool to see like we just kind of organically merged creatively and as friends and really had something special going on, and started running together as a duo for about three years now.

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SB615: It's cool that you found your way to this organically, because when you guys sing, the harmonies are so tight like you'd think you'd been to you'd been playing together for a lot longer.

CR: Yeah, thank you. I think Joe and I, from having the church background, because both of us grew up in church, and playing and singing in church. It was easy to harmonize and just blend.

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SB615: How have you found the transition going into country music from more of a church background?

JH: I think with Chris and I, it's been pretty effortless, honestly, because I think I speak for Chris as well when I say this, our mission as artists and songwriters, has always been to just connect with people's hearts and bring people together, which is at the root of any kind of music in general. You know, the heart of it is to touch people's hearts with the music. And so honestly, it's been pretty effortless, regardless of like the topic we're writing or genre, so to speak, our mission has always been to connect people's hearts and reach them through songwriting.

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                                                                                             SB615: What struck me is for a group just                                                                                                            releasing your debut EP, you've hit some                                                                                                              pretty big career moments already. I mean,                                                                                                        you've got nearly 400,000 followers. How                                                                                                           does it feel to have that kind of support                                                                                                                before you've even released your first EP? 

                                                                                                 CR: We feel very humbled by the fans because                                                                                                they have gravitated towards us since day one,                                                                                              you know, since we dropped our first cover, and                                                                                              until now, about to drop our first EP. The fans,                                                                                                  they have blown our minds. So it's been very                                                                                                  humbling for us both.

 

 

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SB615: You guys were featured on an article by Billboard for emerging country artists, which must’ve felt pretty cool?

CR: Yeah, that was a sick moment.

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SB615: You were in great company in that feature; we've just had C2C festival over here in the UK and in Europe. And Tucker Wetmore, Mackenzie Carpenter, they were featured in that article too and they’ve just come over here, played C2C and smashed it. Is that a footprint that you guys would want to follow? To head over and do international shows at some point in the near future?

JH: Absolutely.

CR: Absolutely,

JH: Chris and I, we feel like our vision from day one has always been to have an international and worldwide reach with this platform, and so we would love to get across the pond and reach as many people around the world as possible. So also, thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us, because in doing so, you're helping us reach people in the UK.

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SB615: My pleasure. I think you would fit well over here. Like we’ve just had C2C and you guys would fit so well in with that mix of artists, because you do offer something really different, unique. I mean, you don't get a lot of duos at the minute in country, and I think there's definitely space for you at these festivals over here.

JH: Thank you so much. Yeah, we’re definitely excited to travel a bit.

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SB615: Have you travelled outside of the US before to perform, or just to travel?

CR: No, that would be our first time out of the country.

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SB615: I’m starting the campaign then C2C 2026.

CR & JH: [Laughs] Yes, let's go.

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SB615: You’re making a good case for it; I saw your artist Spotify Wrapped, people are listening in 175 countries. Two and a half million streams, so, you know, there's the demand there. And that’s only gonna go up and up after Friday.

 JH: It’s just so inspiring to Chris and I, because when we get in the writing room, we obviously have the vision to have international reach. But you know, just to see how many people are listening around the world? That's so cool for Chris and I, like, we had no idea we were gonna be reaching people in the UK, or, you know, over there in Europe, so we're fired up.

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SB615: What is your writing process like? Do you write together, or do you work on stuff separately and then come together and work on it? Or is it just different every time?

JH: Yeah, I think, honestly, that's one of the joys of songwriting, because no day in the writing room looks the same. Chris and I are both multi-instrumentalists. We love lyrics. We're both great with ideas and melodies and so it's really fun when we get in the room. And I think part of the key to what Chris and I do is we collaborate with great people and great co writers; just surrounding ourselves with writers that are incredible and help us craft these songs. But one day, you know, Chris might get in and play something awesome on the keyboards, and somebody might bring in a title or a lyric. It really is all just like a puzzle and just kind of organically builds. And, yeah, it's really fun.

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SB615: I imagine it must flex a different creative part of you, like, writing the song itself and then going into the melody and producing it and like you say, figuring out those puzzle pieces and putting it together. I imagine that’s even more creatively fulfilling when you’ve seen it through from the writer's room to when you get out on the stage and you're performing it?

CR: Yeah, that's the best feeling. You know, when we sweat and we write for hours and hours and days and months, then you have that one fan in the audience that's singing your song word for word, like that's the most rewarding feeling.

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SB615: Speaking of your upcoming EP, ‘The Love Songs,’ they're all songs that you've released previously already, but two of them you've re-recorded in a different way called, the wedding versions. Can you speak a little bit about how that came about?

JH: These were all songs that we had put out and had a lot of people really gravitate towards. And so we really just wanted to offer our fans a more intimate and, you know, just a different flavour of the songs that they already have come to love and listen to. And maybe they can play in the more intimate setting, you know, like they might be able to play it at their wedding or first dance or something like that, so that we can be a part of their life and their journey.

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SB615: I can definitely see you guys making a play for being the go-to band for country fans weddings with this EP. There’s a whole marketing campaign right there, just crashing weddings all over Tennessee.

JH: [Laughs] I like the way you think.

CR: [Laughs] That’s actually a good idea.

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SB615: And I gotta say, the music video for ‘Til the Day That I Die,’ is stunning; I've not seen a music video that visually dynamic for a long time. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd have felt singing right on the edge of a cliff like that. I mean, especially you, Chris, you looked a little bit closer, I'd have been hanging on to that piano for dear life.

CR: [Laughs] Yeah. I was nervous, for sure. [Laughs] It was a long drop down. I will say that.

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SB615: But it paid off because it's a beautiful backdrop, and it goes so well with the lyric of that song. So what are your plans for future release? I know you’re just in the thick of releasing this EP, but what's the plan for going forward? Is it going to be more EPs? Are you looking at like a fuller length album?

CR: Oh yeah, we’re definitely working on new music; we just left the studio and cut like five, six songs. The new music is going to be awesome, so we're excited about it for sure.

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SB615: How would you describe your music to fans that are new to you?

JH: I would say energetic, romantic, and relatable.

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SB615: I love the love song mash-ups that you guys post to your socials. What would you say is your favourite love song that's not yours?

JH: I would say ‘Making Memories of Us,’ by Keith Urban is one of my favourites, just because that was my wife and I's first dance song.

CR: Can’t go wrong with Keith Urban.

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SB615: Will you be touring much for the rest of the year?

JH: Our booking agent is working hard right now to get us some dates for the summer. So we'll be coming to cities near everybody as soon as possible.

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SB615: And hopefully you'll be playing some international shows for the UK and European fans pretty soon too.

CR: Yes, that would be awesome. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Thank you for allowing us to do this.

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