Episode 188 with Kent Blazy

Blazy releases a new Beatles-inspired album

Kent Blazy is an American country music songwriter who was inducted into the class of 2020 Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame during the Golden Anniversary plus one during the special 50th And 51st Gala. The Kentucky native has written several singles with Garth Brooks, and penned tracks recorded by by Gary Morris, Diamond Rio, Patty Loveless, Chris Young, and an upcoming song by Reba. Blazy has a total of seven No. 1 hits to his credit.

Blazy was raised in Lexington, Kentucky and began playing guitar at a young age, citing The Byrds, Rodney Crowell and Joe Ely as influences. He later played for Canadian singer Ian Tyson. Later on, Blazy met former Exile member Mark Gray, who suggested that Blazy move to Nashville, Tennessee. Eventually, he signed to a publishing contract, but the publishing company closed. Despite the loss of contract, Gary Morris sent Blazy’s “Headed for a Heartache” into the top 5 on the country charts.

By the late 1980s, Blazy met with a then-unknown Garth Brooks, who gave him the idea for a song entitled “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” He and Brooks co-wrote the song, which went on to become Brooks’ first No. 1 hit. Brooks continued to record Blazy’s material throughout the 1990s, including the singles “Ain’t Goin’ Down (‘Til the Sun Comes Up),” “It’s Midnight Cinderella,” “She’s Gonna Make It,” “Somewhere Other Than the Night” and the George Jones duet “Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?).” Blazy, along with songwriters Pat Alger, Tony Arata and Kim Williams, recorded an album entitled A Songwriters’ Tribute to Garth Brooks, which included their renditions of songs that they had written for Brooks which was released in 2001.

He also co-wrote “That’s What I Get for Lovin’ You” by Diamond Rio and “Can’t Get Enough” by Patty Loveless in the late 1990s and “Gettin’ You Home (The Black Dress Song)” by Chris Young in the 2010s, along with a 15-year-old song recently cut by Reba for consideration for her upcoming new album that’s expected in 2024.

Blazy returns to The Music Universe Podcast for his third appearance, but first on camera. He chats with us about his new album, From The Beatles to The Bluebird, inspired by a 2022 visit to The Beatles’ hometown of Liverpool, England. From first inspirations to endless gigs in bars to writing hit songs in Nashville Tennessee on Music Row, the album is a musical journey from the 60’s English invasion winding through decades up till today.

“I got to go to Liverpool last year and you know, I’m a huge Beatle fan. And when you are at the dock, they have a life-size statues of The Beatles. And it’s pretty cool because all of them are carrying something that means something to them. So if you go Google that, it’s an interesting story how they did that,” Blazy tells us. “But it was cold that day. And I was wearing a Bluebird sweatshirt that I had gotten when I was doing a benefit at the Bluebird a couple of weeks before that. And somebody took a picture. And when I saw the picture, I thought, God, that’s a great album title — From the Beatles to the Bluebird — because part of my career started due to Garth [Brooks] playing ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ at the Bluebird Cafe after he’d been turned down by every record label. And somebody was in the audience to hear somebody else and told Garth, ‘Maybe we missed something. Why don’t you come back in?’ And thanks to the Bluebird, he got a record deal and ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’ ended up being his first single that went number one, so pretty cool.”

The album is available at digital outlets and features 11 songs penned or co-penned by Blazy. Members of Jon Pardi’s band joined him at Sound Emporium in Nashville to record the project in a day and a half.

Be sure to subscribe to The Music Universe Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Select episodes now streaming on Canyon Star TV and the Roku channel DBTV.

Become a supporter and support this podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn