Independent Of Expectations

James Droll talks the Nashville scene, coming-of-age stories and spontaneous tattoos

- Devon Preston

While Nashville may be known as the birthplace of country music, there’s more to this Southern city than Tim McGraw and Dolly Parton. The so-called Athens of the South has launched the careers of artists across many diverse genres, including “Cut My Teeth” singer James Droll. Originating from the Midwest but happening upon the music city by chance, Droll has taken Nashville by storm and captivated listeners worldwide with his brutally honest lyrics. We caught up with the rising star at our NY headquarters to understand how he developed his sound as a solo artist and what fans can expect to take away from his upcoming music.

Tell us about going from rural Ohio to Nashville. First, I moved to Cincinnati, where I went to school for two years, but I had a really hard time with the collegiate system. I made a lot of friends that were a part of the music industry in Cincinnati and I ended up joining a band. Yes, a tale as old as time: College dropout joins a band and then starts going on tour. The band toured heavily for six years and then our drummer stole all of our money, eloped with his girlfriend and got married. And if your band is going to go down in flames, that’s a pretty good way to go. So the band kicked the bucket and I started my career as a bartender. At that time, I thought, “Music sucks, it’s the worst.”

Then the bar I was working at in Cincinnati opened up in Nashville and they just offered to move me down there. That was literally the only reason why I moved, I’d never imagined myself to be in Nashville and didn’t even move there for music. But as soon as I got there, bad habits came back, if you will. I started to get back into music and meet people who were there for that reason. I became very inspired by the budding and already-rooted arts and music community in Nashville.