Check out the exclusive interview that Nashville.com conducted with Steve Holy right before his September 11th appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Thanks to our friends, David and Jerry at Nashville.com for bringing the personal side of Steve to their audience and showing there's more to him than just a classic voice and top quality music.
Interview Source:
Steve Holy Opens Up About Agressive Women, Personal Heroes and More
Exclusive Interview . . . From the time of his breakout smash “Good Morning Beautiful,” which topped the charts for five weeks in 2002, Steve Holy’s distinctive voice has been a welcome addition to the genre. Whether singing a heartfelt romantic ballad, a playful romp like his second No. 1, “Brand New Girlfriend,” or a powerfully emotionally pledge of commitment as in “Love Don’t Run,” Holy brings something unique with every outing. And that’s certainly the case with his latest single, “Hauled Off and Kissed Me,” a rollicking tune he co-wrote about the more aggressive nature of modern women, and definitely a good thing, according to Steve. The Texas native recently sat down to chat with Nashville.com about his new music, his daughters, and the fear that drives him. Here’s some of what he had to say.
Nash: How was your summer? Had much time to spend with your daughters, or has it been non-stop on the road?
Steve: I’m on day 9 now of a 14-day run with my daughters. My youngest, Ella, was just about 3 months old when I hit the road with “Love Don’t Run,” and she’s about two-and-a-half now. I was there about every day for the first two years with Ava is 4 now and it’s great being on the road with them.
Nash: Tell me about your favorite moment in ever show . . . something you really look forward to each night. Is it right before you’re introduced and you hear the crowd’s energy and you know they’re ready? Is it the first song . . . getting into it and getting a great reaction? Or is it something that varies from night to night?
Steve: A lot of people wouldn’t consider me a shy person, but I kind of am. And I get pretty tense before I go on. Then, usually about song three, it kind of kicks in and it just starts to flow. And fortunately I don’t think I’ve had many bad shows. But I never got 100 percent comfortable . . . and I guess fear is a good thing. I have a little fear before I go on.
Nash: I know you’ve got an Opry appearance coming up soon. And I’m sure a lot of your musical heroes have played on that stage. Can you talk a bit about who some of your personal heroes are, whether musical or in your personal life? And, really, I tend to not like to use that “hero” word for people other than soldiers, firefighters, police officers and others who put themselves on the line for the rest of us. But you know what I mean.
Steve: Yeah, I do. And I’m the same way about who we should think of as heroes. I’m star struck by the military and firefighters, what they do for us. I’m a very patriotic person, as well. But I’ve been asked, “If you could have a sit-down dinner, who would be the four people at your table?” And I would have to say, Jesus Christ, first. I would want him at my table. I would want Ronald Reagan at that table. And I’d want Elvis to be there. And Roy Orbison, number four.
Nash: How was your summer? Had much time to spend with your daughters, or has it been non-stop on the road?
Steve: I’m on day 9 now of a 14-day run with my daughters. My youngest, Ella, was just about 3 months old when I hit the road with “Love Don’t Run,” and she’s about two-and-a-half now. I was there about every day for the first two years with Ava is 4 now and it’s great being on the road with them.
Nash: Tell me about your favorite moment in ever show . . . something you really look forward to each night. Is it right before you’re introduced and you hear the crowd’s energy and you know they’re ready? Is it the first song . . . getting into it and getting a great reaction? Or is it something that varies from night to night?
Steve: A lot of people wouldn’t consider me a shy person, but I kind of am. And I get pretty tense before I go on. Then, usually about song three, it kind of kicks in and it just starts to flow. And fortunately I don’t think I’ve had many bad shows. But I never got 100 percent comfortable . . . and I guess fear is a good thing. I have a little fear before I go on.
Nash: I know you’ve got an Opry appearance coming up soon. And I’m sure a lot of your musical heroes have played on that stage. Can you talk a bit about who some of your personal heroes are, whether musical or in your personal life? And, really, I tend to not like to use that “hero” word for people other than soldiers, firefighters, police officers and others who put themselves on the line for the rest of us. But you know what I mean.
Steve: Yeah, I do. And I’m the same way about who we should think of as heroes. I’m star struck by the military and firefighters, what they do for us. I’m a very patriotic person, as well. But I’ve been asked, “If you could have a sit-down dinner, who would be the four people at your table?” And I would have to say, Jesus Christ, first. I would want him at my table. I would want Ronald Reagan at that table. And I’d want Elvis to be there. And Roy Orbison, number four.
Nash: Let’s talk about the single a bit. I love the concept of a woman who’d just “haul off and kiss me.” How many times in your life have you experienced that, having a woman just totally unexpectedly and totally out of the blue, just lay one on you?
Steve: This song is really more about the fact that it seems like girls have gotten more aggressive through the years (chuckles). I really think these days, girls are more the aggressor. More than ever, women are taking charge. More women than ever are in charge of Fortune 500 companies. And in politics, and on and on and on. Women are in charge more than ever.
Nash: Are you comfortable with that, in terms of the social aspect of it? Are you young enough to embrace it or still enough of a fossil to feel like, well the guy’s supposed to make the first move, pay for the date and open the car door and all of that?
Steve: I’ll just say, for guys’ sake, thank God for aggressive women! (laughs)
Nash: I think back to high school, sitting by the phone for a half hour, sweating bullets and hyperventilating before getting up the nerve to call someone and ask her out. So, in that sense, a lot of that traditional pressure has been lifted from guys.
Steve: I was that guy in high school. And my technique was like, “Hey, you don’t want to go to the prom with me, do you?” Very positive.
Nash: I had a similar technique selling Cub Scout candy door-to-door. “You don’t want to buy any candy do you? I didn’t think so. Sorry to bother you.” Not a born salesman.
Nash: Talking about sweating before asking someone out, I remember in high school I was planning to ask out the homecoming queen who worked at a women’s clothing store in Murfreesboro. And I walked around in the store for 30 minutes and finally lost my nerve, but then thought, “Well, why did I come in here? She’s going to wonder why I came in.” And since I couldn’t do what I went there to do, I bought my sister a purse! She loved it, and I think said, “why don’t you try to ask her out again this weekend; I need some matching shoes.”
Steve: That is hilarious! (big laugh)
Nash: What else is going on for you musically? On the road for the next few months? Is there more new music that will follow the current single?
Steve: All of the above. I’m going to be cutting soon, hopefully, but there’s no rush. As a result of the success of Love Don’t Run—and “Hauled Off” is on that album—we’ve had a very busy last couple of years.
Nash: Anything on the calendar you’re really looking forward to in the next few months?
Steve: Well, this will sound like a canned response I know, but we look forward to every show we do. My guys and I make sure we have a blast on stage, whether it’s for 50 people or thousands, and you can’t hide that from an audience. They get caught up in it. And, of course, doing the Opry is always a highlight.
Nash: I’ve gotta tell you something quickly before I let you go. A few years ago, right after Heidi Newfield had gotten married, she called me at home one night to do an interview about the wedding. Her mother had died not long before that, and she was telling me a very emotional story about placing a rose on the seat where her mother would have sat during the wedding. I was sitting in the kitchen, which has some exposed wooden beams, and while we were talking, I heard this strange sound from above. And I looked up in time to see a cat barfing on my shoulder. But I couldn’t say anything because it was such a powerful moment Heidi was describing. I told her about it later and she roared and couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed anything wrong at the time.
I told you all that because . . . it sort of just happened again. While we were talking, another cat just hurled on the tile kitchen floor. I may have to start doing these interviews out on the porch. So far, you and Heidi are the only ones to bring that out of my cats, so you’re in a pretty elite group! I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not, but I thought I’d mention it.
Steve: Heidi’s a friend, and I can’t wait to share that with her. (big laugh) Nice to know I’m in such good company.
Nash: Congrats again on the new song. Can’t wait to hear some more new music. Thanks for doing this, Steve.
Steve: Thank you. This was fun.
—David Scarlett
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