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We talk to Baylee Littrell about his new song, "Hey Jesus," his time on American Idol, album plans and more.
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0:01
hey guys it's Gail with Everything Nash
0:03
here with the fantabulous Bailey Literal
0:05
i'm so excited we have never talked
0:07
before I don't think anyway I'm glad we
0:10
get to talk about the things we get to
0:11
talk about
0:13
and I'm excited i'm really excited okay
0:17
the first thing we have to talk about we
0:18
have a lot to talk about uh Hey Jesus
0:21
what a great song give me the story
0:22
behind it
0:25
so Hey Jesus I wrote about three years
0:28
ago um going through tough times with my
0:31
faith in life um kind of doubting a lot
0:35
you know I experienced a lot of loss
0:37
that year um in my life from people um
0:41
to relationships to everything in
0:44
between and it really made me question
0:48
um my faith for the first time in my
0:50
life i feel like um a lot of people get
0:54
hit with that you know you're raised in
0:56
faith if you are um and at certain point
0:59
it's your decision as an adult to to
1:03
keep going and and put that trust in for
1:05
yourself to keep going in faith and not
1:07
having someone else there to guide you
1:10
and that was kind of like that first
1:11
point in my life where I was really
1:13
questioning what I was going to do i
1:16
didn't feel like
1:18
um
1:20
I didn't feel guided you know in my
1:22
faith so it was really hard to figure it
1:25
out um and I ended up writing this song
1:29
and it just again reminded me of
1:34
putting my trust in Jesus it was like
1:36
this moment where I thought "Wow all the
1:40
mistakes all the imperfections all the
1:43
moments of uh doubt all the moments of
1:46
pain and anger and all this stuff goes
1:47
into this song." And afterwards I felt
1:50
so rejuvenated it helped my faith it
1:53
helped my journey um it made me again
1:56
feel so much confliction in my life and
1:58
change a lot of things that I was doing
2:00
or going through um but that's just a
2:04
part of it and it was a big slap in the
2:07
face in the best way possible like
2:09
writing that song was was me coming back
2:11
to God and finding him and realizing he
2:14
had never left i was the one that left
2:16
so it was it was one of the coolest
2:18
things um and I never I never knew I was
2:22
going to have the chance to release this
2:24
you know I that wasn't really in the
2:26
cards um then I started playing it at
2:29
shows just locally around town and then
2:33
all of a sudden it was uh it just came
2:36
about and it was it was time so I mean
2:38
thank goodness for that second round of
2:40
American Idol because otherwise I never
2:43
know if it would have you know really
2:44
come out so it's it's a crazy day okay
2:48
so let's talk about American Idol which
2:50
I want to talk about that specifically
2:52
but you performed this song on American
2:53
Idol talk about that decision
2:56
that decision was also kind of
2:58
unexpected um I got to that second round
3:02
and previously on the you know the first
3:04
like initial episode I had sang um an
3:08
original song and so I was going to keep
3:10
that train going as long as I could for
3:12
you know exposure and promoting just my
3:16
songwriting ability stuff like that and
3:18
um
3:20
my mom came to me and she said "Why
3:22
don't you you know sing Hey Jesus?" And
3:25
I was like
3:27
I was afraid to ruffle feathers i you
3:29
know was going through all this stuff
3:31
and she's like "Now's the time to ruffle
3:33
some feathers if you want to." She's
3:35
like "This is one of those opportunities
3:37
where like this is a song that people
3:39
need to hear." You know we weren't sure
3:43
i wasn't sure I was even getting through
3:45
that next round so I had this thing
3:47
where I was like "Well if I'm going out
3:49
I'm going to go out with a bang." Like I
3:50
want people to hear this song and I want
3:53
it to be spread and so then
3:57
um it just kind of happened that way
3:59
like I was terrified i haven't been
4:02
terrified in a long time um up on a
4:05
stage and I was absolutely petrified and
4:08
I got up there and I sang that song and
4:10
I was calm and it was the most high
4:14
pressure situation everybody judging you
4:17
and
4:19
in that moment I was at peace and it was
4:21
probably one of the most spectacular
4:22
feelings i knew then I was like even if
4:25
this doesn't make the episode doesn't
4:27
air I knew I was at that point at peace
4:30
with it and I just had a good moment and
4:34
uh I looked around the room and
4:35
everybody was we're all just kind of
4:38
worshiping together and it was this
4:39
moment where I was like "Wow." you know
4:41
in a room full of a lot of pride this
4:43
past week a lot of egos a lot of stress
4:46
like all of it just was out of the air
4:49
for a minute and it was we all
4:51
remembered who we belong to and that's
4:53
like that's the one cool thing that I
4:56
want people to keep remembering so it's
4:58
it's uh it was so impactful and I was at
5:01
that point and I was like "All right
5:03
this is coming out we got to release
5:05
this." And so we've been just dying to
5:08
release this for the last two months and
5:10
then now finally here's the time so
5:13
again I'm like I'm blown away um I love
5:17
that and I love that American Idol was
5:20
so welcoming of Christian faith this
5:22
season maybe more than other seasons i
5:23
didn't watch it as much other seasons
5:24
but it just felt like it was such a
5:26
great platform for artists like yourself
5:30
i agree um I was shocked too because you
5:35
know I had a lot of fellow contestants
5:37
too that they got up there and sing
5:39
worship songs and it was such a shocker
5:41
because you know you go into it um and
5:45
you're in Hollywood you're in California
5:47
it's like the last place you would think
5:49
you would find light and and Christian
5:52
music like in a moment like that and
5:54
then we kind of like we kind of brought
5:56
it and so that's what I loved they said
5:59
you know a lot of people even like
6:02
behind the scenes our producers and um
6:05
even our crew they say "Guys this season
6:07
is different." And they just said "This
6:10
is something we haven't seen in a long
6:11
time." Um and it was like a relief to a
6:14
lot of people um and they loved seeing
6:17
just a moment of faith being shown um
6:20
and the voices that were used too like
6:24
Brianna um they were just powerful and
6:27
and it sent a message and it was I mean
6:30
everybody just had this moment of of
6:33
faith and I felt like we all had
6:34
strength in that and that was the best
6:36
part of the show by far can you take me
6:40
to I'm always fascinated by the audition
6:42
process and what an artist feels like i
6:44
mean I've never auditioned for anything
6:46
like American Idol take me to that
6:48
moment when you went out there and you
6:50
auditioned and you're putting yourself
6:52
out there to the world
6:54
sorry this alarm um
6:58
the audition process is crazy it's from
7:02
what we were told during Hollywood week
7:05
over 120,000 people auditioned
7:10
and it's an audition process that just
7:12
starts with like a a Zoom interview or
7:16
an audition over the phone um or it's
7:19
inerson auditions
7:22
just to get on the first episode of the
7:23
show to audition again so it's I mean
7:26
it's a lot and it's not like kind of
7:29
shown that way so it was like you know
7:32
they told us when we got to the round of
7:34
40 it was like "We want you guys to know
7:36
how you know amazing it is to get here."
7:38
And everyone rolled their eyes and they
7:40
were like "And we knew you would do
7:41
that." And Lionel's like "120,000
7:44
of you tried out for this season." He's
7:48
like "So if you're bummed about you know
7:53
if we let you go today or next week or
7:55
whenever," he's like "You should not be
7:56
upset." And that like lifted everyone's
7:59
spirits in the room cuz everyone was
8:01
getting burned out around this time
8:02
because everyone was so tired um and
8:05
then when you keep going it just puts it
8:07
into perspective even more you're like
8:08
"Wow." Um but the audition process is is
8:13
kind of scary you get on a Zoom and you
8:16
have a billion producers on the phone
8:18
and everyone's just kind of like you
8:20
know you've got that big window of
8:21
people and you sing a song and then
8:22
they're like "All right sing us another
8:24
song." and then you sing another song
8:26
and then they're like they either say
8:29
yes or no and so they were like okay
8:31
we'll see you in Nashville and they just
8:33
assign you the place that you go to so
8:35
it was like New York Nashville or um
8:39
LA and so it was funny cuz I would meet
8:42
some people that were sent to New York
8:43
and they were as close to Nashville as I
8:46
was or you know the same with LA and we
8:49
would just all come together and we're
8:50
like where did you audition you know and
8:53
it was uh it was it was so cool um that
8:56
was one of my favorite things too was
8:57
like the random assignments getting
8:59
there and then you kind of had like your
9:02
own class and it was like the Nashville
9:04
class the New York class and the LA
9:06
class and really we were just
9:08
transplants from everywhere but it was
9:10
where they sent us and uh so when we
9:13
came in like we all just kind of like
9:15
meshed off of that which was really cool
9:17
and I love about a show like American
9:19
Idol people know your last name but that
9:21
last name isn't going to do you anything
9:23
yeah it it hurt me a lot it it
9:27
definitely helped from the production
9:29
side because I really didn't want it to
9:32
be monopolized and it still like really
9:34
was um but on the opposite side of
9:39
things I mean it was so tough to find
9:42
people to talk to because you get there
9:44
and everyone rolls their eyes and
9:46
they're like "Oh it's you." And I'm like
9:49
"Y I'm here just like you guys trying to
9:52
make it and there's so many comments and
9:54
it's "Why doesn't your dad get you a
9:57
record deal?" Or "Why don't you have a
9:59
record deal?" Or "Why don't you?" And
10:01
I'm like why do you think like it's it
10:05
works opposite of how people think so
10:06
I'm like you know a lot of my responses
10:09
to people are like I'm here just like
10:11
you trying to get the same opportunity
10:13
because it's equally as hard for me and
10:16
so it's like it was tough um some doors
10:20
obviously open but they close a lot
10:23
faster so it's um it's tough it's been
10:27
really tough so that's another reason
10:29
that this was a desperation to to keep
10:32
going and I was finding myself just kind
10:35
of stuck in a rut um and stagnant it was
10:38
it's been since you know like
10:41
COVID year pretty much since I've had
10:44
you know remote commercial success so
10:46
it's been a it's been a big fight to get
10:47
back now with with this with Hey Jesus
10:51
are you putting your flag in as a
10:53
Christian artist or what what's your
10:55
future in music my friend
10:58
um I wouldn't officially say I'm putting
11:01
like
11:03
that stamp down i would say that this is
11:05
the first step but there's probably
11:08
another worship song or two that I will
11:10
will release which I'm excited about um
11:13
but at the same time I'm still just you
11:15
know writing
11:17
um singer songwriter stuff a little bit
11:20
of indie stuff um a lot of acoustic
11:23
music with kind of like some folk
11:24
elements to it but I kind of still want
11:27
to show people um again the imperfect
11:31
side so I want to I want to be able to
11:34
come in and and release songs that I I
11:37
love about Jesus but not just strictly
11:39
do Christian music because to tell you
11:41
the truth those songs writing those come
11:44
few and far between and when they do
11:47
they're special and it's just kind of
11:49
like
11:51
I mean I don't write a whole lot of
11:52
Christian songs and when that comes you
11:55
know I don't take it lightly so it's
11:57
just kind of like okay I think you want
11:59
me to release this so I'm going to do
12:01
that and um we've got one more that I
12:04
wrote right before the election um that
12:07
I'm thinking about releasing too just
12:09
with all the division in the world i was
12:12
like all right at least for our country
12:14
we need to hear this so I've got another
12:17
one that we'll probably cut and record
12:19
pretty soon but you know Hey Jesus was
12:21
first and it's the exciting one i just I
12:24
told my uh my mom today on the phone I
12:28
called her and we were talking about
12:29
just the release and I just said you
12:31
know it's so crazy that out of all this
12:34
time doing music or even the American
12:36
Idol stuff for Broadway when I was
12:38
younger like the biggest accomplishment
12:40
today was waking up knowing that I had a
12:43
Christian song out and my dad has a
12:45
Christian album out and it was just it
12:48
was one of the coolest things so it was
12:50
just I don't know it's like legacy right
12:52
there to me like that's the real legacy
12:54
so I love it it's not the legacy people
12:57
would expect but I love it um last
13:00
question i have to let you go where are
13:01
we with an album coming out
13:04
so we're about halfway through that
13:06
process right now and I'm trying to cut
13:09
some more songs get some more like full
13:10
production stuff because I have a lot of
13:13
intimate acoustic songs that um have a
13:17
lot of the same production elements as
13:18
Hey Jesus it's very raw and just
13:20
unfiltered um and like our take of Hey
13:24
Jesus was two takes and it was just that
13:27
and we kind of ran with it so it's like
13:29
a lot of raw stuff that I'm excited for
13:31
people to hear um but now the process is
13:35
getting those full production songs in
13:38
um this summer to try to get that
13:40
stretch for the fall so I'm excited so
13:43
I'm still shooting for this year to have
13:45
a record out at least by the end of it
13:47
but there'll definitely be more songs
13:49
this year okay well when you're ready to
13:51
release more we'll talk again i love
13:54
that good to see you my friend thank you
13:55
Bailey of course
#Religious Music
#Performing Arts