- Take it a walk Nashville.
- Hi everyone, it's Sarah Harrelsen,
your host of Take It a Walk Nashville. And today I have a very special guest with me. It's Kevin Jonas Senior, also known as Papa Jonas and the father of the Jonas Brothers. Kevin is a music executive entrepreneur and songwriter
that came from humble beginnings in Belmont, North Carolina. And he is now the visionary behind world-wide superstars. His new single, Key of U, was released on March 13th and he is here today with me on Take It a Walk Nashville.
- This isn't "I Heart Podcast." Guarantee Human. - In 2023, Bachelor Star Clayton Eckard was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax.
“- You doctored this particular test twice in silence, correct?”
- I doctored the test once. - It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. - Like a lesbian, I can imagine it. - My mind was blown.
- I'm Stephanie Young, this is LoveTrap. - Laura, Scott Snail Police.
- As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences.
Listen to LoveTrap podcast on the "I Heart Radio" app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - I'm Lori Siegel, and on my new podcast, Mostly Human, I'll take you to some wild corners of the tech world. - I'm about to go on a date with an AI companion
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and it's very empowering.
“- Listen to Mostly Human on the "I Heart Radio" app,”
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. - Hey, it's Nora Jones, and my podcast playing along is back with more of my favorite musicians. Check out my newest episode with Josh Grobin. - You even know it's in the fans' room at that point.
- Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom of that. - That's so funny. ♪ Shelly stands with me tonight ♪ ♪ Each morning ♪ - Listen to Nora Jones is playing along on the "I Heart Radio" app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - If you're trying to keep up with everything happening on and off the court, we've got you covered on the podcast, "Blaigrant and Funny."
- You wanna start with the first version
from the big kid coach of the year? - Oh, what do you, would you like to get? - Yeah, sure, sure. - So you're a Spartan, is that what I mean? - Exactly.
“- So whether you're a bracket is busted,”
or you just want the real talk on what's happening during the tournament, open your free "I Heart Radio" app, search "Playground and Funny" with "Cary Champion" and "Jamele Hill" and "Listen Now." - Presented by Capital One,
founding partner of "I Heart Women's Sports." - Welcome to "Taken a Walk Nashville" with your hosts, singer-songwriter, Sarah Harrelson. - Kevin, thank you so much for being on "Taken a Walk Nashville" today. So you grew up in a small textile mill town
near Charlotte, North Carolina, and you grew up with a passion for music and you recognize this talent in your own sons at a young age, and you say that you would drive them to their shows in a red van.
We're a lot of these trips taken to Nashville. When you are North Carolina, where was LA kind of the starting point there? - Well, actually, I started in North Carolina, and mostly in church circles, I sang around church,
and my mom would take me to church as play for me, and I would sing or minister in those churches. And then I ended up getting involved in like worship ministry and churches. So my kids really grew up seeing me sing,
and then we took an opportunity in New Jersey, right across from New York, and the boy started working on Broadway, both Joe and Nick had Broadway shows, and off Broadway shows.
I think Nick, by the time he was 10, had like four Broadway shows. So we were definitely sewing into their talent, writing songs with them, then Nick had 11, signed a solo deal, that became the Jonas Brothers,
and the rest kind of was history. So the tie to Nashville really points back to when I was pursuing my music early in my life, 18 to 25, and I would go up and down music room, and knock on every door.
Some doors open, not many, and there were some really kind people
Who took this kid in,
and some tried to get me to write better songs,
“and some inspired me, and some gave me great business advice,”
can't thank them enough for all that they gave me, and inspired me with. And actually, I started in North Carolina, in church music, but also in country music. - Yeah, and you talk about how you started
in church music, in Christian music, and you also co-wrote, I still have the dream with Michael W. Smith, and you pin the global worship anthem to be glory, which has a mass more than half a billion streams worldwide.
- So at this point in your career, were you trying to make it as an artist yourself, or were you finding joy and writing music for others and developing other artists? - That's a great question.
I was pursuing life as an artist. That movie, Mr. Holland's Opus, where he stops at a high school on his way to his dream. I feel like I have had a lot of that in my life, and then I look back in those of the great moments.
I love developing talent, and I was always doing it.
So if our interaches are traveling the world with worship music, it led me to people that inspired me more than I inspired them. And some of my students went on to do incredible things. And the reason that song to him be glory really took off
was a student of mine translated it in Portuguese, and she and a protege of hers, both recorded and it just blew up. And so again, life has been very, very good to us. But I get probably my greatest joy out of seeing people
live their dream, and that might sound cliche, but it's so true. I love watching the artist you've worked with, standing on a stage, and doing it, something they've dreamed of their entire life.
I get incredible satisfaction out of that.
And when my sons are on stage, I just turn around in circles. And I'm just watching them, and I'm watching the crowd, and I'm watching them, and I'm watching the crowd. Usually with tears rolling down my face, just so thankful for that connection that happens when an artist
and their followers and fans and fan family are really tied to them passionately. So so many things to be grateful for, but probably living that with a good number of artists is my highlight.
- Yeah, that's beautiful, and you've written a lot of songs with your sons and for your sons. And you're getting back into your own artistry
“as well, you just released a new single, key of you.”
It's a beautiful love song to your wife Denise, written by Marcus Humman, I love to listening to this. There's no question that singing runs in your family, love to listening to your vocals on this song. What does it mean for you to be able to put this music out
as an artist? - Well, I would venture to say, I really don't have a desire on not pursuing life as an artist. As I said, I have plenty to do with the genre's group and the various things that I have on my plate,
but music is grieving to me. It was my entire life and is my entire life, whether I'm singing it, writing it, or helping other people do things and perform it. So I don't feel like I'm doing it because,
like I released a Christmas album, but my wife had asked me to do that 35 years ago. So it was somewhat for that, and it is our 40th anniversary, and I'm just very thankful for her
and all that we've gone through through the years, and the song just paints a wonderful picture of, I think, love in general, but there's so many moments in the song that are very uniquely things that I hold dear,
like, you know, watching my wife just even when she sleeps. She's beautiful and peaceful. - Yeah, that's precious and such a wonderful anniversary gift. So in addition to being a songwriter and an artist, you're an entrepreneur,
you founded Jonas Group Entertainment in 2005 and established headquarters here in Nashville in 2023 along with red van records referencing that red van used to drive your sons around into gigs. - Why did you want to plant your roots
in Nashville specifically?
“And do you think currently it's important for artists”
to be a Nashville who want to make a career in music?
- I do, you know, my kids were in pop music.
I raised them on a ton of country and Christian music. The reason I chose Nashville is that two of the main music styles and genres that I loved and was raised in Christian and country both really have their headquarters there.
And it was a place that I learned to love songwriting was inspired by real songwriters and the songwriting community and the songwriter rounds. And it just felt like the right home lived a lot of life in New York, a lot of life in LA
and done a lot of things with artists
in our entertainment company, but the reality is
the spirit that I sense in Nashville are really the reason I love it so much. - Yeah, I think that's great. You know, you see a lot of artists and entertainers moving from LA to Nashville now
to pursue music, but also Nashville is just so great
“for community, I think, not only in country music,”
but in music in general. - Absolutely, no, it was very specifically, Christian and country when I first started going. - Yeah. - Now it's all music and there's such a variety,
there's such a great cross section of pop and pop rock
and R&B and legacy and I think it has become
a better music center than even New York and LA because it really does provide a nurturing ground for a lot of talent and has embraced things beyond the earlier, I won't say limitations, but limited genre.
So I'm very thankful in our group, yes, we have a ton of country and country writers, but we have a rock producer, we have a pop rock band, we have a Johnny Mitchell-esque artist.
I mean, you could just go through,
“we have an Americana artist and in my son Franklin”
that we're connected with and we're releasing songs
in week after week, it's Luke Bryan
or it's Ernest or it's, but then pop or pop rock so that variety inspires me. I don't fit into walls very well. - Yeah, I love that you definitely have your hands in all genres and you've played a pivotal role in guiding
and developing artists, pop artists, such as Demi Lovato, Jordan Sparks, K-Pop sensation, the Wonder Girls. So being in the music industry and young Disney Channel star, especially at a young age for a teen can be so hard
to handle. So what has been your approach when working with and developing young artists? What is the advice you give them when they face so much pressure in the spotlight
at a young age? - Yeah, I feel really bad for a lot of the young talent coming up and no one can prepare you for what happens like when Disney meets the right artist and the right content, what that can be is unbelievable
and, you know, my son's came in. It was a high school musical introduced and a Montana who introduced the Jonas Brothers to introduce Demi Lovato and it just, it was wave after wave after wave and those children
and many of them were teens were thrust into a national spotlight and everybody they dated was the cover of People Magazine and so my yearbook was a small town. There's all over the world. There's a lot of pressure and I had a motto
that I learned from my grandfather that I gave to my children live like you're at the bottom even if you're at the top. Just stay a good person, surround yourself with good people because there's a lot of people that will take advantage of you in the world like that
and moments like that and really appreciate your fans. They sacrifice a lot to love you and to follow you and to buy your product.
“But I think it's isolating so it's also very important”
that you maintain your mental health. Myself included, you know, to really work to make sure that you're staying centered because it can be just so confusing and at times, enticing and if you're not careful,
can affect your attitude. Probably the best thing I hear is when people tell me that my sons, our sons, are really great young men.
I know that that's a ton of choices
and a lot of really good luck.
“But I tried with all of those to be a good example,”
I tell you this past summer when Demi joined the boys back on stage after all that time, standing back stage, greeting her, seeing her healthy, watching that explosion of love for all of them just unbelievable, unbelievable.
One of the highlights of my professional life was just being able to be there for that historic moment and in the world that they lived in, if you grew up where Camp Rock was in your world, that was a moment.
- Yeah, that was definitely part of my world growing up, you know, watching Disney Channel Camp Rock and, you know, your sons on Disney Channel. But, you know, speaking to that point, like you said, you would see them on the covers
of people magazine, but now it's different for teens in the music industry 'cause they have to face social media.
They have the pressure second by second, right?
And front of them, so it's a whole different game now. - The whole world are paparazzi and any comment whether true or not can run quickly and your private life is not private. It's tough, you know, I think my kids grew up in it
because my space was already active, but it's just evolved and become so difficult. And for some artist in particular, a really difficult to maintain your sanity, maintain your emotional and little health,
knowing that anything you put out people can criticize and they will. And that somebody's sitting in their basement can start a fire that has nothing to do with you or your conduct and mess with your life.
Those are tough things, and they're not just tough for kids, they're tough for everybody.
“- Yeah, yeah, that's so important, I think it's so important”
to stay true to who you are as an artist and push all of that, all of that noise aside. But in addition to music, you own the restaurant, Nellie Southern Kitchen located in Belmont, North Carolina and Las Vegas, will we see a location in Nashville
for this restaurant in the future? - You know, we've looked at some property, all over Nashville, and if we find the right thing, I think that is in the cards. I think ironically, there's not a ton of southern
like straight ahead southern food. And my grandmother, as you said, it worked in a textile meal and grew up really in a North Carolina mill village. And I tell people all the time, if you've seen hunger games
in District 12, where the lead came from, and the poverty there, it was filmed. That set is a North Carolina cotton mill village. - Oh, wow, so not far. - Not far from where I grew up,
and the kind of environment my grandmother was a part of, and she worked so hard, and then we'd come home
and make the most amazing food.
So, Nellie's really is a tribute to her, and taking me in when I needed it, and no matter where in the world I would go. I would come home to urban and appooting and her chicken and dumplings, and that made my life.
“When I think of home, that's what I think of.”
- Yeah, definitely great comfort food, if listeners are in those areas, definitely check out Nellie's southern kitchen. - So Kevin, what are you most looking forward to this year with the artist?
You're working with that Jonas group entertainment? - Well, we work with Ray Lin, of her, and that girl is just a spitfire. She has our heart, and I think this could be a really great year for her, very exciting things coming.
We have some, we have a young rock band pop rock that I really feel like could go.
It always takes a lot of different factors.
I'm very excited for my youngest son, Franklin. The music that he's working on right now is from his heart, it's legit for him, and it's that modern Americana, and it is literally amazing, painful at times,
but really amazing. And we have a young girl that is Kenny Loggins, if you know that name famous in the '70s, '80s. Footloose, all those theme songs, Catty-Shack theme songs, but beyond a danger zone,
Kenny's stepdaughter, Hunter Hawkins.
It seems every room we go in, it's just like, wow.
This is special. And really, there's no music out yet of the new group of songs that really do identify her.
Amazing guitar player, amazing vocalist, amazing songwriter.
So I think we have a lot. And then on the songwriting side, every week is just a new release from our publishing company today as Luke Bryan. A couple of weeks ago was Pit Bull and songs
that were written with our team, Pit Bull, and Phil Moore and then Ernest and Snoop Dogg. It's just watching these songs that are being written in our basement and the writing rooms and with the writers that we've signed up,
just lights me up as a guy that really loves great songs, so fun to see what's happening there. And we're about to have our first top 10. And you know, that's, we're new. So this is getting pretty exciting
because Nick, my son, wrote a song and Rascal Flats in the Jonas Brothers,
“something together called I dare you and I believe it's about”
to make it's run to the top of the chart. - Yeah, that's on Rascal Flats, new revamped album. - Yes. - From their previous hit's album. So I really love that collaboration.
And you have so much music coming out this year from Jonas Group looking forward to that new music from Franklin as well.
Kevin, this is a question I always like to ask
for my listeners on taking a walk in Nashville. And you kind of mentioned it when you talked about walking down music row back in the day, but do you have a favorite place you like to take a walk in Nashville?
- Oh, there are two spots in the national area. I love, I pace when I talk on the phone. So I have done loops around music row for so many years that that's like my walking path. And I'll go with traffic, I rarely use the alleys.
And I just talk on the phone and walk around, see the songwriters, see the tourist, see all the music inspiration all around you. I love, love, love of that. And the other area, I really love is downtown Franklin.
I just, that whole area there. I don't know, there's something really, we've stayed there often in kind of feeling love with Franklin as well. - Yeah, that's a beautiful town in the downtown area.
Is one we've looked at as a possible outlet for Nellies,
“but I think we want to be closer to the action.”
- Yeah, definitely on Main Street. I could see Nellies being there in Franklin. - Nellies would be a perfect fit for downtown Franklin. - Yeah, yeah, I hope to see it there. Yeah, those are definitely popular answers for taking a walk.
And I can only imagine when you walk on Music Row now, how much change is around you, 'cause that's something we've talked about all the time on this podcast is how much music row has changed.
- Well, my first trip to Nashville was 35, 37 years ago.
And it has completely changed, but it still has its identity. The music companies are still there, but it was a publishing company, and it was a record company.
And it was, you know, artist and their efforts. And it was the home of a great songwriter. Like it was just so eclectic. And from one side of the street to the other, it would just bounce with the different elements
of the music business, all condensed into this, really tiny section of town. And I just thought it was just heaven on earth. - Yeah, definitely a lot of change since then, but there's also been a lot of good change.
And we're looking forward to upcoming releases from your artist this year. - Thank you.
“- And listening to your new beautiful single, key of you.”
Kevin, thank you so much again for being on taking a walk Nashville today. - Thank you. Honored to be with you. Thank you so much.
- Thanks for listening to Take In A Walk Nashville with Sarah Harrelson. Please check out our other shows, produced by Buzz night media productions. Comedy saved me and music saved me.
Hosted by Lynn Hoffman and Take In A Walk, hosted by yours truly Buzz night. All shows are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and are part of the I Heart Podcast Network. - In 2023, Bachelor Star Clayton Eckard
was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. - You doctored this particular test twice and so on, correct? - I doctored the test once. - It took an army of internet detectives
To uncover a disturbing pattern.
Two more men who'd been through the same thing. - Regulaspian, I can imagine it. - My mind was blown. - I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trap.
- Laura, let's go to the police. - As the season continues,
Laura Owens finally faces consequences.
“Listen to Love Trap podcast on the I Heart Radio app,”
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - I'm Lori Siegel, and on my new podcast, Mostly Human, I'll take you to some wild corners of the tech world. - I'm about to go on a date with an AI companion at a real world cafe right here in New York City.
- There's no playbook for what to do
when an AI model hallucinates a story about you.
- Mostly human is your playbook for how tech can work for you. - Anyone can now be an entrepreneur,
“anyone can build an app, and it's very empowering.”
- Listen to Mostly Human on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. - Hey, it's Nora Jones, and my podcast playing along is back with more of my favorite musicians. Check out my newest episode with Josh Grobin.
- You even know the fans know what that's for me. - Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom of that. - That's so funny. ♪ Shall we stand with me tonight ♪ ♪ Each morning ♪
- Listen to Nora Jones is playing along
“on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,”
or wherever you get your podcasts. - If you're trying to keep up with everything happening on and off the court, we've got you covered on the podcast, Blagrant and Funny.
- You wanna start with the first version
from the Big Kid Coach of the year? - Oh, what do you, would you like to get? - Yeah, she got it. - So you're a Spartan, is that what I mean? - Exactly.
- So whether you're a bracket is busted, or you just want the real talk on what's happening during the tournament, open your free I Heart Radio app, search Plagrant and Funny with Carrie Champion and Jamel Hill, and listen now.
- Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. - This is an I Heart Podcast, guaranteed human.
