SkiP HappEns Podcast
Skip Clark is a dynamic and captivating podcast host and radio personality who has left an indelible mark on the world of broadcasting. With a voice that can command attention and a personality that oozes charm, Skip has become a beloved figure in the world of entertainment. His passion for storytelling and his ability to connect with his audience shine through in every episode of his podcast and every moment on the airwaves.
Skip’s journey in radio began decades ago, and he has since evolved into a seasoned professional who effortlessly navigates the waves of the media industry. His deep knowledge of music, pop culture, and current events keeps his listeners engaged and coming back for more. Skip Clark's enthusiasm and authenticity make him a trusted voice in the world of podcasting and radio. His dedication to his craft and his commitment to providing quality content continue to make him a standout in the world of broadcasting.
SkiP HappEns Podcast
Sarah Harralson: A Journey of Songwriting, Resilience, and Advocacy in Country Music
Sarah Harralson shares her musical journey from childhood songwriting to becoming a producer and advocate for women in country music. Through her experiences, she highlights the power of collaboration, the importance of understanding the industry, and the personal stories behind her music.
• Discusses first songwriting experience at age 10
• Explains the influence of her grandfather's music
• Emphasizes the significance of music business knowledge for artists
• Highlights collaboration with industry figures like Johnny Garcia
• Shares the emotional story behind her song "Blue Ribbon"
• Launches podcast "Mind Your Music Business" focusing on music roles
• Addresses the challenges women face in the music industry
• Talks about personal achievements, including music placements
• Describes memorable performance with a symphony in Bulgaria
• Expresses excitement for her single "Denim" and future plans
Thanks for listening! Follow us at youtube.com/c/skiphappens
Here we go. We are live everybody. And welcome to Skip Happens. Of course I'm a host, skip Clark, and we bring you unfiltered conversations with some of the most exciting and inspiring voices in country music. Each episode, we skip the small talk, we dive right into the stories that matter, from the trials and triumphs of rising stars to the behind the scenes. Magic makes it all come to life, come together, and tonight's uh guest, the. Incredibly.
Speaker 1:I've been a while I've been kind of not that, I'm um, you know, like all over I'm trying to think of. I just I had like my mind went blank. But you know, I was on the internet and I was looking up sarah harrelson, and what are you about and who are you? And it's just like it's blowing me away the more I read about it. It is so, so cool. But let's get right into it. She's got powerful lyrics, unforgettable melodies. Sarah's journey through music is one you won't want to miss. So, like I say, let's get right into it. Sit back, relax, enjoy the flight. So here we go, sarah. How are you?
Speaker 2:It's good to see you. I'm good Good to see you, Skip. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Where are you right now? Where are you?
Speaker 2:I am in Nashville, like you have on your shirt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, I think they hit the benefit right, or you could buy the shirts and it went towards, I think it was back the tornado or whatever. That was a few years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I've got so much Nashville stuff. I just love Nashville. I'm there quite a bit. Every time I go I pick up more, bring it home and now I don't know what to do with it all. I guess it's just where. So you're in Nashville. What part of town are you in? Are you like right downtown? Are you near Broadway? I'm in in Nashville. What part of town are you in? Are you like right downtown, are you?
Speaker 2:near Broadway. I'm in West Nashville, Bellevue. If anyone's familiar, it's like a 20-minute drive to downtown, which is great to go and do gigs and then come back and get out of the hecticness of downtown. But I love West Nashville because there's so many parks and nature. And it's just my. I've been in many different parts of town during my time in Nashville, but I really love this part of Nashville.
Speaker 1:Now that's 20 minutes to get downtown on a good day, because I know the traffic is crazy yeah On a good day, when there's not a whole lot of traffic.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about you, though.
Speaker 1:Crazy yeah on a good day when there's not a whole lot of traffic. So I love it. I love it. Let's talk about you, though. You've been like writing songs since you were 10. I was reading a little bit about that. Can you tell us about the first song you ever wrote and how it influenced your journey as a songwriter?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my parents split when I was around eight years old and I think that's why I started writing music at such a young age, because my siblings were much older than me, so they were already out of the house, they were in college, so it was just kind of me and my mom growing up like I couldn't really express my feelings about you know how I felt about the relationship between my parents breaking up and how, you know I kind of felt like the odd one out in the family.
Speaker 2:So I just found music as a way to express my feelings and songwriting was very therapeutic to me. Um, uh, some of the first songs I wrote were about, you know, my parents breaking up or just. I think I even wrote kind of a love song about how I wish they were back together. Or even there was just a simple song I wrote called Somebody I think I still have the lyrics somewhere and just about wanting to find somebody like you and have somebody like you in my life. It's just very basic things, but when I look back at it I'm like, yeah, you know, you can tell a 10-year-old wrote this.
Speaker 2:But at the same time you can tell like what I was going through at that time. So I'm so glad I had songwriting in my life at an early age.
Speaker 1:Do you have sisters?
Speaker 2:I do. Yeah, I have a sister and a brother and, as I mentioned, they're much older than me. Like there's a 16 year and a 13 year age gap, so they were way out of the house when I was growing up. Yeah, Wow.
Speaker 1:So I mean, the reason I ask is I have daughters and their mother and I had split up and I think it was pretty hard on them not understanding the whole situation. And you know they want to be with their mom but they want to be with their dad and all that. But for you to to use music as that escape to you know, kind of write about it and sing about it even though you were 10, 11 years old, I think that's pretty cool. Your grandpa, your grandpa was a musician, right? Your grandfather, he was.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was born in Alabama and then when my parents split I moved with my mom to Knoxville, to East Tennessee, and that's where her parents and a lot of my family lived. My granddad was a bluegrass musician in Knoxville. He was always playing his accordion. So I was always around music growing up and even though he was the only musician I mean my mom played a little bit of piano but she was always listening to music, to pop and rock. My dad would listen to country. So I was around all sorts of genres growing up. My family and my granddad really encouraged me to pursue music. I love it.
Speaker 1:I love it. How long have you been in Nashville now, Sarah?
Speaker 2:About 11 years After I graduated high school in Knoxville, I moved to Nashville right away, went to Belmont, got a music business degree and have been here since.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you know, I think it's good that you got the business degree because doing what you're being an independent artist, I know you're working through grassroots for the radio promotion and doing things like this but to have that background in business so you can. There's that whole other side that I think people don't realize. Yes, you're an artist, yes, you're a songwriter, yes you're a singer, but there's all that other side. I mean, the money's got to be taken care of and you got to do things. You know it's a business. Let's just say, hey, you know it's, it's your business.
Speaker 2:So Absolutely, and I think so many artists and especially independent musicians don't really know the business behind the industry, and I think now it's more important than ever to know what you're getting into, what's going on with streaming, where we're going next with music. So I'm so glad I decided to learn more about the business side of the industry, and you know I've had. I had jobs on the business side of the industry right out of college to support my dreams, while I was pursuing music. So, um, it's been so beneficial. I was pursuing music, so it's been so beneficial. I also studied production, and I'm so glad I did that. I love making music too, so I'll produce a lot of my own songs too.
Speaker 1:And I can tell because it looks like you're in somewhat of a home studio.
Speaker 1:I mean I'll say the same thing that I have here. So and that is, you know, I don't know about you, but when I we were talking just a few minutes ago, before the camera went on, the lights and all that. And you know, this is like my studio, this is where I go to get away from it all, this is where I go to play, this is where I go to talk to great people like you and you know kind of share our stories and all that, but not that. You know, knowing the production side of it, and you know what you want for a sound and you can pretty much try to piece it together. Now, what do you use? Do you use Pro Tools?
Speaker 2:I use Pro Tools and Logic. So I love Logic for track building and then I love Pro Tools more for mixing. So kind of best of both worlds worlds.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you don't know what we're talking about, it's the digital workstation. That's where you go and the computer. That's where your voice goes and that's where the music all comes together. Lay down several tracks and you, you make it sound the way you want to make it sound. That's what we're talking about. I know that, but anybody watching this might go. What the heck are they talking about? But but no, that's it. So you know, that's that's cool. Hey, I see you worked with Johnny Garcia a little bit and you had, yeah, scotty Schultz, right, scotty Schultz.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was one of the first people I worked with when I moved to Nashville. I had already released my first EP and was working on some more demos. While I was at Belmont, and I think it was around maybe 2015, he heard my demo of my song Water Down Whiskey and he really liked it and he was starting his own publishing company and, for those of you who don't know, he's the drummer for Shooter Jennings and has his own recording studio now. So he's like hey, I would love to sign you to a single song publishing deal with Watered Down Whiskey. I'd love to track it in my home studio and see what we can do with it. And so we worked really well together. And then I ended up doing my whole ep watered down whiskey, uh, with scotty and um. That relationship and recording that ep alluded to me working with johnny garcia. Actually, um, so, yeah, yeah, one of the songs on that EP, radio Static.
Speaker 2:I wrote that with Johnny Brian Carper and my friend, justin Lilly. So, justin Lilly, I was already writing with him, he's from Texas, and one night he said hey, I've been writing with this guy, johnny Garcia. He's from Texas, like me, and is a guitar player for Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, but he also has his own publishing company. Do you want to come with me and join the right? And I said, sure, I would love to. So that night we met and we wrote Radio Static. I loved it so much I put it on my Watered Down Whiskey EP that Scotty produced the next year, water Down Whiskey EP that Scotty produced the next year. And I had not really talked to Johnny since then.
Speaker 2:About a year went in between from writing the song to recording it and then, in the process of us finishing up Radio Static, all we needed was lead guitar on it. And that week, when we were trying to wrap the song up, I actually ran into Johnny at an event on Music Row. I'm like, hey, I don't know if you remember me, but we wrote the song Radio Static. And he's like, oh yeah, I love it. He's like I'd love to put lead guitar on it if you don't already have the guitar tracked on it. I said that's perfect, we need the guitar on it. So he did the guitar and radio static and then we started working more closely together. We did some shows together and then I did a artist development deal at his publishing company at the time which led to us writing a lot of songs together, to us writing a lot of songs together. I released Put a Rock on this Rolling Stone, which was written and produced with him, and so many other songs on my Whiskey History album were produced by Johnny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've got Johnny involved. That's so big right there, that's huge. That's huge. Now Watered Down Whiskey was your second EP, correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was my second EP. And then you know the great thing about Nashville, I think you know Scotty was busy with Shooter, jennings, johnny's, you know, busy playing guitar with Garth and Tricia. But many of these musicians in Nashville they're so willing to help other artists work with other independent artists and that's what I just love about the community in Nashville they're so willing to help other artists work with other independent artists and that's that's what I just love about the community in Nashville.
Speaker 1:So you are not only a singer, songwriter, but you're also a producer, which we see that and we hear that. How does your approach change when you're getting your own music versus working with other artists or producers?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think most of the songs that I record and cut have been written or co-written with me. So it was an interesting case with Johnny because we co-wrote a lot of the songs that he was producing. So as we were writing, he was like I kind of have an idea in mind for the production already, and it's a little different now. If take, for instance, my single denim, I wrote that with my label mate, delaney Ann, and then, when my producer, dale Pinner, was producing it, he's like what's your, what is your vision for this? So that was more. We had to discuss vision and what everyone was hearing and what we wanted the song to be. So it's. It's very different when the producer didn't take part in the writing process, but I love being part of both processes.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Can you tell me a little bit about Blue Ribbon?
Speaker 2:I was reading about that and what it was about, but I want you to tell everybody what that's about was a very special song because it's about my mother and her fight with colon cancer and I just wrote it about her fight with it and it was a song that you know kind of says you know, you're strong for what you're going through kind of a mantra for any person going through a hard fight like that.
Speaker 2:And I was so happy because I was able to get it produced and have my mom hear the song once it was done and then unfortunately she passed away a few months after that. But in her honor I teamed up with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and released the song and many of the patients in the CCA group submitted a video so you can see the video on my YouTube and they're just holding up signs with how long they've been fighting colorectal cancer and just their journey, been fighting colorectal cancer and just their journey. And so I just wanted to use the song as a way to spotlight people going through the same fight and just let people know going through cancer that they're not alone.
Speaker 1:I have a son-in-law that's going through it right now not colon cancer, but it's still cancer and we all know it sucks either way regardless. But that's very strong of you and that you're so blessed to be able to do that, and for a good reason, and you know God bless you for that. That's a pretty phenomenal. Just recently you signed like this huge deal Am I right to say that? I'm looking at my notes here a multi-year deal with a publishing and entertainment company and you started a podcast.
Speaker 2:I did. I have a lot of different things going on right now.
Speaker 1:I just looked on my notes here. I'm like oh, she started a podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So in May of last year I signed with Synapse Publishing and Entertainment, so I've been working with them. My first single with them was Denim. I love working with a female-owned company now and in addition to that, as you said, I have my own podcast. It's called Mind your Music Business, so you can hear it anywhere. You get your podcast and each episode I just interview someone different from the music industry. So it kind of takes people. It gives people insight into different roles in the music industry that maybe they weren't aware about or maybe they're curious about.
Speaker 2:So like the business side of things, yeah, but not necessarily Like I had a producer on my podcast. I will have a mixing and a mastering engineer and then, on the other hand, you know, I have like a tax accountant to give tips for musicians for their taxes. So just a little bit of everything in music.
Speaker 1:And Sarah, whatever gave you the idea to do that, Is it something you have always wanted to do, or just because you see all the different angles and you like to share that?
Speaker 2:It's funny because I didn't really think about doing a podcast, because if you asked me two years ago, I would say well, everyone has a podcast, so I don't know why I should. Everyone is different.
Speaker 1:Everyone is different.
Speaker 2:Everyone is different, Everyone has something different to say and somehow it just popped into my mind. I'm like what if I called a podcast Mind your Music Business? And I've seen a lot of podcasts where people are always interviewing artists or they're just doing one thing. So what if I do something different where I interview a different kind of person, still related to the music industry? Every single episode.
Speaker 1:It's a great idea. I know I talk to a lot of artists but still, with my podcast here, skip Happens every once in a while. I'll just you know, hey, I'm going to talk to this, maybe this guy that drives a truck, I want to find out. You know what I mean. Every once in a while I do, you know, like crazy stuff like that, but I love chatting with people like you. A lot of the artists that I have on I mean I have a lot of the well-established artists, a lot of the independent artists and a lot of the brand new artists. But everybody deserves a fair opportunity to get some exposure and get on the podcast. Absolutely. Tell us about Denim a little bit and get on the podcast.
Speaker 2:So absolutely, tell us about denim a little bit. Yeah, so, as I mentioned, denim is my current radio single. I released it in September of last year under my new label, synapse publishing and entertainment. I co-wrote it with my label mate, delaney, and and Dale Penner produced it. Produced it, as I mentioned. He's worked with Nickelback and lover boy, so it was a lot of fun. He's worked with Nickelback and Loverboy, so it was a lot of fun to work with him and he put a little bit of a rock edge on my country song. But yeah, when I wrote Denim with Delaney, we were like let's just write a song about denim. We know so many songs have kind of already been done about blue jeans, but let's just make it fun and make it to where this guy's dressing up in suits Now some girls dressing him up in suits and he just needs to, you know, get back to what he's most comfortable in and that's denim. So it's just a fun and sassy song.
Speaker 1:Is it just something you wrote just because because, or does it have a personal thing to it?
Speaker 2:I think it was more that was one way.
Speaker 1:Now he's dressing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel like, because we talked about the different angles, we could go with it and because some of them have already been done. But then we're like, no, let's just make it to where you know he was wearing denim and the new girls he's with is dressing him up in suits and he's like uncomfortable and someone just needs to tell him he needs to get back to his roots and denim. So, yeah, it was just a just a fun, fun ride. And um uh, then, after we wrote it, we're like this is this is catchy, this is fun.
Speaker 1:We should record it I'm gonna play just a little bit of it here. Let's see, yeah, there we go. Can you hear that?
Speaker 2:all right, this is called denim I've never seen you like that, got your hair all combed and slicked back and you didn't ask. But it's not your style. I ain't never seen you so stressed out here, like trying to win best dressed. Did she teach you how to tie on that tie?
Speaker 1:She's ribbon, she's pearls, she's diamonds and curls.
Speaker 2:Baby, I'm Wrangler.
Speaker 1:Thomas Ain't nowhere else you can find me, I'm classic I'm trendy.
Speaker 2:You pulled me away and now you miss me. She can try all she wants.
Speaker 1:If want to spoil it, I want, uh, I want, to download this and listen to this and become a new fan of you, sarah Harrelson. This is uh, wow, yeah, a little, uh, little, edgy little uh like that, I like that, and um well, it does have that rock feel to it as well.
Speaker 2:But yeah, a little bit of country with a little bit of rock, yeah.
Speaker 1:Wrong with that? Nothing wrong with that. So you got denim that's hitting the radio now and um, where do you see yourself in just a few years? Do you think there'll be more after this?
Speaker 2:obviously, yeah, I'm excited to see where denim's going on country radio. Um, I have been pumping on radio and I forgot to mention my husband's, a drummer. He played drums on that, so it was so much fun just being in the studio with him recording and coming up with the song. But yeah, I'm excited to see where this leads me in a few years. My goal is always to play more stages, meet more people, and I'm already working on new music for the year too. So I'm just excited to release more music and see where music takes me next, because I always say you never know where music is going to take you.
Speaker 1:Exactly what's your husband's first name?
Speaker 2:It's Drew Drew Coogler.
Speaker 1:All right. So has Drew been playing with you right along drums? Is he like a regular when you go out?
Speaker 2:you ride along drums, is he like a regular when you go out? Yeah, so anytime I have a full band gig or um, we were just in san diego I did acoustic guitar and he brought his cajon, so we'll do like stripped down, like that too. So, yeah, he's pretty much always on, uh, always on stage with me, so it's so fun to play together. We've gotten to do the most random gigs together, played in Eastern Europe together, so yeah, how did you meet Drew?
Speaker 2:We met through music and had some close mutual friends but had never met each other until we were playing a gig out in Kansas at a festival about six years ago and we were both playing and he was playing for some of my friends who are artists at that festival and so we met in Kansas and then didn't really start dating or know each other until we got back to Nashville. So it was funny how that worked out.
Speaker 1:You know, and it's probably a plus, because I mean you both know the business. You know what I mean. It's like you're doing, it's not like you know he's working in an office somewhere and you're an artist here. He both knows what it takes or he knows what it takes you both know that to make it work absolutely, and I think it's put, given us both perspective like perspective.
Speaker 2:for me to see, you know, the viewpoint from a drummer, from a musician who is, you know, a side man in a way, because they have to find artists to play with, find someone who they can go on tour with, and, you know, it puts in perspective for him too what an artist has to go through on the road and everything.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, you know. So, okay, you're a singer, you're an artist, you're a producer, you're a wife, you, you've got so many things going on and you've even written a children's book.
Speaker 2:I have, yeah, another endeavor I've done that I honestly didn't think I'd ever do, or I didn't have an intention to do it really.
Speaker 1:And tell us a little bit about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the children's book I wrote is called Turtle Tears. I published it last January. You can find it on my website Amazon, barnes and Noble, all of that, yeah. And so we talked about blue ribbon and everything my mother went through and after she passed, that's when I kind of got the idea for the children's book. She loved turtles and this story came on the news about a turtle and a butterfly and their symbiotic relationship, and I didn't know this. But turtles excrete salt from their glands and butterflies get really thirsty and so they just drink the salt from their glands and kind get really thirsty and so they just drink the salt from their glands and kind of help each other out. And I was actually sitting with Drew when this story came on and he was like this would kind of be a good idea for a children's book.
Speaker 1:I'm like oh, it kind of would be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I put it like in my notes and then I revisited it later. I'm like I started coming up with these ideas for how this could be put into a children's book and it just developed into a story about an unlikely friendship between a turtle and a butterfly. Great way for kids to see, while they're reading this, that friendship can help them overcome any type of sadness.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. But now I have to ask you've written a children's book. How does that compare to writing a song?
Speaker 2:It's very different because I've thought in the past you know there's many, many musicians who have written autobiographies and books in addition to their songs, and I think an autobiography would be easier than a fictional book. But I've always thought how tough it might be to write a fictional book. I just couldn't imagine some of these authors. You know 400 pages of their imagination, a song, you know you get that done in three minutes, a whole story. So it's a little bit easier with children's books since they're smaller. But I had to figure out how to, you know, expand the whole story start to finish, and so I moved some things around. I had ideas for how I want the illustrations to be and I worked with a local illustrator and he basically took my ideas and did an amazing job with the drawings and the book and helped me make my ideas come to life, since illustrations are so important in a children's book.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely Big time, big time. That is pretty cool. Do you think you'll ever write another one?
Speaker 2:I think so. Since then, I've actually come up with a couple more ideas for children's books, so I could definitely see myself doing another one.
Speaker 1:I love that You're watching the news and you come up with a children's book idea. Yeah, you never know, you never know and you know. Let's talk a little bit. Get back to the music Times Square. I was reading in some of the info they sent me that you know your music has been featured internationally, including Times Square billboards, a song on Hulu, so I made note here. What does it feel like to see your work reaching such a global audience? And you think about that?
Speaker 2:that's huge, huge it's pretty crazy, and that that's why I always say you never know where music uh takes you. You can set goals for yourself and have some sort of idea, but it's kind of cool not, um, exactly knowing where it's going to take you because, um, if you had asked me five or ten years ago, um, if I would have known that my song snow globe would be on a billboard and times square, or, um, my outside the lines album would be on a billboard on sunset boulevard. You know, it's pretty, it's pretty crazy to believe, and especially not being able to. Um, I wouldn't believe if you said I was going to be in Eastern Europe doing a whole tour over there. That was just wild.
Speaker 1:It is the whole. You know, everything just happens so fast and it's so wild, and maybe you got to pinch yourself every once in a while and go. Is this really happening? And let me ask did you go to New York? Were you standing in Times Square waiting for that to come on the billboard?
Speaker 2:I wasn't standing there. Someone sent the footage to me but it was very cool to see because I have been in Times Square before, so I know like how wild and crowded it is down there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, just what an experience, for that. You're also a member of the Recording Academy, correct?
Speaker 2:I am. I've been with them since 2021. So it's such an honor to be able to submit my work for Grammy consideration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what about this? You talked about 2021, know the world shut down in 2020 and uh, how did uh? How did you handle that as an artist?
Speaker 2:yeah, it was interesting because at the time, I had just finished my single, put a rock on this rolling stone with johnny garcia and we had all these plans to release it. And then COVID hit and so we're like, well, what do we do now? And then so we waited a few months and then, you know, summer rolled around, things were looking a little bit brighter and I'm like you know what? I'm just going to go ahead and release this. I think I released it June of 2020. And I did a music video for it. It was just me in the music video, so I could have a video for it. And it was interesting because at that time, a lot of people had their weddings canceled.
Speaker 2:So they were doing Zoom weddings and whatnot and they were also listening to a lot of wedding playlists. So Put a Rock on this. Rolling Stone became really popular around that time for people to put that on their playlist. But of course during that time I also couldn't do gigs. All of that got canceled. So that's when I kind of relied more on my production skills. I'm like I need to be utilizing these more, taking advantage of it while I'm at home for who knows however long. So I kind of invested in better equipment. I started doing vocals on demos for people. They could hire me to sing on their tracks or do voiceovers for them. So I was just doing all sorts of production work, even mixing songs for people during COVID. So I was grateful that I could use my audio and production skills to help me through that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you can see what I'm doing here. This is the reason I do this. Yes, I have the full studios. I told you I get the voiceover booth, I've got all the voiceover area, but when COVID hit, people stopped coming into the studio. When artists like yourself would come through on a radio tour, it'd be like, all right, I'm going to get some beer, pizza and wings. Come on over, we're going to talk about you and your music and we'll get you on the Skip Happens podcast. Then, bam, covid hit. I'm like now, what? Now? What is exactly what I'm doing here? I went out, invested in good equipment, made it work. It sounds good.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. It just did all that, so it's a positive. I think it was a positive for you in the end. With COVID I think it was still just as popular, so I'm glad we're able to connect better because of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and tv ads. You did some tv work as well. Am I correct by saying that?
Speaker 2:yeah, I got some um sync placements in recent years. So, uh, a recent hulu show living for the dead. Uh, that's kristen stewart show. Uh, my song creature of habit. I got a placement in that. And uh, my song get lost in some rock and roll that was featured, um, I think it was in a norwegian. So yeah, just random little homes that my songs found.
Speaker 1:And, if you don't mind me asking, but this benefits you. If you know what I mean, right, you see a return on that investment. I mean you're putting your talent out there, You're doing all that. Hopefully you get something. When you go to the mailbox every day, you have a little something, something there. So I'm just saying Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, people don't realize that sync deals are super important for artists because you know, with streaming revenue that's pennies, but sync placements you get the upfront fee and then the mailbox money afterwards, so it's, it's definitely a big deal absolutely.
Speaker 1:there's no doubt about that. So you've been on some pretty incredible stages. You know I'm reading in the bio of course I kind of figured this that you did perform at the Bluebird Cafe and right alongside some big names, what is the most memorable live performance you've had so far?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the most memorable performance was probably when I got to play with an international symphony in Bulgaria. Yeah, I never thought that would happen and I'll have to tell you the story of how it even came about, of how I got to go to Eastern Europe. As I told you, you know, when pandemic hit, people were hiring me on different platforms to do vocals on their demos and songs and I was still doing that, and I think it was beginning of 2023, this musician in Bulgaria. Same kind of thing in Bulgaria. Same kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Hey, I have a song that was a popular hit in Bulgaria in the 90s, but I'm translating it to English and I'm making it country. Will you sing it with me as a duet? I'm like sure. So I recorded my vocals here and then I sent them over to him and he had a mixing engineer put it all together, sounded great, and then he put it out. I didn't really hear anything for a few months and then I got a message a few months later saying hey, these Bulgarian news outlets wants to interview you about our song. Oh, wow, I'm like OK, you about our song? I'm like okay. So I did the interview and they did the little Bulgarian overdubs on my voice to translate for their national news, and so cool.
Speaker 2:And then I find out that this musician who hired me is also a mayor in a town in Bulgaria and he's putting on this event with this organization, great organization called the America for Bulgaria Foundation. This woman in Chicago just decided to use some of her money to start this organization. One day she gives back to bulgarians in need in the country. Um so, really great female owned company, and they were doing their annual show, I think like 10th anniversary on on the river in bulgaria that, uh, september, it was in 2023. And so they invited me out there to play. I got to bring Drew, my husband, with me to play drums, and so we made a whole tour out of it in Bulgaria and surrounding countries, and one of the first shows was the show on the river and I got to sing a few of my songs along the song with that I did with that other musician, with an international symphony, which is something I never would have guessed would happen. So it was very special.
Speaker 1:That had to be such a feeling. With the symphony behind you, that is wow, wow. That's something to be proud of. I can see why that would be one of the most memorable moments in your career so far, and I'm sure you're going to have many more of those.
Speaker 2:And it's just so cool to see, when you know people who don't necessarily speak the same language as you, they're just with you enjoying the music. It's just such a great feeling.
Speaker 1:You know, I know, God bless you, man. That is so awesome, you know, just an accomplishment in itself. Um, you're a big proponent about women, women in the industry in with country music and Talk a little bit about that because, all right, I'm a guy, I work in radio, I play the hits and there was a time where 90% of that was male artists and, well, you know, male artists wearing tight jeans and all this and very rarely unless it was a Carrie Underwood at the time or maybe a Miranda Lambert or somebody like that, and you know you didn't hear much. But talk to me from your perspective about women in the industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's definitely difficult, and sometimes still difficult, to get radio airplay as a as a woman and country music, and I think it's gotten a lot better over time. But it's not just an artist but being a female in the music industry. We have to kind of pave our own way and find our own path to get where we need to be, so it it shouldn't be such a fight, but I think women are definitely making a better and bigger presence and music now, and especially with producers, because I think a few years ago the statistic was only 3% of producers are female and that's rising.
Speaker 2:Now there's a lot of more producers that are females now.
Speaker 1:And why do you think it was back in the day? Why do you think it was that way that we weren't getting the women on the radio, we weren't getting the female voices? And there was such great talent out there even back in the day, with the rebus and the, the pam tillis and and all that. Just why do you think that was happening? Was it a big club? Was it? What do you think?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it could be that there were more male artists signed, but when I talked to you know different people about it. I think the theory is that most listeners on country radio are women, and I've heard that a lot of these women would rather hear male voices than female, and that may or may not be true. But yeah, I guess it just also depends who the labels are signing too yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1:Well, I do see there are more and more women coming about it. We get the mega maronis and others now, which is great to see, and I love that. I love that. I think it needs to be an equal mix and there's room for everybody, so it's not just the guys. So absolutely.
Speaker 2:And also, speaking of the uh advocating for women, I'll be a part of a new project this year called women behind the lyrics. Um, it's a documentary, so it's going to be me and three other women just on the road touring and just kind of insight about what it's like to be a female musician on the road.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, that would be really interesting, very interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so keep an eye out for that.
Speaker 1:No, I definitely will. I'll definitely do that If you weren't doing music.
Speaker 2:No, I definitely will. I'll definitely do that. If you wasn't doing music, I was always writing about something else. So I feel like it would be like a like a journalist or some sort of other creative endeavor.
Speaker 1:It would have to be were you on the like the yearbook uh club were you putting the oh yeah, oh yeah I was one of those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not a yeah.
Speaker 1:It's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing. I still have all my yearbooks. I know they had their own little like where I went to school they had their yearbook club.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we had that I don't need. Are yearbooks still a thing? I feel like they'd probably be all digital now.
Speaker 1:Sarah, I have no idea. Probably probably all digital, you're right, you're right, right, I don't know. That's a good question, but you never know. Sometimes I get the feeling that things are going backwards here a little bit. So who knows, who knows? Um, so, oh, uh, what was I gonna ask you? I just had a brain fart. It just uh, oh, collaborating with somebody down the road, uh, if you could collaborate with anybody right now, I mean, who would that be dead or alive? Who would you if you could?
Speaker 2:I think my top answer has always been Brandy Clark, and she's just always been one of my favorite songwriters in Nashville. I love the way she tells stories and her lyrics, and I think it would just be amazing to write a song with her.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. And Brandy is so good. I've actually met Brandy and had a conversation with her and she's just one hell of an artist, a person, just just awesome all the way around. Now we played Den denim a few minutes ago. That's the latest project that's coming to radio. It's already at radio and thanks to grassroots and, by the way, hats off to them, because Nancy Tunick and the whole crew that she has phenomenal, phenomenal. And I tell every artist that has them I know other people are probably going, wow, there's other people besides grassroots. But yeah, you're right. But you know what? Grassroots is made up of people. They're, they're musicians and the radio people there and they bring it all together and they make it work and they coach you, they tell you what you need to do. A lot of it you probably already know, but still just make sure you're on the right path and they do it right.
Speaker 2:So yeah, whole team is great.
Speaker 1:Grassroots. I love them, love them, love them. I love RJ, everybody's just. You know, I worked with RJ and radio for a while, so all that is just really phenomenal, phenomenal. But so if somebody wanted to go on and get denim, they want to look you up. Social media would assume just about everywhere. Maybe not tick tock now, but just about everywhere.
Speaker 2:Well, tick to back up so you can still find me there. It's up for now.
Speaker 1:Did you hear talking about TikTok? Because you can't go to either the Google Store or the Apple Store to download it. It's not there, but phones where it's already installed are going for like $10,000. Wow, if you want to get a used phone and you want that TikTok app. Yeah, I'm not kidding, I saw it in my radio prep the other day.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that. That's good to know.
Speaker 1:I know, I don't know if it's good to know or not, but it's just one of those things Tell me before we say goodbye. Tell me what is a day in the life of Sarah Harrelson like in the life of Sarah Harrelson like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's constantly changing. Like right now I'm gearing up for some more shows. I just got back from doing some shows in San Diego, so right now I've been doing a lot of writing with other writers, recording. I'll do pre-production work here. I'm doing that for my next project, which will be announced soon, and I'll be back in the studio in a couple of months recording that and um and then just doing gigs as well. So I the thing I love about being a creative is no day is is the same.
Speaker 1:That's so cool. Yeah, I wanted to be. You know the same thing over and over again.
Speaker 2:Right, and then, yeah, you can find me at Sarah Harrelson at Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and SarahHarrelsoncom for my website.
Speaker 1:I love it and I hope you enjoyed this interview with Sarah Harrelson. It's my podcast, Skip Happens Podcast. I'm a radio guy here in Syracuse but we do this and we bring these artists that you don't hear about every day to the forefront, because they deserve to be heard, they deserve to be seen. And also I don't know where you're listening or watching this, but make sure you get the word out about Denim. It's out there. If the radio station isn't doing it, it's a good idea to say hey, you know, I saw this on this podcast the other night and I really like the sound and I think you guys should be playing. It Doesn't hurt to do that. So that's all I'm saying. That's it. That's it. That's it. I love it, Sarah, you're awesome.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for taking the time out on a nice, warm Nashville night. No, we were talking about that earlier. I mean, I'm in the Northeast and today our high was like 26, but I think I told you I had a friend in Pensacola and with all this, you know we're this is being done while we're having this polar vortex. So it down, the beaches of Pensacola had snow on them. They got like eight and a half 8.8 inches of snow in Pensacola. That has never, ever, ever happened before, and my buddy told me it was like 18 degrees there yesterday.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's wild. It's been like in the twenties here in Nashville, but we don't have the snow.
Speaker 1:So and hopefully in just a few weeks they have the country radio seminar. I don't know if you pop in for that at all, but of course I've been going to that for well over 20 years.
Speaker 2:You know I was. I was going to ask you if you were going to be there in a few weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you're looking for skip, just go down the hall of the Omni to bar lines, take a left in the first school on the right at the bar, and that's where I have all my meetings. So yes, I will be there and I'd love to say hello If you're going to be there, definitely.
Speaker 1:Perfect, yeah, I'd love to meet you in person. Yeah, absolutely, I'd love to meet you and your husband. And you have my cell number. I put it in an email so you can always just text hey, we're in the Omni, why don't you stop down? We'll get a drink or something.
Speaker 1:So, that's Sarah Harrelson. Check her out. Just do the Google search and everything's going to come up. Latest music it's at radio now and I'll say it again, it's denim. Make sure you go out and get it. And thank you for watching Skip Happens tonight. Make sure you subscribe. It's the Skip Happens podcast on YouTube. So thanks for watching everybody, sarah. Thank you again for coming out. You're so awesome. Stay right there, bam.
