Ronnie Milsap

(Q)-Do you follow the current country music sounds on Top Forty radio?

Ronnie Milsap- Yes. You know, I live in Nashville and I love being there, it’s my kind of thing. I follow the new country artists and there’s some really good music that’s being put out there.

There was a time years ago, when they said I was pushing the edge of country music just because I had stacked electric guitars on my records. Well, today all that has certainly changed and anything is acceptable. There’s still a wide variety of styles of music within country music today and there’s still room for everybody.

There’s room for people who want to do more traditional country as well as people who want to express themselves differently from the rest of the country music artists. I’m glad that I’ve survived and I’m still able to record and play the music I enjoy. I think the current climate in country music is certainly good for the artists.

It’s a challenge to keep coming up with great songs. I’m working on a new album for Warner Brothers, I’ve got five songs that I’ve cut for them that are keepers. I was working this week with Keith Stegall, we’re doing some songs together. You’ve just always got to keep looking for some more great songs. I’ve certainly been able top make records for a long time and I’m very thankful for that. But, it’s still a challenge finding great songs. Since the first part of March, I’ve gone over probably over 1,000 songs. Out of that number, there’s a few that are keepers. It’s tough though. I’m hoping I’ll find somebody out along the highway somewhere, while I’m traveling out on the road and they’ll give me a really good song that’ll be a hit song. But the chances of that happening are real small. You’ve got to go to writers who have had a real good success with country radio, or go to songwriters who you know and let them know what kind of songs you’re looking for. Since I don’t write very much, I’ve always been fortunate to get good songs.

(Q)- When you’re out on-stage and you’re singing “Smoky Mountain Rain”, do you think of Eddie Rabbit and Floyd Cramer when you do “Last day”?

Ronnie Milsap-All the time. They’re my brothers, they’re a part of this business. I knew Floyd and I knew Eddie real well. I met Eddie when we were doing that thing with Elvis and I wound up having my first number one record “Pure Love” which was his song. We’d all like to be here forever and I certainly miss those guys. It seems like we’ve lost a lot of the good ones in country music over the last year. Floyd was quite a stylist and really a neat guy to be around. I think being in Nashville for this many years I’m most of all grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to met and work with and spend time with some of these people. Other then what you hear on radio and records, I’ve got to know them on a personal level. I spent so much time talking to Chet Atkins listening to him tell me how to make records. It has been a wonderful experience for me. I’ve been working with Mike Reid to find a song or two for my next album. Mike’s been working on Broadway now. He’s experimenting in that area. But he is still active and we’re working together. Right now, I’m working on the road on weekends and recording in Nashville during the week. You’re not supposed to perform during the weekend when you’re recording during the week, but that’s what I’ve been doing and I feel good.

(Q) Any comments or remarks for radio programmers?

Ronnie Milsap-I’m very understanding about what goes on at radio. It is the music business and certainly, I’ve been a part of it for 25 years. If there’s a certain formula they use for what they play on radio, I don’t have any problem with that. I know the folks at radio have a reason for doing what they do. I’ve loved radio for as long as I can remember. There’s just a certain attraction about it for me to this day. It’s still the best way to get your records heard by the public and there’s nothing like it. To say that when I’m working on the new material for my next album, I’m not thinking about radio, well that wouldn’t be true. I’ve got to get my songs past some people at Warner Brothers and when we get this new album, we’ll see what the people at radio think is true. All I want to do is be a part of it. So, if I’m not being played on some of my older songs, maybe I’ll get played on some of my new songs.