The C2C Sit Down with Graham Barham
Whilst he may hail from the small town of Oak Ridge in Louisiana, Graham Barham brings bid city energy throughout all of his music and especially his live shows. Off the back of his new EP “OIL MONEY” topping the iTunes and Apple Music Albums charts, where the title track earned the largest streaming debut of his career, Graham headed to Europe for the first time to perform at C2C: Country to Country in Rotterdam, Berlin and in London, where we caught up with him on the Saturday afternoon.
Thank you for taking time to hang man. How was your experience in Berlin?
“It was great, way different to here. I thought the shows were good though. I did Berlin Spotlight Stage which I thought was great, I had a good time.”
I caught the set upstairs on The Rooftop stage as well.
“How did you like it?”
Just the way you do an acoustic set is like so different and so much more fun than anybody else does.
“You mean with the audio coming through and stuff?”
Not just that but you can't sit still, it's great and I'm exactly the same. It's none of this like, oh, let's just sit and chill, it’s you know, I might not have a full band behind me but it doesn't stop me doing my thing.
“I mean, people come for entertainment right? I also want to make it exciting, we’re singing country music.”
Everyone talks about the crowds here in Europe but until you see it for yourself, it doesn’t really make sense.
“I’ve loved it over here, like seriously the fans are incredible. I have just enjoyed it, it's different and it's definitely a different culture.”
Thank you for taking time to hang man. How was your experience in Berlin?
“It was great, way different to here. I thought the shows were good though. I did Berlin Spotlight Stage which I thought was great, I had a good time.”
I caught the set upstairs on The Rooftop stage as well.
“How did you like it?”
Just the way you do an acoustic set is like so different and so much more fun than anybody else does.
“You mean with the audio coming through and stuff?”
Not just that but you can't sit still, it's great and I'm exactly the same. It's none of this like, oh, let's just sit and chill, it’s you know, I might not have a full band behind me but it doesn't stop me doing my thing.
“I mean, people come for entertainment right? I also want to make it exciting, we’re singing country music.”
Everyone talks about the crowds here in Europe but until you see it for yourself, it doesn’t really make sense.
“I’ve loved it over here, like seriously the fans are incredible. I have just enjoyed it, it's different and it's definitely a different culture.”
The way I first came across your music was through a friend of mine, who I imagine probably spoke to you in Germany, he was over in Nashville and went to two of your shows at the backend of last year. He came back and we were in the pub where he was like GRAHAM BARHAM! GRAHAM BRAHAM! GRAHAM BRAHAM! So, I’m like I have absolutely no idea who this man is but I’ll take your word for it.
“That must be Luke! I’ll never forget this, he came to my set in Nashville, came up to me after and said I’m from Europe and I’m like what? Then we had another set and I thought that guy looks so familiar when I saw him. You meet a lot of people but I don’t forget a face, I may forget a name but I won’t forget a face and then I saw him again at the Berlin thing in a Barham hat and I’m like I know this guy, dude he’s the man!”
He get’s around and we all head out on random trips to shows and for beers in Europe, we love those European crowds but the crowds are epic here too! I guess they are probably better here for you as we are a bit rowdier and like a middle ground between there and back home.
“This has definitely been more rowdy but I’m used to people throwing shit and running around so, it’s a nice change of pace.”
Well, if you encourage it, they’ll be keen to do that here and there were people drinking way before ten o’clock this morning. Becky here, (who was helping us out with some social content at the festival) had a bottle of Prosecco for breakfast.
“I’m about to be that person too, you have to. I feel like we drank all of the Champagne in London last night.”
So, you should do, you’re on vacation and it’s there to be drunk. Coming back to talking about work, the trip has clearly been going well and I guess the next step is to come back and bring more of your boys with you next time. In terms of the full Graham Barham live show, there’s obviously going to be a lot more noise but what’s the sort of vibe? I take it you just bring it.
“Yeah, it's a lot of energy and I just want to give people like a show you know, my thing is all about people letting all their energy out. There's not a lot of slow songs so it’s have a good time and have a lot of beverages.”
“That must be Luke! I’ll never forget this, he came to my set in Nashville, came up to me after and said I’m from Europe and I’m like what? Then we had another set and I thought that guy looks so familiar when I saw him. You meet a lot of people but I don’t forget a face, I may forget a name but I won’t forget a face and then I saw him again at the Berlin thing in a Barham hat and I’m like I know this guy, dude he’s the man!”
He get’s around and we all head out on random trips to shows and for beers in Europe, we love those European crowds but the crowds are epic here too! I guess they are probably better here for you as we are a bit rowdier and like a middle ground between there and back home.
“This has definitely been more rowdy but I’m used to people throwing shit and running around so, it’s a nice change of pace.”
Well, if you encourage it, they’ll be keen to do that here and there were people drinking way before ten o’clock this morning. Becky here, (who was helping us out with some social content at the festival) had a bottle of Prosecco for breakfast.
“I’m about to be that person too, you have to. I feel like we drank all of the Champagne in London last night.”
So, you should do, you’re on vacation and it’s there to be drunk. Coming back to talking about work, the trip has clearly been going well and I guess the next step is to come back and bring more of your boys with you next time. In terms of the full Graham Barham live show, there’s obviously going to be a lot more noise but what’s the sort of vibe? I take it you just bring it.
“Yeah, it's a lot of energy and I just want to give people like a show you know, my thing is all about people letting all their energy out. There's not a lot of slow songs so it’s have a good time and have a lot of beverages.”
We’re so down for that and the reaction has seemed great, you were one of the guys everyone was excited for before C2C and the numbers everywhere are going to where we want them. Having the full “OIL MONEY” project rounded off just before you headed over is a big help but you also put a lot of the songs out first on their own and then tied it together with the last two songs. Was that always the plan or just how it naturally happened as you were putting tracks out and thought hang on, this would work as an EP?
“It was it was a little bit of both, to be honest. I don't really necessarily feel like I'm ready for an album because you know, one is expensive, two, it's a lot of time and I know I have the intention span of a gnat so people want constant songs all the time. To me, as much as songs are there to be moving, they’re content too, people want as much content as possible so as we were putting out a bunch of songs and then we were like, you know what? For me, it was my OCD. I was like, I need there to be a collection for when people find me, I want them to be able to click and be able to have a whole experience. Then especially when “Oil Money” did as well as it did, we were like, all right, this is the time to bundle them up into an EP so it kind of all worked out perfectly. I was telling someone else that I left as soon as it blew up so I haven't even been home to see how it’s reacting even though everyone is singing it here.”
The other song which came out at the end is “HALF A DOZEN ROSES” which has the coolest collection of co-writers on that with you. It is like the absolute whose who where you have David Lee Murphy which is so cool, Jesse Frasure which adds to it and Jessi Alexander who is like Nashville songwriting royalty and is here this weekend. Had you worked with those guys before and how did that come about?
“I’ve worked with them individually, I’ve written with David Lee a pretty good bit and Jessi A as well, Jesse Frasure and I have just started to work together quite a bit but that day I was like, if you would have told me that was the song we were going to write, with that crew, I would have thought there's no way. You’ve got a guy who sings “Dust On The Bottle” writing with a very progressive trying to change the way people look at country music type guy, right? But that's my favourite one, that's probably my favourite song that I've ever put out. We found it in the room, it just came after I think somebody said it and I thought that’s cool. Usually, we come in with ideas and titles because I do a lot of songwriting but that one just kind of happened and it was so quick, I feel like the really good ones always are. It's been a fan favourite which is awesome because I don't necessarily think it was a single, but I think it lives exactly where it lives.”
“It was it was a little bit of both, to be honest. I don't really necessarily feel like I'm ready for an album because you know, one is expensive, two, it's a lot of time and I know I have the intention span of a gnat so people want constant songs all the time. To me, as much as songs are there to be moving, they’re content too, people want as much content as possible so as we were putting out a bunch of songs and then we were like, you know what? For me, it was my OCD. I was like, I need there to be a collection for when people find me, I want them to be able to click and be able to have a whole experience. Then especially when “Oil Money” did as well as it did, we were like, all right, this is the time to bundle them up into an EP so it kind of all worked out perfectly. I was telling someone else that I left as soon as it blew up so I haven't even been home to see how it’s reacting even though everyone is singing it here.”
The other song which came out at the end is “HALF A DOZEN ROSES” which has the coolest collection of co-writers on that with you. It is like the absolute whose who where you have David Lee Murphy which is so cool, Jesse Frasure which adds to it and Jessi Alexander who is like Nashville songwriting royalty and is here this weekend. Had you worked with those guys before and how did that come about?
“I’ve worked with them individually, I’ve written with David Lee a pretty good bit and Jessi A as well, Jesse Frasure and I have just started to work together quite a bit but that day I was like, if you would have told me that was the song we were going to write, with that crew, I would have thought there's no way. You’ve got a guy who sings “Dust On The Bottle” writing with a very progressive trying to change the way people look at country music type guy, right? But that's my favourite one, that's probably my favourite song that I've ever put out. We found it in the room, it just came after I think somebody said it and I thought that’s cool. Usually, we come in with ideas and titles because I do a lot of songwriting but that one just kind of happened and it was so quick, I feel like the really good ones always are. It's been a fan favourite which is awesome because I don't necessarily think it was a single, but I think it lives exactly where it lives.”
“I haven’t been doing it but people have been asking me to play it all the way through C2C and I’m going to play it today because I was thinking why don’t I just play it? Back home it’s more of like a routine I guess is the word where it’s the same songs but honestly, being able to test new stuff out here, we’ve been playing unreleased music which is tough with a thirty minute set because you’ve got to play all of the songs they want. That’s given me a lot of confidence to go back home and be like, you know what? I'm going to play the songs that feel right on that night.”
This has been fun, man. I really appreciated what I saw in Berlin and you managed to get everyone to move forward rather than leave that big old gap at the front they usually seemed scared to step in to. Then the mike stand was going everywhere and that’s what we love to see, it was wild and I’d love to see you back again with a full band. I know jet lag is a killer, fortunately for you it’s nowhere near as bad going back home and there is the cost in terms of time as well as financially, but we hope you enjoyed it and you’ll be back.
“It’s been worth it, singing country music in Europe is the coolest fucking thing ever.”
Isn’t it just and probably something that you thought was even possible five years ago.
“I didn't even know I would be able to do for a career in general five years ago, but to be in Europe singing is an absolute dream. It's crazy.”
It’s a dream to have you here, man, I appreciate it taking the time to hang out.
“OIL MONEY” from Graham Barham is out now and is available HERE. To keep up to date with all of Graham’s upcoming US plans for the rest of the year you can check out his WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with him socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK FACEBOOK & X.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2026 across the weekend of March 6th to 8th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE and keep in the loop regarding lineups and ticket information on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Then we will see you again in London (or maybe even Belfast/Glasgow) a week later across March 13th to 15th with early bird tickets set to go on sale at 10am on Friday 21st March where you can find more details on the WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
This has been fun, man. I really appreciated what I saw in Berlin and you managed to get everyone to move forward rather than leave that big old gap at the front they usually seemed scared to step in to. Then the mike stand was going everywhere and that’s what we love to see, it was wild and I’d love to see you back again with a full band. I know jet lag is a killer, fortunately for you it’s nowhere near as bad going back home and there is the cost in terms of time as well as financially, but we hope you enjoyed it and you’ll be back.
“It’s been worth it, singing country music in Europe is the coolest fucking thing ever.”
Isn’t it just and probably something that you thought was even possible five years ago.
“I didn't even know I would be able to do for a career in general five years ago, but to be in Europe singing is an absolute dream. It's crazy.”
It’s a dream to have you here, man, I appreciate it taking the time to hang out.
“OIL MONEY” from Graham Barham is out now and is available HERE. To keep up to date with all of Graham’s upcoming US plans for the rest of the year you can check out his WEBSITE and you can keep up to date with him socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK FACEBOOK & X.
C2C: Country to Country will return to Berlin in 2026 across the weekend of March 6th to 8th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE and keep in the loop regarding lineups and ticket information on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK. Then we will see you again in London (or maybe even Belfast/Glasgow) a week later across March 13th to 15th with early bird tickets set to go on sale at 10am on Friday 21st March where you can find more details on the WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK X and INSTAGRAM)
