Slade Coulter - A Backstage Pass

Slade Coulter is a man on a mission within the Texas Country Rock scene.

After racking up a healthy amount of views on his newest EP Here We Go Again, Coulter was named Country Underdog's Alternative Country Artist of the Year.

He's a breathtaking performer whose lyrics, showmanship, and skills on the guitar are on par with the best in the business.

But how'd he get here? Keep reading for a backstage pass into the life and music of Slade Coulter.

Background

From his early years in Jayton, TX to his more recent days spent headlining the Blue Light Live in Lubbock - Slade Coulter has always been quite the artist.

Growing up with a mother as a writing teacher, Coulter's passion for writing began at an early age. In the beginning, Coulter would compete at the UIL State Championship in the categories of Feature Writing and Story Writing.

Despite his great success as an academic writer - Coulter quickly transitioned into the life of songwriting. With expertly crafted songs like Hey Mary, Stay, and his most recent release, Coming Back Around - he would begin to develop a following that would help catapult his career to the next level.

In addition to writing, Coulter's early years in Jayton were spent listening to music with his dad after his shifts in the oil field and making memories with his seven siblings.

Also, it's no surprise that in a high school class of nine people, Coulter participated in every sport that the school offered. He even took to the stage as a part of Jayton High School's One-act play.

His Musical Journey

When Coulter turned sixteen years old, his parents gifted him with an old Fender acoustic guitar for Christmas. His dad had always encouraged him to pursue music, as he wanted his son to enjoy the hobby that had taught him so much over the years.

That first Fender guitar would be the first of many that his father would see him perform with.

Coulter would spend most of his time in high school learning as much as he could about playing guitar and songwriting in general. However, it wasn't until shortly after he graduated that he would begin playing his own gigs.

Coulter would end up leaving for Texas Tech University with a few gigs under his belt and a notebook full of ideas - not the first of which had anything to do with his initial degree plan - Mechanical Engineering.

By what could be considered a stretch of fate, Coulter would be roomed with Bryson Gilbert, younger brother of musician Grant Gilbert. Almost immediately the three would get together and begin hitting the road for Grant's shows.

Initially, Coulter only tagged along to the shows to sell merchandise for Gilbert. At this point, Coulter was just happy to have a foot in the door of the music business and when asked about this period of his life he responded with,

"Man - it was a hell of a time."

In addition to touring as "merch guy" with Gilbert, Coulter would begin pursuing his own career and booking gigs wherever he could. After meeting many connections within the industry and playing countless acoustic shows, Coulter started to consider forming his own band.

The courage to venture out on his own would only come when Gilbert asked him to come on tour as his full time "merch guy."

"He was one of my best friends, and I know he didn't mean it, but him asking me to be his full time merch guy felt like an insult. After experiencing that feeling, I knew it was time for me to go out on my own and pursue music full time."

Since that moment, Coulter has developed into one hell of a performer. Always hitting the stage with his Telecaster - ready to put on a show.

“My favorite part is when I can tell that the audience is enjoying it and the crowd is singing along. I mean holy shit these are actual people who enjoy the songs that I’m writing. It’s a weird feeling to know that my music is making other people happy but it’s a great feeling, man.”

You can catch him live in action and find tickets to Coulter's upcoming shows here.

The Story Behind The Lyrics

As previously mentioned, writing is a gift that Coulter has always possessed. When asked about his writing process, he described how there's typically not a specific story that goes behind each tune.

Sometimes Coulter's lyrics walk the line between rocking out and heartbreak. When I asked about this he said there's nothing like jamming out to a good heartbreak song - despite whatever mood you're in.

However, he did let me in on the secret meaning behind one of his songs - Walk Back Home.

"Walk Back Home was the first single that we ever put out. Really I just got super trashed with my friends in town one time and walked back home. The next morning I was telling the story and - BOOM. Light on. That’s a song lyric right there."

Despite letting his creativity take the wheel and writing about whatever story pops into his head, Coulter does have some notable influences that he can attribute a lot of his motivation and success to - the first of which being his parents.

Coulter and his dad would always listen to their favorite musicians like Robert Earl Keen and Chris Knight. He said they've always had a fascination with trying to switch the words around in songs and make it sound good - that's where the inspiration from his mom would come in.

The time spent in the classroom working on writings with his mother would help inspire the lyrics (1) that Coulter and his father would make up and (2) those that you hear him belting out in his songs today.

In addition, Coulter gave praise to his manager, and fellow musician, Dalton Domino by saying,

"Dalton has been such a great influence on all of us. He really teaches us and pushes us to be better musicians and better writers. It's been a huge help."

As his career continues to evolve, I can't wait to see what creative twist this guy is able to incorporate into his music - and if he ever hits a bump in the road - Coulter knows his biggest influences will be there to help.

What's Next For Coulter

For someone who's career is taking off as quickly as Coulter's - he still remains extremely humble. He's recently played shows at some of the biggest venues with some of the biggest stars and when asked about how he feels about it, all he could do is express his gratitude for his fans.

There's still plenty more to come from this young musician and when asked about the goals he's got for the next few years he responded by saying,

“Idk what my next goal is right now. I’m doing everything I want to be doing and meeting everyone I want to be meeting. It’s pretty surreal and I couldn't be more thankful."

Final Thoughts

This guy is a class act and I'm thankful to have gotten the chance to speak with him. This is one of those incredible people who has layers you can keep pulling back and uncovering more amazing talent and ideas from.

Going forward, I encourage you all to check out upcoming shows on his website which you can find here and stream his newest single Coming Back Around which is out on all platforms.

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