Like so many duos in country music, Love and Theft were originally two solo artists who just happened to meet in the Music City. However, the meeting of Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson was not a random meeting but instead orchestrated through a mutual friend and current country artist, Canaan Smith. Both Stephen and Eric were working with Canaan on separate projects but when Stephen and Canaan had a show at the Belmont Curb Café together, it was the point of no return as it was the day that these two talented musicians met. Stephen goes on to say, “Then we were brought back together through some producers later on and Eric and I wrote a song called ‘Drowning’ that was on our first album. Did a little demo upstairs in Eric’s studio, acoustic driven, Eric sang lead, I sang harmony. We listened back and said, ‘man, this sounds really good.’ We were both born the same year. We both have similar influences like The Eagles, and Elvis and Crosby Stills & Nash, and Jackson Brown, and Three Dog Night. So we have a lot of classic influences because we both grew up singing harmonies so it was very natural from the beginning.”
Just a few years later, they would sign a record deal with RCA Nashville and would have great success with Platinum-certified single ‘Angel Eyes.’ As the duo was writing and recording songs for the third studio album, and their first since 2012, they were informed that their record label had decided to part ways with them. And as Stephen tells us, they did not want to go out and shop around for a deal as they really wanted to get new music out to their fans, as it had been a couple years. So they took some of the songs that they had already recorded for the album and coupled them with more songs that they wrote and got together with producer, Josh Leo, to create an album that they had complete creativity over. With a budget from Sony Red, they got to work and created what we know today as their most recent album, ‘Whiskey On My Breath.’ With a glimmer in their eyes, it is pretty obvious that Eric and Stephen are both so proud of this project as they say that they are definitely more proud of this than anything else.
When listening to the record, there is something that distinguishes ‘Whiskey On My Breath’ from other records today- it is recorded completely with acoustic guitar and no electric guitars. Stephen explains, “As things progressed and we started adding other elements we decided to let it breathe and let it showcase why we’re here and why we got here in the first places. And that’s because of our vocals and our harmonies. We just thought it would be cool to do it this way. It happened naturally and organically this way. We didn’t plan it.” On the album, their favorite song is ‘Everybody Drives Drunk,’ and when they decided to name the album ‘Whiskey On My Breath,’ they really battled it for awhile as they did not want parents to not want their children to buy the album, as the title track is not about partying or drinking but described as a progression of their sound in a mature manner. While on the road, the fan reaction to the new music has been ‘awesome,’ as Stephen says. “I was just talking to some girls out there that have been following us from the beginning an they were saying this is their favorite album, hands down, that we’ve ever made. Which is cool because the other two albums we’re proud of those too. You always want to make the new album so you like it better. A lot of the time you’re going to like it better because that’s where you are. If you’re happy with where are you in life and you’re making music that is where you are, then obviously you’re going to like it better. But for a fan to like it better, that’s what it is all about. And I feel like that has been the reaction across the board.”
And although the duo had such amazing success with ‘Angel Eyes,’ they do believe that the title track of the album could live up to ‘Angel Eyes’ because of it’s profound meaning. Stephen tells us, “I do believe that ‘Whiskey On My Breath’ is a song that in twenty years, will still be around. ‘Angel Eyes’ is too. But ‘Whiskey on My Breath’ is deeper. We’ve had people come up to us and tell us that their brother quit drinking because of the song. And that’s what it’s all about. And that’s one of the reasons why we love ‘Everybody Drives Drunk,’ because it’s an impact song. It hits at the heart, it hits in a deep place.”
And on a night that Love and Theft was playing Toby Keith’s in Foxboro and Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den the following night, the duo made it clear that they love to play the small venues just as much as they enjoy playing the bigger one. Eric says, “Absolutely. It’s a lot of fun, it’s more intimate. Fans and right up in your face. Obviously playing big venues is awesome. But for where we’re at in our career, this is perfect for us.” Stephen further explained, “A lot of the big venues, it’s not really our show. We’re with a lot of other artists. But these people are here to see us, to see a Love and Theft show which makes us appreciate it more. It’s not us and Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum. We know they are here for us.”
So while Love and Theft may not have the big record label behind them and may not be playing huge stadiums and amphitheaters, they are in a place they have never been in their careers. Speaking with Stephen and Eric, it was undeniable that they are both extremely happy and proud of what they have accomplished with this new album. In a way, they have a fresh start. They can make the music that they want to make, the music that they believe in. And that is just what they did with ‘Whiskey On My Breath.’
You can purchase Love and Theft’s album, Whiskey On My Breath,’ on iTunes here.
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