--- title: "Garrett Adair: The Relentless Self-Awareness That Turned A Secret Songwriting Dream Into A Nashville Reality" url: "https://authoritymag.co/articles/garrett-adair-the-relentless-self-awareness-that-turned-a-secret-songwriting-dream-into-a-nashvi" publisher: "Authority Magazine" author: "Ming S. Zhao" authorUrl: "https://authoritymag.co/authors/ming-s-zhao" interviewee: "Garrett Adair" category: "Pop Culture" datePublished: "2022-08-16T01:24:22.387Z" dateModified: "2026-11-12T17:07:43.122Z" tags: "Pop Culture" --- # Garrett Adair: The Relentless Self-Awareness That Turned A Secret Songwriting Dream Into A Nashville Reality *Rising Nashville singer-songwriter and entrepreneur Garrett Adair shares how unexpected viral success, humility, and raw self-awareness shaped his journey into full-time music.* > Nashville is the type of town where you can start your day out on the lake and finish ending your night in a disco bar right outside of Broadway dancing to Earth, Wind, and Fire at 3am. --- As*a part of our series about*[Nashville’s rising stars](https://medium.com/authority-magazine/search?q=Meet%20Nashville%27s%20Rising%20Stars)*, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Garrett Adair.* *Nashville’s*[Garrett Adair](https://www.garrettadair.com)*is an entrepreneur who discovered a love of songwriting and performing as a kid. As he built his business in his early 20s, he never gave up the dream of being a songwriter and musician, writing songs in his spare time and sharing them with friends and family.* *In 2022, Garrett’s sister held a long-awaited wedding reception after getting married in 2020. She surprised her brother, and played a demo version of his song “See The World” to dance with her husband.* *A friend recorded Garrett’s reaction and uploaded a few seconds of that video onto TikTok. Five million views later, Garrett’s secret lifelong dream of pursuing music full time looked more viable than ever.* *Watching “See The World” connect with strangers around the world inspired Garrett to select seven couples from his ever-increasing followers for a special in-person performance at their weddings. He’s since performed at strangers’ weddings across the country.* *The full version of “See The World” was released May 20. Produced by Nashville’s Mark Bright (Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban), the song is the first of many collaborations between Mark and Garrett. The two are currently at work on Garrett’s debut EP.* --- **Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?** I grew up in a small town called Fairfield in Northern California. There’s something special about growing up in a smaller town because you are able to really enjoy your childhood and not be stressed out about the rat race that takes place in all the big cities out there. **Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?** I have been writing music since I was 15, but it wasn’t until last year that I decided to really start sharing it with people. I met an independent producer last year (2021) in Nashville and shared one of my songs with him in his studio, and he said “Wow…that’s actually not bad!” That was in March of 2021, and by September I decided to move to Nashville full time to pursue something I had hidden for most of my life. **Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?** One night, I was playing unplugged and talking to an older couple during a break between sets. The gentleman asked if I knew any older songs…some classics. So, I grabbed my guitar and played“Yesterday”by The Beatles. By the time I got to the chorus he was crying while holding onto his wife. I pushed through the song without crying myself, and when I finished, he said I took him right back to the first time he’d heard that song in the 60s. That’s when it hit me: I wanted people to have that type of connection with ALL my songs. **Can you share with us an interesting story about living in Nashville?** Nashville is the type of town where you can start your day out on the lake and finish ending your night in a disco bar right outside of Broadway dancing to Earth, Wind, and Fire at 3am. I know that isn’t what people think when they hear Nashville, but there is a lot more out there than meets the eye. **Can you share with us a few of the best parts of living in Nashville? We’d love to hear some specific examples or stories about that.** I have really enjoyed the people and the culture of the city. Everyone is so friendly and very down to earth and there are so many unique venues and places to hear all types of live music. **Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?** I don’t know if you consider this “first starting” my music career but back in high school when I first started writing music I would record those songs and share them with my girlfriend at the time. I look back on those tracks and am now fully aware that they were so horrible. I guess it was just one of those gifts where you say, “It’s the thought that counts,” because to this day I am surprised that she wanted to keep dating me after I sent her those songs! **None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?** I met a guy named Mark last year here in Nashville, and he completely changed my life and perspective on music. As I am answering these series of questions right now I am a nobody in this industry, and that is just a fact, but also OK because that is where everyone has to start. Mark is special because he has decided to take a chance on me as an artist because he sees my vision and thinks that I can make it if I really put the work in. Even though I have nothing to show for myself yet other than a couple of catchy songs and the willingness to put in the work he has decided to help me through this whole process. **What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?** I just released my first single “See The World” and am releasing a new song every month until the end of the year! Every track is a completely different feel and energy. I want my music to have a wide variety so that anyone can at least find one song that they like! **What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.** I am new to music, but I will try my best. 1. Write, write, write. You only become a better songwriter the more you write. 2. Sing, sing, sing. You only become a better singer if you sing. 3. Perform, perform, perform. You learn what the crowd does and doesn’t like the more you play for them. 4. Stay humble. Don’t ever get to a place where you think you are too good for something or someone. It doesn’t matter if you are in music or selling insurance. Staying humble will get you far. 5. Stay self-aware. Many musicians prop themselves up too much then wonder why people don’t like their music when they start to share it. I was guilty of that, and after awhile, I started to realize that I had some work to do….still do. Stay self-aware of your flaws and always try to improve. **Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?** Try your best to prioritize sleep and alone time. When I start to burn out it’s because I’ve only stopped to breathe. If you keep moving without giving yourself a break, usually your mind burns out before your body. **You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)** Haha, well I wouldn’t say I am a person of enormous influence yet, but if that day comes I hope that my music and story can inspire others to pursue what they are meant to pursue. So many of us are pressured into pursuing things we were told we should pursue even though we might not actually want to. **Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?** Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.” In other words, in expanding our awareness, we just expose our ignorance. The more we come to know, the more we realize we do not know. It doesn’t matter what aspect of life you are improving — you will always know less than what you know, so stay humble. **Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)** Ed Sheeran. I think he has the best come up story of all time. He went from a guy that had the cards stacked against him to becoming the biggest artist of my generation — just amazing. **How can our readers follow you online?** @garrettadair on all socials! And Garrett Adair on all streaming platforms! **This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!** --- Source: https://authoritymag.co/articles/garrett-adair-the-relentless-self-awareness-that-turned-a-secret-songwriting-dream-into-a-nashvi (Authority Magazine, Pop Culture). Interviewee answers are first-person statements of the guest. Index of all pages: https://authoritymag.co/llms.txt