James Robert Webb is not your typical Nashville recording artist. He is literally “doctor by day, musician by night!” The Oklahoma native maintains a thriving medical practice all while singing, playing guitar, and releasing songs that are beginning to appear on the country radio charts.
Having been raised on a ten-acre farm in a small town just outside Tulsa, OK, Webb has strong values that run deep to his core. He is the true definition of an American “country-boy;” filled with spirit, class, and wit well beyond his forty-five years. Classic artists like Garth Brooks, Ronnie Dunn, and Toby Keith are just a few of his favorites that he grew up listening to. Though he went on to complete medical school and became a physician, Webb never lost his true love of music. After building a strong fan-base, Webb dropped his much-anticipated album, ‘Honky Tony Revival,’ back in May 2017. Just a couple months ago he released his newest single, ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere,’ produced by the renowned Buddy Cannon. We were thrilled when Webb took some time out of his very busy schedule to chat with New England Country Music about his life, his latest song, and his music career.
James Robert Webb described his childhood on the farm as “pretty magical.” He lived a sort of “back-to-basics” type of life. Webb told New England Country Music: “We lived at the end of a gravel road, a small family ranch, a ten-acre farm. My dad raised cows, pigs, and horses. I grew up being involved in 4H which I think was great. I was definitely involved in the animal husbandry.” He went on to say: “We’re so out of touch with that today. We get everything we want from a grocery store or it comes in a box from Amazon. That’s why I think the move back to locally grown and locally sourced or farm to table is so popular.” We learned that Webb pursued music from the early age of four, by watching his mom play the piano and listening to the radio. “I would listen to stuff my mom had like Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ and Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.’ My mom was the rock influence. My dad was only country.”
We were introduced to James Robert Webb when he released his first album, ‘Honky Tonk Revival.’ One particular song on this eleven-track record touched Webb in such a way that he decided to donate all the proceeds from ‘American Beauty’ to The Soldier’s Wish Foundation, a soldier’s charity based in Tuksa, OK. Webb told us: “Military, and service to community in general has always been a huge thing in my family. My great grandfather was a sheriff and my grandfathers were in these World Wars and Korea and my dad was in during the Vietnam era. I’ve got cousins and uncles that are on Oklahoma Highway Patrol. If I have one regret in life, it’s that I was never in the military. So, I’ve always been supportive of that. ‘American Beauty’ “made it somewhere in the top fifty on the billboard charts and being an independent artist, I was pretty excited about that.”
A little over a year after releasing ‘Honky Tonk Revival,’ Webb has brought us a new single, ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere.’ It was written by Wynn Varble, Taylor Dunn, and Shawn Camp over twenty years ago, “back in the hay day of 90’s country.” When Webb first heard ‘Now We’re Getting’ somewhere he said: “My ears just perked up and just fell in love with the song.” “First off it comes out with that big fiddle riff which is kinda the antithesis of country today.” He went on to describe the meaning of the song: “I think the story really spoke to me the most because I think everyone has been on that date. You ask a girl out, she says yes and you go pick her up and its silence in the car. It’s all nervous tension and awkwardness. There’s that line in the song: ‘We’ve been riding around for hours, been through town about a dozen times.’ Being on that date and you’re like ‘what do you want to do?’ and she’s like ‘I don’t know, I don’t care.’ And then there’s that magic moment where somebody gives a little bit and then it’s BAM! Now we’re getting somewhere! The whole atmosphere changes. Suddenly the emotions are there. I knew there was a spark!” ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere’ was produced by the renowned Buddy Cannon. Webb described Cannon as “an a-list guy, the kind of person you dream of working with when you come to town.” “When you have this dream of doing something great in music, your ultimate goal is to work with somebody that has worked with superstars, that has worked with artists and has helped them become who they are.”
A few weeks after ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere’ was released, on October 12th 2018, Webb’s hometown of Kellyville, OK changed its name to “Somewhere, OK” to celebrate! Webb thought back to that day and said: “How amazing was that? It just goes back to show that the people I grew up with, we’ve got our good eggs and our bad eggs, but for the most part people in small towns, it’s hard to beat em. There’s that loyalty there and everyone’s rooting for the hometown boy to do well. That was really an honor for me to have them do that.”
Back in early November, Webb recorded the video for ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere’ at the legendary Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa. Webb mentioned: “It was freezing! But I think of all the video shoots I’ve been on, that was the most interesting. I haven’t seen anything yet, but I’m really excited for how it’s gonna turn out.”
James Robert Webb has been so busy promoting the new single, it’s hard to believe that he’s holding down a prominent career as a physician. We asked Webb how he manages to balance a career as a doctor with a career as a musician. He said: “It’s challenging, but any way you find success you have to have your principles and guideposts and stick with them.” “I have found a niche as a doctor where there’s very few people who do what I do. We do a lot of things that are on the frontier.” “Music pretty much consumes all of my free time. And it’s something that I enjoy.” He went on to say: “There’s that thought of a musician carrying a $5,000.00 piece of equipment in a $500.00 car, travelling 500 miles for a $50.00 show. It is a grind in some aspect, but I think it’s important in life to realize that some of those things that you can easily view as drudgery are part of a path that you get to walk. Looking back, medical school was an absolute nightmare, but it was also an important part of me becoming who I am as a physician.”
Webb is currently splitting his time between Bixby, OK and Nashville, TN. This means lots of time spent in an airplane! Though when in Nashville, Webb really likes to go out and listen to other songwriters. “I love to go watch up and coming or newbie songwriters and see what other people are doing. Sometimes you hear a really cool song and that may lead you to ask the person to write with them and you never know where that’s gonna go. There’s just so much talent in Nashville.”
Webb has so much gratitude towards his fans. He said “I think no matter your success level, no matter how big you get you can always think back to when you wished there was one person listening to your song. I like to keep myself in that mindset so that I’m always out there trying to crush it. I’ve been really lucky to have a lot of really enthusiastic fans from the beginning. Thank you for listening. Talk to me on social media. Send me a message!” Reflecting, he said: “This has been such a strange and unlikely journey for me. I can remember being in college and somebody telling me (I was playing guitar in a side band) “you should go to LA or you should go to Nashville or something!” I look back at that moment and think that was the path that I chose, but maybe that was the safe route. If it’s in your blood, you can never get away from it.”
James Robert Webb has some exciting projects coming up in 2019. He told us: “More shows and more music is my plan!” Webb is currently working on another full-length album. “Buddy’s producing it and there are some really great songs on it that I am super excited about.” Along with the new album, Webb is going to be starring in a thirteen-episode television series. It will revolve around his “1970 Silver Eagle, Willie Nelson-kinda bus.” He said “I’ll be going around and getting stories from different veterans across the country. I think documenting a spoken word/history would be really cool to do. I’m really looking forward to that.” He also mentioned CMA Fest! “If ‘Now We’re Getting Somewhere’ keeps climbing up, maybe I’ll be playing on the big stage!”
It was such a pleasure to catch up with James Robert Webb. Though he doesn’t have any New England tour dates set, we’re hoping to see him up in our neck of the woods soon! Be sure to keep an eye on his social media pages for his show schedule, upcoming album, and exciting news about his upcoming television series.
You can connect with James Robert Webb by visiting his website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.
Definitely download his latest single ‘Now We’re Gettin’ Somewhere’ on iTunes here.