This Week’s Backstage Country Hosts: George Birge & Matt Stell
For the week of January 20-24, Backstage Country’s Kelly Ford will have two co-hosts! Ford will be joined by George Birge and Matt Stell. Tune in all week for the stories behind their songs and how they felt when their hits topped the charts.
George Birge’s 2024
Ford asked Birge about what he’s been up to. He said, “Last year has been easily the wildest year in my life.” The “Cowboy Songs” singer shared that he’s been “chasing the dream of country music” since he was 14 years old back home in Austin, Texas. He added, “I never had much to show for it except for the fact that I was getting to do what I love for a living.” Birge had an eventful 2024 as he told Ford, “We started the year, the first day of the year, January 1st, with my first ever number one song.”
He said it was unbelievable, especially the opportunities that kept knocking on his door after “Mind on You” became number one. “It was from touring with Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt and Parker McCollum to playing the Grand Ole Opry to getting to play The Tonight Show. All of a sudden, all these things that just seemed larger than life were happening one week after the other. It felt like every time I picked up the phone, it was good news.”
Matt Stell’s First Number One Song
Since Birge talked about his incredible year, Ford asked Stell how he felt when he had his first number-one song, “Prayed for You,” released in 2019. Stell said it was pretty surreal. “I had no idea, to be honest with you. You know, we put that song out. I wrote this song. I didn’t have a record deal. I barely had a publishing deal. And it sounds a little cliché to be here in Nashville to say this, but that song changed my life.”
He added, “I didn’t know what was going on. I just knew that I’d finally done the thing that I’d moved to town to do, which was to make music that mattered to people. And I sort of watched it do its thing. Then it got a shot on radio and next thing you know, we get to sit here and talk to you with one of my best friends and it’s all because of that song getting the ball rolling.”
Tune in to Backstage Country all week for a radio show that’s like a full-blown rodeo. With George Birge and Matt Stell at the helm, get ready for a week of good country music and entertaining banter.
For the scoop on upcoming tours and official merchandise from Birge and Stell, click here and here.