Preston Cooper took a big risk when he left behind his small-town community in Fredericktown, Ohio to move to Nashville in pursuit of his musical career. In just one year as a Music City resident, he’s already made remarkable progress and is eager for what’s ahead in his career.
The now 21-year-old discovered his natural talent for singing and songwriting as a high school freshman, which in turned opened the door to a world of new opportunities that he never had envisioned for himself in the past. After graduating high school, he became a local sensation.
Cooper earned the nickname “The Singing Mailman” as his powerful vocals would echo through the miles and miles of neighborhoods he’d walk while working for the U.S. Postal Service. Between his workdays and local late-night gigs, Cooper was singing around the clock.
Finally, hundreds of shows later, his daily grind paid off one day when Brad and Brett Warren discovered Cooper at a Toledo songwriter’s round. They instantly recognized that his talent deserved to be heard beyond his small town and spent the next two years helping him hone in on his skills. Preston Cooper officially made the move to Music City one year ago and made his mark with his first-ever Nashville performance at the famous Bluebird Café.
The emerging artist is introducing his unique sound that blends a country grit with a smokey Alt Rock edge and a hint of blues in his debut single, “Weak,” out Jan. 31. Co-written by Cooper alongside Lance Miller, Brad Warren and Brett Warren, the new tune offers a captivating take on the intense emotions that come with being in love.
Cooper hinted that “Weak” is just a taste of “something very big” coming in the future.
“I think one thing is I’m excited to get this music out because to me it’s refreshing. I’ve heard this from a lot of people that I’m working with in the business, I don’t have a social following as much as some others, but it’s just about the music. The music has brought me here. That’s how I got here. And I think there’s something to be said for that. It’s just about the music and it’s great,” he admitted honestly.
Adding to his already promising year, Cooper will hit the road this summer in support Riley Green’s DAMN COUNTRY MUSIC TOUR.
Keep reading the exclusive Q&A below to discover even more about Preston Cooper, the up-and-comer carving out his place amid the next generation of country stars.
Did you grow up in a musical family?
My family’s not musical at all, which is crazy. Nobody in my family actually plays anything. But I started playing guitar freshman year in high school and I just kind of fell in love with it. And then I started singing a couple years after that and I played for two to three hours a day and I just fell in love with it and that’s how I got here.
Did songwriting come around the same time you learned to play the guitar?
A little bit, a couple years after that. But I really started writing professionally when I got to Nashville about two years ago. That’s really when the songwriting started.
Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?
My first song, I was 14 years old. It’s called “Light Above a Hill.” I haven’t really played it in a long time, but that was the first song I ever attempted to write. I still remember that.
How did you earn the nickname, “The Singing Mailman” around your town?
Mainly just humming my own tunes. I wrote a lot of melodies when I was walking and people would literally come out on the front porch and just listen to me sing melodies and like, ‘oh, you made a new one today.’ It is so cool.
When did you make the jump and start performing in front of bigger audiences?
I actually started performing early in high school, about sophomore year with a trio called Steamtown Road, and we’d play all the little local bars and restaurants on the weekends. Well, I started getting busy on my own with gigs and I would play solo gigs, and I got so busy that I quit the post office. I was like, I’d rather play gigs, and I was like, I’m making money doing it.
Were you nervous those first few times getting up on stage or was it just natural?
Most definitely I was nervous. It’s just something my family’s really never been a part of and never experienced. So it was a whole new thing for everybody, but it was super cool and I still get nervous to this day, but if I’m not nervous, I’m not having fun.
Talk about the moment you got discovered at that writer’s Round by the Warren Brothers.
So I got a call and it was about a gig in Toledo, and they asked if I wanted to open up for these Nashville songwriters, and I didn’t know who the Warren brothers were at the time, and J.T. Harding was there as well. He’s a character. So I went to Toledo and played a little 45-minute set during cocktail hour, and these two brothers in the back were listening to me the whole time, and from their perspective, they’re like, ‘this kid is not missing a note. He’s like 18 years old, why is he in Ohio in a small town?’ And so long story short, they invited me back and we talked and we just really got along and they’re like, ‘why don’t you just come to Nashville in three weeks and play the Bluebird with us?’ I’m like, ‘what?’ I was completely just surprised, really surprised. I didn’t even know what to say to be honest. And they’re like, ‘yeah, you can stay with us and we can write songs and go in the studio.’ And I was on Cloud nine…It was just an amazing experience, and that night changed my life. It really did.
How did you navigate the country music scene when you first arrived in Nashville?
Honestly, it’s a really hard question to answer because I didn’t really…the only people I knew was the Warren Brothers when I moved there and I would go out to all these open mics and I just tried to get out and meet people and throw myself out there in the business. It was hard. It was hard for the first four to five months or whatever, but things got to be busy and I was present. I think that’s how I managed it. I was always available. I made myself available and I just was committed.
Have you received any advice from other artists that have helped you enter this new phase of life?
Yeah, so I recently wrote with Vince Gill at his house, and he told me, and I’ll never forget this, he said, ‘Preston, as you go through this life and this career, because it’s a crazy career and it will eat you alive if you’re not careful,’ he said, ‘whatever you’re doing, have fun doing it. If you’re not having fun doing it, then why are you doing it? And I’ll never forget that.
How would you describe the sound that you have been honing in on these past few years?
So my sound…when I started writing with the Warren Brothers a lot and these Nashville songwriters, we weren’t chasing anything current or popular, the norm, I guess you could say. I just I kind of started writing my melodies that I liked and everybody I listened to, I kind of combined all those genres together and it just kind of made this rock and roll country bluesy. There’s a lot of blues roots in this music, but I think just from everybody I listened to, I think that’s really how it came to be what it is.
What was it like getting to write your debut single, “Weak,” with the Warren Brothers?
“Weak” was the first song that I wrote when I came to Nashville, when I stayed with the Warren Brothers, and we wrote that together and Lance Miller was also there. But yeah, it’s probably my favorite song that we’ve written up to date. I think it describes me as an artist, the best sonically and musically.
Can you share a bit of insight into the inspiration behind the story?
The whole point of the song, I feel like everybody has somebody that makes them feel weak, somebody that pulls them in and it’s irresistible. And my favorite lyric is just ‘you and Jesus get me where I need to be,’ and I’m a big believer in Jesus Christ, and I think that everybody’s got somebody. So it’s a very powerful love song for sure.
What do you hope that listeners take away from your music and the stories you’re presenting?
My goal is to make people feel something through the music that you may not be able to feel through words or just a conversation. Music hits people so hard in certain ways, but I think that my job, if music can move people…actually, I have a quick story. My father was recently in the hospital and he couldn’t really communicate with us. And so I played, his favorite song is “Weak” and I played him that song and he literally started crying because that’s the only way he could communicate with me. That’s his favorite song, and he knew exactly what song it was, and he just started bawling when that first guitar came in. And that’s my goal is to make people feel that through my music and also just to be a great example for upcoming musicians, young artists in the future, just keep making great music. So that’s my goal. And I hope that fans take that just like that. I hope they feel what he felt.
Will fans get to hear more new originals when you hit the road with Riley Green this year?
Yeah, I’m going to do a lot of originals. Maybe a cover in between in there, maybe some Bob Seger, but I’m so excited. I mean, when they told me I was going on that tour, I honestly didn’t have words. And one of the cool things was on the tour, they asked me, ‘what’s your dream venue?’ And I said, ‘Red Rocks,’ that’s my bucket list. And one of the first venues they told me I was playing was Red Rocks, and they’re like, ‘you should have set the bar higher, come on.’ But it was great.
Have you had the chance to meet Riley Green yet?
I have met him. I met him at the CMAs. We were together, and he’s super nice guy, super excited to have me on tour, and I’m excited to be on his tour. And yeah, what was cool was he actually chose me. He heard my music and he was like, ‘I want that kid to come on tour.’ And that was kind of a little backstory I heard that maybe I shouldn’t have known, but that was pretty cool actually.
Fans can keep up with Preston Cooper on Instagram.
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