New Music from "The Voice" Season 7 Winner, Craig Wayne Boyd

Let It Ride Let It Roll is the latest single from country singer Craig Wayne Boyd, who is the Season 7 winner of NBC's The Voice (2014). With a catchy chorus lyric that says, “Pay no mind to the swerves and curves and all I can’t control,” the banjo-driven track serves as an anthem for navigating the ups and downs of life with a positive outlook – something Craig Wayne Boyd learned first-hand.

“There were a lot of things in life that I was trying to just let go of, and I realized I needed to move on and focus on the positive things. This song was my therapy. It was my way of saying ‘it is what it is, let it ride let it roll.’”

Craig had the idea for the song, but it didn’t come together until one day when he was at his friend Tom Perkins’ farm, along with his lead guitar player Leland Rooney.  In an interview with 615 Notes before his recent show near Nashville, Craig said the conversation with his friends turned philosophical as they discussed life — including the aftermath of covid and breaking up with his former band.  “We were sitting there just shootin’ it… and an hour later we had the song done.”

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Since the release of Let It Ride Let It Roll, Craig has been spending time on the road performing live shows and promoting the single to country radio stations, mostly in his home state of Texas. He grew up in a suburb of Dallas and started playing mandolin at the age of four. Craig’s dad played banjo. “He’d have friends come over jamming with him and I always wanted to be in the mix.” By the time Craig was six years old, he was already singing harmonies at church. Soon after, he learned to play bass guitar and piano.

Craig loved playing any instrument he could get his hands on, and says it was never his goal to be a singer. That changed in his teens when he started playing in various bands, including rock and country. “As soon as I opened my mouth, I realized I was a country singer because I had all the twang going on.” He moved to Nashville in his early twenties — playing bass guitar and singing background vocals. A publishing executive with BMG, Ron Stuve, asked Craig to sing some demos. “That got me my start in Nashville.”

The saying goes that Nashville is a ten-year town. During that time, Craig was signed to a couple record deals and his career in music looked promising. “I was out on a radio tour, and came back in town and found out the label was shutting down… I had no clue.” His song was charting in the top 50 when he got that devastating news, which caused him to reevaluate everything.

And then – out of the blue—Craig received an email inviting him to audition for The Voice. At first, he thought the email was a prank. But when he realized the offer was legitimate, he set his mind to taking the opportunity seriously. “If I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna go out there (to LA) and put myself in a position to learn. I knew I had to put all the jadedness behind me.”

For the next ten months, millions of Americans welcomed Craig into their homes each week as he competed on The Voice as part of Blake Shelton’s team. When he was announced as the winner of Season 7 on December 16, 2014, it was life-changing.  “It was like pouring rocket fuel on a career…from being basically unheard of to everyone knows your name because you spent so much time in their living rooms.”

Being on The Voice was also a turning point in a way that Craig hadn’t predicted. He confesses that even though he grew up in the church (and served as a Music Director in his teens), he ended up walking away from religion.  But then he had an epiphany while doing The Voice. “There was a lightbulb that just came above my head and said, ‘You know that you’re not the one in charge of all this, right?’” That is when he chose to sing The Old Rugged Cross in the semi-finals.

Craig adds, “That was me, in my personal view, giving honor where honor was due. Because without Him, I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.”

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Craig is currently writing and recording new music, with plans to release his sixth album later in 2024.  He gave us a hint of what fans can expect. 

“I’ve always looked at albums like a snapshot of where you’re at in life.  I’ve had my honky-tonk albums, which is really my heart. This album is a little more focused on the love and all the things that I’ve experienced. Last time I wrote for an album I had one kid and was just recently married. Now I have five kids and the longevity of a relationship, and so I dove into that a lot.”

For Craig Wayne Boyd’s tour schedule and more info, go CWB website

FUN FACTS & TRIVIA

• Craig has played the Grand Ole Opry more than 25 times

• Craig and his wife Taylor have 5 kids

• Son Jaxon (11) is self-taught on keys and has performed at the Ryman, Tin Roof, and The Stage in Nashville.
  

Craig and his band performed at the historic Temple Theatre in Portland, TN on March 2, 2024 (Photos by Laurel Moore)

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