From Opening Act to Center Stage: Adam Sanders Shares His Journey on Taylor Sheridan’s ‘The Road’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The singer gets candid about fame, full-circle moments and why he can't tell you his favorite country song
For Adam Sanders, being an opening act is nothing new. For 10 years, the musician has traveled around the country warming up crowds and singing his heart out, and his time on Taylor Sheridan’s new show, The Road, is no different. Unless he makes it to the end and wins a record deal, a spot in the Stagecoach lineup and $250,000. Woman’s World recently caught up with Sanders to discuss the show and his time as a musician. Read on for more.
Adam Sanders discusses life on ‘The Road’
The Road follows 12 musicians as they go on—you guessed it—the road and open for Keith Urban. They are then judged by the audience, Urban and Blake Shelton, the person with the lowest votes going home.
“What an amazing experience. I’m just very grateful for the opportunity, but it was a whirlwind,” Sanders told Woman’s World. “It was something that just felt right for me and my spirit, from day one when I got asked to be a part of this show. I can honestly say that I never really had much ambition to do any kind of singing competition show, but given the structure of this one, it just felt right for me.”
“Keith, Blake and Taylor gave us all a sense of validation,” he continued. “Those are the people that you look up to and where you want to be in your career. For me to sort of be in the same rooms as those caliber of artists and producers, it’s just something that I feel helped me sort of strive to be to their level.”
Along with the experience on the show, Sanders received a billboard in Times Square to celebrate, which he says was a full circle moment once he saw it.
“This is my second time having a billboard and, ironically enough, 10 years ago almost to the exact date, I was here playing a show at the PlayStation Theater at my first ever tour that I started as an opening act. And here I am, 10 years later, back here again,” the 37 year old country music singer said.
Adam’s country roots and the artist who shaped his sound
Sanders has been in the industry for so long, and along the way, he’s found quite a few other musicians to look up to.
“My childhood idol growing up was Alan Jackson by far. As a little kid, I idolized him, and there’s no way that I would be in music without Alan Jackson. When I got into my middle school age and high school years, I was just a typical teenager, just like everyone else. I was listening to MTV and Carson Daly,” he said. “I still love country music, but kind of experimented with a lot of different genres of music. The Band Camino is a big influence of mine, but like I said, country is always going to be sort of the roots of my music.”
Just don’t ask him what his favorite country song is, because Sanders said “That is an impossible question to answer for me, because music, to me, is all tied to the mood that I’m in and there’s so many different types of songs, whether you’re happy, you’re sad, you’re lonely or you’re missing someone. I think that that answer changes based on what mood I’m in, but there’s always a song that fits every mood.”.
The Road premieres on CBS on Sunday, October 19 at 9 p.m. EST, and will be available to stream on Paramount+ the next day.
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