{"id":1316130,"date":"2019-10-26T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T17:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1813755"},"modified":"2019-10-26T11:00:06","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T17:00:06","slug":"cmt-hot-20-decade-take-your-time-sam-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/music-news\/cmt-hot-20-decade-take-your-time-sam-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"CMT Hot 20 Decade: \u201cTake Your Time,\u201d Sam Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:ao:image:cmt.com:683868?width=1200&amp;height=675&amp;.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\"> by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/cmtcomstaff\/\" title=\"Posts by CMT.com Staff\" rel=\"author\">CMT.com Staff<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\"><br \/>\n11m ago<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span> <\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s Note: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/shows\/hot-20-countdown\">CMT Hot 20 Countdown<\/a> takes a look back on 10 years of incredible music with Decade, a weekly segment that features a modern country classic that made its greatest impact between 2010 and 2019. This week, Sam Hunt talks about his 2014 single, \u201cTake Your Time.\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/shows\/hot-20-countdown\">CMT Hot 20 Countdown<\/a> airs at 9\/8c Saturday and Sunday mornings.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>CMT: I know you co-wrote \u201cTake Your Time.\u201d Take me through where that song came from.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hunt: Yeah. The idea for this song came up in a co-write with my buddy Josh Osborne and a third writer. That day I remember throwing out the idea to experiment with that sort of talking thing in those verses, and our third co-writer wasn\u2019t really into it. Josh and I went with the flow and put the idea to the side. But after the write, Josh was like, \u201cHey, I did really like what you were doing. I think we should take that in with Shane next week when we write.\u201d I think we were writing with Shane McNally the next week. <\/p>\n<p>So they got into that writing and Josh was like, \u201cHey, do the thing you were doing in the write the other day. The \u2018Take Your Time\u2019 idea.\u201d And so I started doing it. Shane really liked it and immediately got on board. The song fell out for me. A lot of times songs take a little while to finish, but that one came pretty quick. It was an experiment a little bit originally. I don\u2019t know that I could have written it with any two different people other than Shane and Josh. It was a meant-to-be kind of thing. They jumped on board when the inspiration hit and we finished it that day.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iXi6IHFHeIA?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iXi6IHFHeIA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve heard you do that kind of talk\/sing more than once. Is this the first song you did it on? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was. Yes. I had messed around with it conceptually but it was a little bit outside the box, obviously, so a lot of my co-writers would look at me strange when I would attempt to do that in some of the earlier writes. But those guys, Shane and Josh, were the guys that were willing to experiment with me. All the songs we wrote early on were\u2026 Some of them were way further outside the box than \u201cTake Your Time\u201d ended up, man. But we found a sweet spot and it was a lot of R&amp;B influence in my music. That song of captured that, I think early on, in a way that was authentic to me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Well, the chorus is R&amp;B-sounding but the verses have that unique talk-sing thing you did. How did you get that idea in the first place? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A lot of times when you\u2019re writing, you try to conceptualize an idea that you have and you\u2019re talking out the verse, you know? \u201cWhat if the verse said something like\u2026.\u201d Josh might\u2019ve been playing the guitar and I started talking some of the lyrics \u2014 slash singing \u2014 and it sounded musical. They were like, \u201cWe\u2019ll just do that.\u201d I was thinking, \u201cI was just kind of explaining how it should maybe go, but let\u2019s find a better melody.\u201d But the phrasing fell into a pocket that was musical. <\/p>\n<p>We took the best moments of that and plugged it in and it just seemed to work. So, yeah, there\u2019s more than just that encouragement I got from those guys. I guess it motivated me to pursue it even more, so I started doing that more often. A couple of the songs, I think I\u2019ve had that approach, but a lot of it is just me not being able to think of a good melody. [laughs] So I start speaking the lyrics and singing a little bit here and there. As long as the story continues to progress, and people are following along, it seems to work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0zVGUYeuHB8?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0zVGUYeuHB8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>When you were about to release \u201cTake Your Time,\u201d you had no way of knowing whether it would or wouldn\u2019t work. Was there any anxiety about trying to get radio to play this, and hoping that it would catch on with the public the way you guys felt about it? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Maybe a little bit. You know, the reaction I\u2019d get from people \u2014 and I didn\u2019t play music for a lot of folks \u2014 but most people either really liked it or really didn\u2019t like it. I thought that was better than a mediocre reaction. I was optimistic about it, mostly because it felt original, and more than anything I wanted to be authentic and original. How it was received came second to making sure I stuck to that. <\/p>\n<p><strong>What was that like for you when you got up to No. 1, and then stayed there for 11 weeks? That\u2019s what everybody dreams about, but rarely has it actually happened. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think it was most helpful for me because not a whole lot of people knew who I was at that time. To have a song being played as much as that song was being played was helping us make new fans. All of our fans were new fans because I was just getting started. Having that exposure early on helped to build the bedrock of the fan base we\u2019ve been able to build since then. The strength of that early push was really helpful to us, in terms of being able to sustain the touring schedule and the career I\u2019ve had since then.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y3AJfG-dpzc?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y3AJfG-dpzc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Did it also validate the fact that you had the courage to go with what felt authentic to you, instead of maybe what everybody else was doing at the time? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah. Well, I definitely had to look at a lot of people who were involved coming up and [tell them], \u201cOK, just trust me, guys. I know it seems radical and I know you guys are worried about how this will be received, but trust me.\u201d So, for all the folks who said, \u201cI don\u2019t know about this,\u201d I never had an \u201cI told you so\u201d moment, by any means. <\/p>\n<p>But I think it gave a little more creative control to me going forward because people that I was working with, within the industry, [could say], \u201cWell, OK. He has his own thing. It\u2019s gotten a good reaction. We\u2019re gonna give him the benefit of the doubt going forward when he wants to be a little more experimental.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/51MjNuTzruY?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/51MjNuTzruY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Talk a little, if you would, about the music video. Where did that idea come from? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It was an idea that we had. My manager and my producer and I have been the board behind for everything that we\u2019ve done from the very beginning. We sat around and talked about that song and that video. And we found a director who was done a couple videos for a band called The 1975 that we were listening to at the time and we really liked what he was doing. And it came to life from those meetings. I can\u2019t remember exactly how the idea came about, but it was one of those things that naturally happened. \u2026 There was a collective effort. A lot of people put their heads together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How far did you have to walk down that road? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Man, it was about 20 degrees that morning. And I probably made that walk 15 or 20 times over the course of two hours. You can see me bundled up in the video. It was cold!<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\"> Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZdIb457XZ6w?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZdIb457XZ6w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen>\t<\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve already said that \u201cTake Your Time\u201d helped people know who you are. What did that song ultimately do for your career, and for where you stand right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I sort of understood it at the time, but even now, looking back, I realize that a lot of our fans, I wouldn\u2019t call traditional country music fans, and they stumbled across my music a lot of times. The more non-traditional country music fans came on board through that song. <\/p>\n<p>I have people come up and tell me, \u201cYou know, I wasn\u2019t a big fan of country music until I stumbled across some of your songs.\u201d Namely this one, for a lot of people. And then, \u201cNow I\u2019m a big fan of Carrie Underwood, or Dan + Shay, Keith Urban\u2026\u201d There are people who are country music fans now and I was their gateway. That means a lot to me. <\/p>\n<p>I know that song has a lot to do with it because people have an idea of what country music is and they hear something that\u2019s outside of that box. Country music is a traditional genre. We like to stick to what we do and do that. But I think people were a little more optimistic about becoming country music fans when they saw an artist who was willing to, I guess, break a few of the rules a little bit early on.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1813755\/cmt-hot-20-decade-take-your-time-sam-hunt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by CMT.com Staff 11m ago Editor\u2019s Note: CMT Hot 20 Countdown takes a look back on 10 years of incredible music with Decade, a weekly segment that features a modern country classic that made its greatest impact between 2010 and 2019. This week, Sam Hunt talks about his 2014 single, \u201cTake Your Time.\u201d CMT Hot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1316130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 06:20:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}