Music

Singer-songwriter Vincent Mason has caught fans’ attention in a major way thanks to his vulnerable, emotive takes on love and heartbreak, such as his somber, acoustic-guitar driven 2024 hit “Hell Is a Dance Floor,” which has earned 98.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams through April 10, according to Luminate. The song, on which Mason is a co-writer, was recently named publisher pick of the year at the recent AIMP Nashville Awards.

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Signed with Interscope/UMG Nashville/Music Soup, Mason recently made his first push to country radio with “Wish You Well,” a rare outside cut for the singer-songwriter. “Wish You Well” was written by Blake Pendergrass, Jessie Jo Dillon, Chris LaCorte and Geoff Warburton.

“I’ve never recorded an outside song before, just because there was always one line that didn’t feel like me. There’s a lot more stuff I’ve written that I think we’ll send to radio, but this just turned out so good and I loved it from first listen,” Mason tells Billboard. “It lands on the hook great and I loved the back half of the melody, when it goes into the [lyrics] ‘My heart hit rock bottom shelf, we didn’t last like a last call bell.’ When that melody went into that b-section, I was hooked on the song.”

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Over the past year, Mason has swiftly amassed milestones, issuing the six-song EP Can’t Just Be Me, opening shows for Riley Green and collaborating with Gavin Adcock on the song “Almost Gone.” In September, he made his Grand Ole Opry debut, and has been playing to packed venues on his sold-out Hell Is a Dance Floor Tour.

Growing up in Roswell, Georgia, Mason gleaned his work ethic from his father, an interior designer who owns his own firm, and his mother, a pediatric dentist. “They were always hardworking, and that’s kind of what they brought us up on,” Mason reflects. “But we weren’t necessarily held to a whole bunch of rules as long as we were working hard and had a passion.”

For Mason, that passion has always centered around two things: sports and music.

“I was always walking around the halls, singing. My teachers tried to sign me up for choir a few times, but I would just play football and basketball instead. My parents weren’t into country music, but I found it on my own. I started hearing it in middle school and high school because some of the kids were into it,” Mason says, citing songs such as Jon Pardi’s “Head Over Boots,” Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids,” and Thomas Rhett’s ‘T-Shirt.” “I thought, ‘Oh, country songs are catchy and happy,’ and then I heard, on the rock side, John Mayer doing this heartbroken, deep singer-songwriter stuff.”

Before relocating to Nashville, he briefly attended the University of Mississippi, an experience that further broadened his palette of musical influences to artists such as Koe Wetzel, Flatland Cavalry and Zach Bryan.

“I felt like there was this middle ground of country sonics and the heartbroken singer-songwriter aspect,” he says. “I found that lane and felt like I could take a stab at it.”

This year, Mason will open shows for Jordan Davis on his Ain’t Enough Road Tour, and has been in the studio, writing and recording new music.

Mason, Billboard’s Country Rookie of the Month for April, opened up about adapting to life as a touring singer-songwriter, his must-haves on the road, and the songwriting legend he couldn’t wait to write with.

Have you felt any pressure to follow up on that success of “Hell Is a Dance Floor,” and if so, how are you handling that?

If I’m being honest, I feel like the PR answer would be to say “No.” But I do feel the pressure, for sure. I just don’t want to have one song [hit] and that be it. I feel good about the songs we’ve put out after “Hell is a Dance Floor,” but I write a bunch of songs and I want our set to get better. A year into this record deal, I just want to keep making music I’m proud of.

You just released “Wish You Well.” Are there plans for an album this year?

Yes, at some point this year, hopefully. I don’t think we have a hard release day, but we just cut a handful of [songs] last week. I think we’re just going to kind of keep cutting songs and trying to get ’em ready.

Has the singer-songwriter life been different than what you anticipated?

I think it’s wild that it feels normal to me now, because for the last year, everything was so new, and now I feel like I found a little bit of a rhythm. So, I think it’s just kind of “Hang tight and try to make the best songs you can.” I’m enjoying having a grip on what’s happening lately. It doesn’t feel like everything’s just flying a thousand miles an hour. It does feel like it’s kind of slowed down in a way, even though we’re traveling all the time and doing just as much. I feel like I’ve found a way to be comfortable.

Who are the “bucket list” writers you wanted to collaborate with?

I remember Luke Laird was one. He wrote four of the first five country songs I ever loved, like “American Kids,” “Head Over Boots,” and “Drink in My Hand.” Every time I liked a song and looked at the credits, it seemed like Luke Laird was on there and all those Eric Church songs like “Over When It’s Over.” That was a name I asked about specifically. I wanted to write with Jessie Jo Dillon after I found out she was on there–all the writers on “Wish You Well,” I wanted to write with. But I remember Luke was probably the biggest legend where I was like, “I really want to write with Luke.”

To this point, you have been known for some sadder songs, such as “Heart Like This.” Will we see happier songs on a new project?

We do have some happier songs on there, not always just heartbroken, and sad all the time. [Sadder songs] are what sparked my interest and that’s just what I learned how to write. I kind of felt like I had to learn how to write happier songs when I was first writing those heartbreak songs. I remember being like, “Can we go deeper or get really detailed with this?” I felt like it’s a little bit harder to do that with the upbeat, happier songs. I wanted to pile up different sides of life, because you also want to hear the love side of it, or the fun side of it. So, I’m trying to make it a bit more [of a] complete scope of my life I guess. Even on the heartbreak side, there’s some more upbeat heartbreak songs, too.

You will be opening for Jordan Davis on his Ain’t Enough Road Tour this year. What are you most looking forward to about that tour?

It feels like every artist that I’ve talked to — more than one — just always say that Jordan’s [touring] camp is the best. So we’re excited to get out there and be a part of that. Then on the musical front, I always just try to learn from anyone that’s had success that long. He’s had hit after hit, and has moved with the way things are going, but has never abandoned what he’s doing.

What are some of your must-haves on the road?

We bring an Xbox everywhere we go to pass the time, and I definitely need some kind of energy drink, preferably Celsius. That’s what keeps me rolling. Other than a guitar, but those are the main two things we always try to bring. We just switched to the bus, so I think we’re going to save one of the bays on the bus to set up a little TV for football season, and chairs and cornhole. There’s talk of a little fire pit that we might bring. So we’re going to bring a little tailgate set up. I think.

What is your favorite sports team?

My mom’s whole family went to West Virginia, so I typically root for them; that’s the family school. I always like to see Ole Miss do well, even though I was only there for a minute. And then, the Falcons and the Braves.

Is there an artist whose career arc that you admire?

I think Eric Church is kind of my answer for that. I do think he’s one of the best songwriters ever, especially best country songwriters ever. I want to do it my own way, but I think he did such a good job of making songs that he loved. And then the hit songs are so unique that they don’t sound like anybody else’s hit song. And artists like John Mayer, they put out this whole discography of stuff they love and people still show up, so that’s what I want to build.

What song or album are you currently obsessed with?

Kansas Anymore by Role Model. I think the songwriting is so dialed in and the sonics are really cool. There’s a lot of stuff that feels really Tom Petty, which is cool. I’ve been wearing that album out a ton.

Is there a TV show or podcast you are into?

I always listen to Theo Von’s podcast [This Past Weekend]. Anytime he has someone on, I usually tune in.