Brantley Gilbert knows a song that’s right for him when he hears it, and he says the criteria for a song to be one he wants to record is pretty simple. He says, “Well number one, I have to be a writer on it. I have to at least have co-written it. And that could just be a personal thing I guess, but I just feel closer when I’ve had the opportunity to make sure it’s my story and it reflects something that I’ve been through in my life. But it just feels dishonest to me if that’s not the case.”
Since Brantley is constantly writing songs, when it comes to choosing which ones to put on his albums he says, “It depends on what emotion or what form of expression you’re going with. You know if you want something intense your chords have to match up and the melody’s got to match up and it’s really all got to come together to invoke that emotion. If I’m angry I want you to be able to feel it, you know what I mean, and hear it. If I’m sad it’s a different set of chords, it’s a different melody structure. When all of those things come together and really, you hear a song and it hits you in the chest, whether it’s in a good way or bad way, those are the ones I gravitate towards.”
Brantley’s latest song, “The Ones That Like Me,” is so autobiographical and reflective of his life that he knew he had to cut it as soon as he wrote it.
Brantley Gilbert – what makes a song yours :47
“Songs that I cut, well number one, I have to be a writer on it. I have to at least have co-written it. And that could just be a personal thing I guess, but I just feel closer when I’ve had the opportunity to make sure it’s my story and it reflects something that I’ve been through in my life. But it just feels dishonest to me if that’s not the case. But the song’s got to have a little bit of everything. And it depends on what emotion or what form of expression you’re going with. You know if you want something intense your chords have to match up and the melody’s got to match up and it’s really all got to come together to invoke that emotion. If I’m angry I want you to be able to feel it, you know what I mean, and hear it. If I’m sad it’s a different set of chords, it’s a different melody structure. When all of those things come together and really, you hear a song and it hits you in the chest, whether it’s in a good way or bad way, those are the ones I gravitate towards.”