Fresh off an ACM Nomination for Best New Duo or Group, Neon Union [consisting of Andrew Millsaps and Leo Brooks] seems to be perfect examples of “overnight” success. However, after years of working in the industry [Millsaps as a solo artist and songwriter and Brooks in an entirely different genre, collaborating with acts like Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez], these two were introduced and an eclectic musical comeraderie was formed. We’re chatting with Andrew Millsaps about what took him to Nashville, which music currently moves him, what it’s like working with Jay DeMarcus and more.
The Long Road To Overnight Success
EPR: I saw you in concert in like 2017, 2018 I think it was. I think you were opening for Tim Elliott. How long were you performing solo before you formed Neon Union?
Andrew: So I started playing guitar and kind of messing around with the acoustic guitar in about eighth or ninth grade. And before that, I was kind of trying to learn how to play. I used to take lessons for about, I don’t know, I probably took a total of 10 lessons over a summer when I was in about sixth grade. I was kind of learning how to play some AC/DC and stuff like that – some rock and roll. And then when I got in middle school and the start of high school, it kind of became like, hey, if I have an acoustic guitar at a bonfire or something like that, I can kind of be the life of the party. So throughout high school, I always just did it for fun. You know, it was something where I pick up the guitar and do cover songs.
But really my love for writing music started at an earlier age. So as soon as I learned how to play chords, it was like, “Hey, instead of learning other people’s songs, it’d be way more fun to create my own.” So throughout high school I was writing songs, beginner level songs, I would call them – about me and my friends at the river, bonfires and all that stuff, and I would take the guitar down to the bonfire and say, “Hey, check this song out.” And I played [them] for everybody. It kind of sparked my interest even more when all my friends like, “Man! That’s really good!” And they were like, “Keep doing it!”
Then when I got to college, I realized that I could quit bussing tables. I went into one of the little bars there called East Village Grill at NC State and I talked to the owner. I was like, “Y’all ever do live music here?” He said, “Well, we used to a long time ago, but we don’t anymore.” And I said, “Well, hey, give me a shot on a Saturday night. Let me see if I can get some people in here and then we’ll see how he goes.” So he said, “Alright, I’ll pay a couple hundred dollars, give you free drinks and food and we’ll try it one Saturday night and see how it goes.” So I got all my friends and they told everybody and we got enough people in there that he was like, “Alright, I’m gonna let you do this every other Saturday night, as long as you’re in school here.” So for a year, year and a half, maybe even two years, every other Saturday night I played at East Village Grill on NC State’s campus. And that was kind of how I started realizing “Hey, I can make some money doing this.” And then that led into me playing breweries and wineries and stuff back home in Pilot Mountain, Mount Airy and Winston Salem. It just kind of opened my eyes to the fact that I [could] actually do this and not have to have some kind of side job in college to make my money.
And then from there, I started really digging more into the songwriting. And I did go to four colleges in five years. So, I went to Belmont in Nashville for a year and I just kind of decided it wasn’t really for me. At that point in time I wasn’t really doing a whole lot with the music. I wasn’t really playing out in front of people or anything. So I kind of felt like I just wasted a year of out of state college. And I would have a music business degree that I probably wouldn’t have used anyway.
So then I formed a band. Well you saw me with the Tim Elliott thing, that was Johnny and June’s. I had a friend who had played there a time or two and they actually let me open for Tracy Lawrence there one time as well. That was when I really started feeling like, “Wow, this is awesome! I really think I can do this!” I really think the number one factor that got me to say, “Hey, I can really write a song and I should probably move back out to Nashville,” was – me and my dad would go to Merlefest every year. I always applied for the songwriting competition and kind of thought, every time I turned a song into it, it’s a long shot. You know, there’s probably 1000s of people trying to do this.
On Winning The Chris Austin Songwriting Competition At Merlefest & Meeting Leo Brooks
EPR: But you ended up winning one year, right?
Andrew: I did. Yep. I will never forget – I was measuring a floor. I used to sell floors for my dad and I did that in Nashville when I first got there. They called me and said, “Hey, guess what? You’re a finalist in the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition.” So I got to call my dad and was like, “Hey, guess what? I’m a finalist this year and we’re gonna get to play.” And we already had our tickets. We already bought tickets. So, if you win the competition then you get to play full band and stuff and I did end up winning it with a song called, “Ain’t No Genie In A Bottle Of Jack.”
EPR: So is there any chance you guys might release that song?
Andrew: You know, I’m not sure. To me the song definitely still has some life. I released it as a solo act. I actually released a seven song project back in the beginning of 2020. And that was actually what prompted me to move to Nashville. Right when I released my solo project, I had formed a band by then and we were starting to get, I don’t know if I would call it popular, but we could get 300 people in the door at a brewery on any Saturday night. And whenever I released that project, we had a release party and we were going to do a big show. And that was the weekend that COVID hit. And the venue had called me and said, “Hey, you know if you’re gonna have this release party, we can only let 100 people in the door.” And I just kind of said, “Well, that’s not fair to the fan base that we’ve built up because pretty much every time we played we’d have like 300 people there. And it’s hard to pick and choose who you’re going to let in for an album release.” So, I wound up just canceling the album release. I went ahead and released the album and it did pretty good. All my friends were excited, family and people around the hometown, and that song was on there, “Ain’t No Genie In A Bottle Of Jack.” And that was after winning Merlefest and COVID hitting and it kind of shut down the world with my band. I decided “Hey, you know, Nashville hasn’t shut down as far as songwriters go. Not many people are touring right now but Nashville has not shut down. People are still out there getting publishing deals and writing songs and stuff,” and so I made the decision to move out.
I really was gonna try to be a songwriter. And I started kind of working my way into some of the writers’ rounds at The Local, a little spot that’s still there, into a little round they host called “Porchlight Pickers.” And Whiskey Jam is such a big thing in Nashville, but during COVID it had to scale back a little bit. They were doing a lot of acoustic shows. Through a friend of a friend, I got the chance to play Whiskey Jam. And after a couple of those things, there were two guys that kind of found me and then they had found Leo. They’re no longer representing us as management but that’s kind of how it all started.
And we hit it off right away and I think Leo was playing bass for Pitbull at the time. And he had done a bunch of stuff in the hip hop and pop world but his love for country music was really where he wanted to be. He wanted to be a country artist. So that opportunity arose and here we are today. We’re Neon Union. And it’s been a three year ride on that and we are having a blast every day. We both felt like it was an opportunity to do something bigger than just ourselves. I loved being a solo artist and I think Leo would have loved it, too. But at the end of the day, it’s a lot easier to have a buddy with you everywhere you go. And we get to create together and it feels like a big opportunity.
EPR: And also the pressure isn’t only just on one person that way.
Andrew: Exactly. I’ve said it many times. It’s not easy at all. I used to think it was gonna be easy. But after you get your shot and you say, “All right, here we go,” that’s when the work – that’s when the work really starts. All the planes and trains – when they say planes and trains and automobiles, they’re not lying. I have taken all three of those in one day before. On a radio tour, I think we took, I would guess within a year, we took somewhere around 150 flights or something like that. But having another person there with you through all that makes it a lot easier. If you’re stuck in an airport overnight by yourself that’s gonna be pretty rough, but if you got your friend with you, you’re good to go.
EPR: It’s great that you guys were able to hit it off because people pairing you up thinking that you will mesh musically isn’t the same as meshing on a personal level, you know?
Andrew: Exactly. And that was kind of a funny thing. Me and Leo had talked on the phone. We knew we had this opportunity and we both kind of said even beforehand, “Let’s get together. Let’s see how it’s gonna work. If it doesn’t work, we won’t do it.” The day after we shook hands, they sent us in the studio. It was something magical. It was like our voices mesh so well together. I mean everybody in the studio was getting cold chills and just like, “Wow, what’s going on here?” Two totally different voices, two totally different guys from totally different places. And we still hear it today. People say, “Y’all sound like you’re family with your harmonies and stuff.” So it matched up. It was kind of just amazing to know that it was somebody who was almost just like that, on a more personal level as well, not just the music.
On Working With Jay Demarcus & The Benefits Of A Smaller Label
EPR: And fast forward and now you guys are on Red Street Records. Which, for whoever might not know, that’s Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts…
Andrew: We were very fortunate to – I had met Jay at Top Golf actually with another friend of mine who was a Cincinnati Bengals football player. And Jay’s a big Cincinnati fan. I had just moved to town and that’s kind of a whole nother story. But he had introduced me to Jay because they were friends and I had sent some songs to Jay and he was like, “Hey, man, you’re doing great. Just keep working at it.” And then fast forward, I guess almost a whole year, year and a half from the time I met him. Leo and I had really been working on what we were doing and somehow through a friend of a friend Jay had heard of us. And we got a call after a songwriting session one day and Jay said, “Hey, I want you guys to drive by the label and play me some songs,” and we were like “Okay, when?” And he was like, “Right now.”
EPR: No pressure.
Andrew: Exactly! So, Leo actually had to cancel a flight to make that happen. We went by and played three or four songs and he was like, “I’ll have you guys a record deal tomorrow.” So that was just a blessing. We woke up to write a song and wound up with a record deal that day. Speaking on that, it’s actually incredible to have someone who is an artist running your record label because they understand. In this business, you know there’s a lot of, with the bigger labels, not saying there’s anything bad about them, but it’s a different route, right? They’re corporate and you can kind of get lost in the mix. Having a smaller label and an artist that’s been through it is definitely good for us. It works for us.
EPR: I think that’s why a lot of the musicians who have created their own labels, like especially Toby Keith – they just got sick of some of the more corporate side of the record label industry.
Andrew: It allows a lot more freedom and decision making for us. And the label still obviously has their opinions. And they advise and things like that, but it’s definitely a little bit more artist friendly. The bigger labels, I don’t know how they operate because I haven’t been there but from what I’ve heard, it might be hard to even – like we can walk right in Jay’s office and sit down and say, “What’s up, man, we gotta talk.” I don’t think it’s quite like that in a lot of places. But it’s worked well for us.
On Being Nominated For ACM New Duo or Group of the Year
EPR: And you guys were also nominated for ACM New Duo or Group of the Year. How did that feel? Because I think a lot of people are like, “Oh, this is so fast, you’re an overnight sensation,” but really you guys have been working at this for years.
Andrew: We couldn’t believe it honestly. We were like, “Did somebody make a mistake?” The ACMs are awesome. We’ve gotten to know some of the folks there at the office and in different scenarios. We’ve had to do interviews with them and things like that because, as you said, it feels like an overnight thing. But it’s industry voted and over the last three years that we’ve been a duo, we have felt that rise of people in the industry knowing who we are, because we’re working in Nashville nonstop. We’re writing songs with everybody, we’re interviewing with all the radio people all over the country. We’re making friends along the way. And that’s what it really boils down to with the ACMs, just people in the industry have to respect you and like you, and you’re probably going to need to play in Nashville more than anywhere, because it’s the people in the industry that are pretty much making those votes. And so that was really cool to see for that [to] solidify, that the industry was like, “Okay, we believe in these guys. They’re gonna do something one day.” And so we were a little disappointed not to be able to pull it off this year and win it but just to be nominated was like the biggest honor we could ask for. And when we found that out, we were just ecstatic. We couldn’t believe it.
EPR: And you know, that doesn’t mean you won’t win something further down the road, too.
Andrew: Yeah. Because a lot of people knew in the industry that we were kind of like a Brooks and Dunn story, you know, we were introduced and kind of put together. But in our scenario, I really wouldn’t even call it “put together,” because that sounds kind of fabricated and you know, both of us had agreed if it wasn’t going to work, it wasn’t going to work. We were lucky enough that when they put us together it was something special and we get along. We love each other. There’s never been an argument between Leo and I. It’s just like, “Hey, man, let’s go make great music. Let’s have a good time and let’s go play.” But we are big fans of the ACMs and we’re honored that everyone in the industry believes in us at this point. Through social media and stuff, we often come across as funny and silly and we are, but at the end of the day, we really want people to take our music serious as well, because we’re creators and we’re artists just like everybody else. Sometimes I guess with all the TikTok and social media stuff, you can get – those guys are just funny. But that’s kind of a next chapter of our career, that we want to bring to people, “Hey, come see a live show. Come see what we’re all about and hear the music for yourself live.” The next project we’re working on right now – we’ve got a lot of really cool stuff that we’ve created and we’re excited about that.
EPR: If someone isn’t familiar with you guys, when they read this interview, and they want kind of like a crash course in Neon Union, what would you say would be the two or three songs that best represent what you guys represent musically?
Andrew: I would say to go start to hear our fun, rocking side, go start with a song called, “Redneck Rich,” that we wrote. Then I would say move from there to see a completely different side of us, and go listen to “American Dirt.” And they’re both on the same EP called “Double Wide Castle Sessions.” And I guess for a third one, I would say, to see a little bit more of our crazy side again, I would probably listen to, “How You Don’t.”
EPR: Well, you said that most of your social media represents you guys as funny so why not go for some funny music, right?
Andrew: Yeah, the song, “How You Don’t,” is pretty funny. We’ve got a pretty funny song coming out actually, June 21. It’s a song called, “Made in Mexico,” and we’re really excited about it. I know you mentioned Toby Keith earlier and we’ve always been big fans, but we wrote this song made in Mexico with Bobby Pinson. He’s a huge songwriter in Nashville who has written many songs for Toby Keith. And it’s kind of funny on this song, we came in the room like, “Hey Bobby, we’ve got this song idea called ‘Made in Mexico’.” He said, “I can’t write that. I wrote ‘Made In America’ for Toby Keith.” Well, we talked him into it. We were like “Man, maybe you can have a hit off both of them.” So we’re excited about that one. It’s gonna be a fun summertime song. It comes out the first day of summer.
Who Does Andrew Millsaps Listen To?
EPR: “Made In America.” “Made In Mexico.” Perhaps he could have a worldwide tour. As far as like other artists go, who are you listening to right now?
Andrew: One of my favorites right now who is just making a big come up is Stephen Wilson Jr. He’s on Big Loud Records and I just love his stuff. Other than that, I listen to a lot of old music. I still listen to a lot of Avett Brothers and Alan Jackson. I just kind of dive in and I feel like older country is making a comeback right now. And if you can blend kind of the modern stuff with the old stuff, it helps. And so, really when it comes to listening to country music, I listen creatively. I don’t know if anybody ever quite put it that way. But it’s kind of a blessing and a curse. But when I listen to it, I’m also halfway creating in my head pretty much every time and learning from it.
EPR: I had seen in another interview with you that you hadn’t gotten to see George Strait yet. Have you been able to make that happen yet?
Andrew: I’ve seen him twice now. I actually just saw him on Saturday for the second time.
EPR: Awesome! You had also brought up Alan Jackson. He’s going to be doing his farewell tour later this year. I don’t know if you’ve gotten to see him yet, but do you think you’ll be able to make it to one of his shows?
Andrew: I think so. I did see him one time in college. But my dad and I actually, this weekend, were just talking and I told him that Alan Jackson was going back on tour. We looked at the cities. I don’t think he’s coming to Nashville but we are for sure gonna try to buy tickets somewhere even if we have to catch a flight somewhere.
EPR: Another flight to add to the 150, right?
Andrew: That’s right! I’ve gotten used to that at this point. We call our band Neon Union and the Southwest Bandits.
Editorial Note: CMA Fest has passed by publication of this article. It was this previous weekend.
EPR: And you guys will be at CMA Fest this year. Correct?
Andrew: We will. Yeah, we’re playing at about 11 or 12, I think, on Friday at a place called Underground. And then we play on Sunday at the Reverb Stage outside of Bridgestone at 1:30. And then we play the Tin Roof Demonbreun, Red Street Records is doing a takeover. So it’ll be us, Ryan Griffin, Ryan Larkins and Chris Lane. And we’re doing that at 3:00.
We keep telling people to be patient with our music because we’ve been working really hard on a big project. I mean, a lot of our fans and folks that listen to us are just ready for more music and there’s a lot coming. We’re super excited about this next round of music. We love all the music we’ve done but we’re 10 times as excited about the stuff that we’re getting ready to start putting out. And, I’ll leave it with, come to a live show, because that seems to brighten people’s day. It’s a big party with us. We like to have a lot of fun and we’re a lot of fun on stage. So we always just say come to a live show and check it out.
