Oliver Anthony shot to fame earlier this year with his viral hit “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which went on to top the Billboard Hot 100. In his first non-podcast/TV interview, Anthony spoke to Billboard about his whirlwind ride, sharing that “the last 90 days have been a little crazy.”
“It’s funny because the music side of it has been very calming and enjoyable,” he remarked. “It’s all the stuff behind the scenes that’s unreasonably chaotic. My life is actually a lot simpler in some ways, because I’m not working a job and juggling 10 other things with the music. But when you become a full-time musician, you’re essentially a business owner and an entrepreneur and a lot of other things, too. And those are things I’m not quite used to yet.”
How Is Oliver Anthony Adjusting To Fame?
Anthony called in for the interview from the DMV in Richmond, and after he was recognized by a fan, reporter Melinda Newman asked him how he’s adjusting to fame.
“It’s been cool,” he said. “I mean, everybody’s been super polite out in public and even at the shows, everybody’s been very respectful. Everybody’s been just overwhelmingly well-behaved about everything.”
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After gaining notoriety so quickly, Oliver Anthony shared that he has gotten some advice from established country stars like Jamey Johnson and John Rich, as well as rock acts like Papa Roach and Shinedown.
“There are a lot of really good people, not just in country music, that have been very supportive,” he reflected. “We did the Blue Ridge Rock Festival and Louder Than Life, there were a lot of those rock bands that I met, they were super supportive and awesome. I’ve gotten to sing onstage with Shinedown and Papa Roach, and all those guys are just incredibly supportive.”
Announced Out Of The Woods World Tour
Anthony recently announced his 40-date Out of the Woods World Tour, which will begin in Stockholm on February 1, playing a series of dates in Europe and the UK before moving stateside and hitting major markets like Nashville, Fort Worth, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis before wrapping in Allegan, Michigan on September 13.
The singer, who is signed to United Talent Agency, played his very first paid gig (and his first time on stage other than open mics) in August at Johnson Morris Farm in Barco, North Carolina in August for 12,000 people.
Oliver Anthony Is Set To Release Debut Album In 2024
Anthony, who has no plans to sign with a record label despite their reportedly lucrative offers, will release his first full album next year.
“I don’t know if I can say who I’m recording with or not, but he’s one of the best in the business,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s probably going to blow away everything else I’ve done so far, because everything has been recorded with just the internal microphone off of an about broken-in-half Android phone with a cracked screen. Even the radiowv videos used very basic equipment, so I had never had anything recorded with studio-quality equipment. So even just the vocal quality should absolutely knock people’s socks off, compared to what they’re used to hearing.”
The father of three added that he wants “everything to still be authentic, and I want it to be me playing the music and not like a whole group of people involved.”
“Everything now is just so carefully refined and edited, and so we won’t have any of that,” he confirmed. “If anything, some of the songs are going to be recorded on older equipment from the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s.”
Recording The New Album In Georgia, Not In Nashville
Anthony shared that he’ll be recording the project in Georgia and is “never going to be in Nashville sitting with people co-writing, ever.”
“Most anything I put out is going to be something I write just by myself and if I do co-write something with somebody, it’s going to be with another artist, and we’re going to be singing the song together,” he explained. “I don’t ever want to sit in some writing circle somewhere and have somebody in khaki pants and a collared shirt figuring out what my words are from my song. There’s a million other people that can go do that. I’m not one of those guys.
To purchase tickets to Oliver Anthony’s upcoming tour, visit his official website HERE.
