Pete Scobell is a true American hero. Once defending our freedoms as a celebrated Navy SEAL, Scobell is now providing country music fans with musical magic with his debut album, Walking A Wire.
TCN: First off – let’s talk about the tour.
PS: Our Patriot Tour. It’s over. We did that for three years. It was a great experience. I think it was as much for us as it was for the public. It really was like – you kind of had a resurgence, a resurrection of faith in the country. You watch mainstream media and you listen to all the stuff that’s going on and it’s like – and then you go to city after city and every single venue we played at and spoke to, it was this awesome cross section of America. It was like diamonds and duct tape. Didn’t matter how much money you had, didn’t matter what color you were, it was just this amazing cross section of people in every city and it was all the same message: We were Patriots. We love this country. Everybody got together; everyone was nice to each other. If you watch the news you think we all hate each other. They can’t capitalize on this hate. And to me, it reminded me what I fought for. In that sense that was second – third order effective for what we were going for in the first place. We wanted to just deliver this message, but the message that was delivered back to us was – We are a country. We are together. We are a people. None of this stuff really matters. It’s a handful of people that are pushing this on us.
TCN: And you had the CD come out back in September.
PS: I did – September 11th. Walkin A Wire came out. We put it on September 11th – that day changed my life, as it changed everyone’s life. I remember going from training for war to knowing we were going to war. And for me I wanted it on September 11th for no other reason then I wanted to close that chapter of my life, and this is where I’m going from here. We put the album out. We were supposed to finish our first EP then we ended up with 12 new tracks and Cactus and I were like “I guess we got a new album.”
TCN: So for those who may not know about your military history, do you want to elaborate a little bit?
PS: Sure. I enlisted in the Navy when I was 18 years old; went through SEAL training, Class 208. And then I went on to spend four years in the SEAL teams as an enlisted guy. Went to the Naval Academy, graduated and returned to the SEAL teams and did about 10 more years as an officer. I got out after spending some time in the hospital and the next thing you know I ended up in Nashville recording some music and I’m not exactly sure how it all happened.
TCN: You have some big songwriters on this album. Cole Swindell, Dierks Bentley as well.
PS: Dave Lee Murphy, Rodney Clawson. It’s awesome. I think it touches on those guys as well. They’re real. Dierks is a great songwriter, he’s a great performer. He’s not a product of Nashville “proper.” “Riser” that song on his album – that’s the best song on that album. In my opinion I’m like that’s the best song on the album. Travis Meadows and Steve Moakler wrote that song. Steve Moakler also wrote “The Fight” on my album. Travis, I think is one of the best, easiest – the guy is amazing. But that’s that “real” connection and I think that just shows those guys – yeah they could give that song to somebody who’s much, much bigger than me. But we picked the songs and the songs came together on this album because it was real and it meant something and there was depth to it and it was a passion project. I think it turned out – I’m very proud of it.
TCN: For any artist – I mean you’ve done a lot. You’ve performed with Wynonna. You just came off the tour. Got the CD out. Is there anything that you wish someone had told you that you would tell someone else who’s thinking of making the move to Nashville or just getting started here. What advice would you give someone that you wish you had received?
PS: Go out and live your life. Have a story to tell. Have experience to bring to the table that you can write about. You know you can sit with the best songwriters in the world. You can get the best guitar lessons, you can do vocal – You can do all that stuff. There’s two types of artists. There’s artists that write music and play music because it’s coming out of them and they just have to do it. And then there’s people who come here who just want to be famous. I think the trend is leaning towards people who have something to say and that genuine – if you become successful doing this, it’s your stuff for the rest of your life. So you’re going to sing it when you’re 70 so you better make sure that it was something you wanted to sing in the first place. Nashville is hungry, I think, for that 20-something that has the talent that can come in and play the part and listen to everybody and check all the boxes. But when you’re 70 years old – were you true to yourself? Because if you’re going to be an artist, it’s not the sprint it’s the long haul and it’s gotta be something that comes from the heart. So go live your life. Fail. Love. Go to war, do whatever it is that you think you want to do and never leave that artistry behind. Take it with you. And then when the time is right then come and knock on the door. Because if you’re not who you think you are as a human being, if you are not secure in who you are this place will either tear you apart or turn you into something that is so far from where you think you should be that it’s going to tear you apart. We’re all chasing after the same answers in life and you just get them at different verticals, you learn them at different times and different places. War jams so much life into such a short period of time and it forces you to sort through it. And you have these lessons and how do you show people, how do you show your worth with all this life experience in such a short period of time without being a little bit vulnerable and I think that you connect with more people.
For more information on Pete Scobell, visit his official website.