Four years later, Creager ‘surrenders’ to writing

“It’s important to take everything in,” he says during a recent phone interview from his Texas home. “You have to appreciate everything that happens in life.”

That’s why the country singer/songwriter’s music is poignant.

Yet, while Creager chases adventures in his personal life, his professional life goes a bit slower.

Case in point – it took four years for Creager to write his current album, “Surrender.”

“It does take me a while to get everything out on paper,” he explains. “I tend to write very slowly and have a hard time creating music while on tour. It’s about having clever ideas and coming up with catchy numbers. I prefer to wait for inspiration, which is why it takes me forever.”

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“Surrender” was produced by Lloyd Maines and marks a “back-to-basics” approach for Creager.

“I wanted to get back to the writing process that I began my career with,” he says. “In music, we have the tendency to overproduce some of the music. I wanted to strip it all down and build from the ground up.”

With that approach, Creager was able to co-write all songs except “Redemption Song,” which is a Bob Marley cover.

“It was important for me to work with others on this album,” he says. “I wanted to be able to tell stories from my life that would resonate with others. This album is sort of like reading my journal.”

Creager says his current tour has been a overwhelming because of the support he’s been seeing in the crowds.

“I’ve been in this industry for about 15 years and each year it gets better,” he says. “There are more people who show up for the shows and little by little, my name is getting out to more people. It also helped to have the legendary Lloyd Maines produce my album. He knows how to get it all right and I’m grateful to have him help me along the way.”

Creager says on this tour he’s also performing songs that span his entire career.

“It’s been a nice change to switch it up,” he says. “A lot of the music often gets lost after we tour it. It’s nice to get back to those songs that helped pave the way for me.”