INTERVIEW: Scotty McCreery on 'Seasons Change,' His Most Personal Album Yet

Scotty McCreery

As winter comes to an end and spring approaches, the seasons are changing ... especially for country singer/songwriter Scotty McCreery. Scotty has finally released his first album in five years, Seasons Change, which follows 2013's See You Tonight and is his most personal record to date, as he exclusively explains to iHeartRadio.

Scotty tells us, "Making [this album] was totally different than any album I've made before. I was much more in control and had so much more say than I've had before, and was just really making this a personal project. I wrote every song on it, which was different than any album I've made before and it was just really telling my life stories. I think if you listen to this record front to back, you're definitely gonna know a lot more about me, my friends back home, my fiancé and just my life in general."

The title of Scotty's new album, Seasons Change, is reflective of where he is in his life in his life right now as he takes in all of the amazing changes and life milestones he will be celebrating, both in his personal and professional life. He tells us, "I felt like it was just really appropriate for where I'm at in life as a man, just growing up. I'm getting married this year, so a lot of awesome changes there. But also, as an artist, I went through a lot of change in the last few years, good and bad, and coming out of it now. I had my first number one single, and a new album that I'm proud of. I wrote every song, and it just seems like the seasons are kind of changing with me as as a person."

On His Engagement & the Meaning Behind "This Is It"

Back in September 2017, Scotty McCreery got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Gabi Dugal in the North Carolina mountains, and shared gorgeous photos of the special day. McCreery's newest single, "This Is It," is inspired by the special moment and that day. He tells us of the romantic song:

"The inspiration behind 'This Is It' was pretty much just the engagement. It's a love song for Gabi, and it's just laying out my plan at the time for the engagement. And luckily everything did go to plan. We've got a spot up in the mountains that we love to hike to. It's Little Lost Cove Cliff trail up in North Carolina behind Grandfather Mountain, and we stumbled upon it by accident one day. And now every time I go back to the mountains, we go to that spot and it's just a beautiful place, and we sit there for it seems like hours. And me and her just talk about life and all the crazy, deep topics you talk about. I knew from the moment that we went there the first time, that'd be where I'd proposed. And this song pretty much is all about our engagement."

On his Favorite Seasons Change Songs

Speaking of "This Is It," the track is one of Scotty's favorites on the album, because it paints the picture of his engagement to Gabi. He tells us, "That was a song I wrote for me and Gabi a couple weeks before we got engaged. I'd had it all planned out and kind of laid out the blueprint to the engagement in that song. So that one, for me, every time I listen to it, is definitely a favorite of mine."

But, another favorite -- and as Scotty calls it, his "favorite song [he's] ever written" -- is "Five More Minutes," which is written for the 24-year-old's grandfather. He explains, "'Five More Minutes' is tough to beat. That's my favorite song I've ever written and I wrote it for my granddaddy, and I just don't think that will ever, ever change."

While recording "Five More Minutes," Scotty tells us that it's a moment during the making of Seasons Change that he'll never forget.  "Five More Minutes" was recorded at Ocean West Studios and written by McCreery, Frank Rogers and Monty Criswell. Scotty tells us:

"I'll never forget writing 'Five More Minutes' with Frank and Monty, and being in that room, and we all kind of felt that we had something special that day. But then going to Ocean West Studios and cutting the rest of the songs that day with Frank, and Aaron [Eshuis], and Derek, and the whole band, it just felt good. It felt different than any record I've made. All the songs were coming together and I just really was a lot more in control because I wrote all these songs and knew how they wanted to sound. So, those two moments, writing 'Five More Minutes' and being in that studio the first day are something I'll never forget."


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