ERNEST stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about the deluxe version of his album, Flower Shops (The Album): Two Dozen Roses, out today (February 10)
ERNEST’s debut album Flower Shops (The Album) came out in March of 2022 and is now getting the deluxe treatment. Flower Shops (The Album): Two Dozen Roses has 13 new songs, all written or co-written by ERNEST. He said the new songs continue the story of the original album. He never stopped writing for the Flower Shops album, even after it was released, and a couple months later noticed he had a bunch of new songs that he really loved. Instead of creating a new album with similar sounding songs and storylines to his Flower Shops album, he decided to do a part two of it.
ERNEST is one of Nashville’s most prominent songwriters. He’s co-written some of the biggest country songs to come out in the last couple of years. Like Florida Georgia Line’s “I Love My Country,” and Sam Hunt’s “Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s,” and Jelly Roll’s “Son Of A Sinner.” ERNEST and Jelly Roll share a lot in common with their musical background. ERNEST started as a rapper in Nashville, just like Jelly Roll did, so in high school he looked up to him. He said the fact they have been able to go from where they came from, to having a hit song together on country radio, is the beauty and magic of Nashville.
He also co-wrote Kane Brown’s “One Mississippi.” Brown had a writing session with Jessie Frasure and brought in a guy who had messaged him named Levon Gray, and it was his first write in Nashville. When they finished writing the song, ERNEST told Gray how rare it is to write a number one song in your first writing session. His most frequent co-writing partner is his friend, Morgan Wallen, who he has written more than 70 songs with, like his hit “More Than My Hometown.” He thinks about 98% of the songs he and Wallen write together are great because they vibe together well. They are both able to pivot fast if another idea pops up in the middle of writing and have fun with it so it never feels like a writing session. He said when a melody comes easy it’s like a puzzle and you can feel where it’s going.
ERNEST’s song “What Have I Got To Lose” he wrote with Dean Dillion and said it’s super special song that he really loves. Dillion has written songs for George Strait, Toby Keith and other legends, so a getting the chance to write with him was a bucket-list moment. He took a shot in the dark asking him to sing the second verse of the song with him, and Dillion was honored to. They since have become good friends.
“This Fire” is the first song from the second part of the album, and the title for the song didn’t come from the most traditional of ways. He put country song titles in an AI simulator and got a list of 20 song titles back. “This Fire” was the second on the list and he liked the sound of it. At the time, he had been listening to “Illegal Smile” by John Prine a lot and liked the key change that happens in that song. It inspired him to create a song that sounded similar, and that’s how “This Fire” was born, one of the songs he’s most anticipated for people to hear.
He and his wife of five years welcomed their first baby back in April. A boy named Ryman. ERNEST’s last name is Smith, so he wanted to do something interesting for the baby’s first name. They landed on the name Ryman because it’s a Nashville staple that means a lot to them and has a sort of holiness feel to it.
ERNEST will be on Morgan Wallen’s “One Night At A Time” world tour starting in March.