Adam Sanders

Adam Sanders (born May 25, 1988) is an American singer and songwriter. Sanders has released several singles, an EP, and two full-length albums as an independent artist. He has over 100 million total streams and charted at No. 33 on Billboard's Country Albums chart with his self-titled, debut EP. Sanders is a co-writer of the number one hits: Ain't Worth the Whiskey (for Cole Swindell) and Hell of a Night (for Dustin Lynch).^[1][2][3][4]

Adam Sanders grew up in Lake City, Florida, where he was raised on hunting and fishing. He began singing when he was three years old. His uncle, steel guitar and dobro player Scotty Sanders, encouraged him to write songs. His father taught him three guitar chords at age ten and helped him write his first song at age twelve. He continued to write songs and play in local fairs, talent shows, and town festivals throughout his high school years.^[5][6]

In 2009, at age twenty-one, he moved to Nashville. At first, he worked construction with his father. In 2011, he signed a publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog Music. Within six months, Luke Bryan cut Sanders's song, "Out Like That". Sanders's friend and one of the first people that he met when moved to Nashville, Cole Swindell, played the song for Bryan. He liked it and chose it for his 2013 album, Crash My Party.^[7]

Swindell later recorded "Ain't Worth the Whiskey", a song that Swindell, Sanders, and Josh Martin wrote. The songwriters joked that the song belonged to the first from the group to get a record deal.^[8] "Ain't Worth the Whiskey" became Sanders's first number one as a songwriter and Swindell's third consecutive number one as an artist.^[9] By 2015, Dustin Lynch had also made a number one hit of a Sanders co-write, "Hell of a Night".^[10]

Sanders began his artist journey by testing the market with singles.^[11] His first single, "Nothin’ To Do But Drink", premiered on SiriusXM's The Highway in June 2014.^[12] "Somewhere That You Don’t Go", followed on the channel and saw success by being named a "Highway Find".^[13] The video for his third single, "Thunder" drew attention from Rolling Stone, who called it "emotionally-charged, ominous" and "intense". Sanders toured extensively in 2015 with Cole Swindell.^[1]

Sanders continued to release singles in 2016. The video for "About To" drew from horror film inspiration and spent time in rotation on CMT.^[14][15] The song and video received critical acclaim from CMT, Taste of Country, and The Boot.^[16] The single "I've Been Meaning To Call" was inspired by his relationship with his mom.^[17] He toured with Cam on her Burning House Tour.^[13]

Sanders released two singles, "Thankful For" and "Over Did It", ahead of his May 2018 self-titled debut EP.^[18] The EP charted at No. 33 on Billboard’s Country Albums.^[4] The video for "Over Did It" rotated on CMT music.^[19]

In February 2020, Sanders released a feel good song, called "Ruled The World", which Billboard called an "infectious tune". The song was a collaboration on multiple levels. It was written by Sanders, Hunter Phelps, and Chris LaCorte. Singer-songwriters Hunter Phelps, Ray Fulcher, Cash Campbell, Faren Rachels, Josh Mirenda, Mitch Rossell, and Drew Parker join Sanders in providing vocals for the song. Tracy Lawrence, Aaron Tippin, and Shenandoah’s Marty Raybon and Mike McGuire joined for the video.^[20]

Sanders showcases his talents at singing the songs that he wrote in his January 2021 album, Adam Sanders (Live). The album includes Sanders's version of the number one hits that he wrote: Cole Swindell's, Ain't Worth the Whiskey and Dustin Lynch's, Hell of a Night. The album is Sanders's way of bringing live music to his fans that couldn't experience live shows during the pandemic.^[2]

In May 2021, Sanders released What If I’m Right, his first full-length studio album. What If I'm Right features the single, "Daddy, Jesus and Earnhardt". The song is a tribute to NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt. Sanders told People Magazine that he and his father were watching as Earnhardt crashed and that "losing him had a major impact for me". People wrote that the song "could go and make Sanders a country music superstar".^[21] The title track "What If I'm Right", caught Rolling Stone's attention, as they wrote that it's "a meaty production of big drums and bigger guitars, with an emphasis on how it’ll play on radio and for the seats at the back of the arena, delivered in a confident tenor".^[22]

• Adam Sanders's website