George Birge and Matt Stell: Country Roads and Chart-Toppers 

Backstage Country will have two co-hosts this week! Join Kelly Ford as she chats with George Birge and Matt Stell, asking them about their journeys from Texas and Arkansas to Nashville’s big stages. George and Matt will give listeners a glimpse into their adventures and share how their experiences have shaped their music.  Matt Stell’s First “Outside” Song  Ford asked Stell about his “outside” song, “That Ain’t Me No More.” Stell said, “It was the first time I'd ever recorded an outside song.” He continued, “I always told myself I moved to town to be a songwriter. I still kind of see myself as that first, even though it's probably not the case. But I see myself as a songwriter first. And I told myself that if I ever got into a position where I was getting pitched songs, that I would always give them an honest listen, no matter whose name was at the top of it.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WAzw8zLobc Matt Stell - That Ain't Me No More  He shared that after listening to it that it was a no brainer. “I'm still really proud of that song. Of all the songs that we play, it gets sung back to us every bit as loud as the number ones. And yeah, I'm really grateful that I get to cut a song by some of the best songwriters in town and that they'd even send it to me and and it's one of my favorite to play.”  Keeping An Eye on the Charts  Since both artists have number one songs, Ford asked whether they regularly check the charts. Birge said, “The candid answer is yes. We try not to [check] closely.” He added, “You can drive yourself as crazy as you want to on that stuff. It's going to go up and down, and it's going to roller coaster and you're going to catch momentum for a month. And then another month it's going to stall out.”   He joked that watching the charts closely will give you heart palpitations. “But it's also nice to know what's going on. Is the song doing what you want it to do? Is there a chance you're going to have success with it? But I try to check in maybe every other week, otherwise you'd have to put me in a straitjacket if I watched it every day.”  Stell added his experience, “The first it happened, right when it popped off, I had no idea. I didn't know what a ‘Hot 100’ was. And I didn't know what 'daytime spins' meant. I didn't know what points were. And there's a beautiful ‘ignorance is bliss’ on a lot of that. But you get into it after a while, you learn as you go and what matters.”