Country artist Reed Foley thinks beer needs drinkin’ and songs need singin’

Crystal Schelle

Special to The News-Post

It was a summery Sunday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee, and country music artist Reed Foley was on a mission: to get himself a new guitar.

“I’m getting myself a new acoustic. My existing guitar has been giving me fits,” he said during a telephone interview while browsing the music shop. “I’ve got several of them. But for some reason, this one guitar just would not stop breaking strings and going out of tune — and all this other stuff. And I finally got so frustrated and thought, ‘Well, maybe, it’s just time to get another one.”

The new guitar is a Gibson J45 acoustic, a gift from his father-in-law. Foley is going to need new gear as he continues his tour of shows throughout the Southeastern states, with dates to the end of September.

He’ll make a stop in Frederick on Aug. 19 to perform at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium, following a game between Frederick’s newly formed Atlantic League Spire City Ghost Hounds and the Staten Island Ferry Hawks.

Foley was born in Sparta, North Carolina, home to Old Opry regular Del Reeves. He grew up in outside of Dayton, Florida, in Port Orange, where he was surrounded by music.

“My father is an extremely talented, amazing singer, guitar player and songwriter. He won battle of the bands back in Cleveland when he was younger,” he said. “I grew up just wanting to do things with him, and music was a way for us to connect. That was probably my entry into music — being with him, playing with him and his friends, or playing in church with him.”

In first grade, he picked up his first instrument, the drums. Still in elementary school, he took on piano lessons. But he didn’t pick up the guitar until he was about 13.

At the age of 15, Foley landed his first gig, and by the time he was 16, he was writing songs. He can’t remember which song he wrote first but thinks it was probably in the vein of gospel music.

Realizing that he not only had a passion for music but talent, his parents encouraged him to move to Nashville. And while Music City can be soulcrushing for young artists, Foley wasn’t going to be deterred.

“By 16, 17, I knew I was gonna play music for the rest of my life,” he said.

By that age, he was already paying all his bills through his work as a musician.

“I knew that that was going to be my career. I just didn’t know what kind of career it was gonna be.”

As early as 2017, Foley was releasing singles. But it wasn’t until the October 2022 release of “Beer Needs Drinkin’” and its subsequent first music video that Foley realized maybe all his hard work had resulted in something.

“That’s when I finally said, ‘Hey, I’m going to be able to do this as an artist,’” he said. “There’s going to be opportunities for me to do this not just as cover singer but as an artist.”

He has a Daytona station to thank for his first radio play. The DJ knew him from local events and gave Foley a heads up that he was going to play “Beer Needs Drinkin’” so Foley was ready for it.

“I’m sitting in my truck for 20 minutes before, and all of a sudden, the song comes on,” he recalled. “And it was one of the coolest things in my life. You know, that happened early this year. It was just a very surreal, stop-and-soak-this-in moment.”

“Beer Needs Drinkin’” hit No. 3 on independent artists on country radio, and Foley found himself opening up for Jason Aldean, Tyler Farr, Southerland and William Michael Morgan.

He said the largest crowd he’s played for so far has been the Runaway Country Music Fest in Kissimmee, Florida, which

Reed Foley

Jersey auction benefiting The Platoon Veteran Services Center, with a fireworks show and post-game concert. When: Aug. 19. Post-game concert following Spire City Ghost Hounds vs Staten Island Ferry Hawks. Game begins at 6 p.m. Where: Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium, 21 Stadium Drive, Frederick Tickets: $9 to $15 Info: goghosthounds.com/schedule draws between 10,000 and 20,000 people. He loves to play for all types of crowds and have them experience his music for the first time.

“You’re getting in front of eyes and ears, which is also the great thing about opening for people,” he said. “I just opened for Cooper Alan a few weeks ago. It’s like here’s 1,000 people who are Cooper Alan fans, I now have their eyes and ears to try to make them into real Foley fans, and what a great opportunity that is.”

Foley followed up “Beer” with “Ain’t the First Time,” which has been featured on Spotify and Apple Music playlists. Thanks to the popularity of the songs, he’s surpassed 1 million streams across all platforms.

Although he loves to perform, at his base Foley is a songwriter. Living in

Nashville, he has learned to write songs the Music City way, which means setting up meetings with other artists specifically for writing, but he also lets the muse inspire him at any time.

He said when he’s writing with a group, he’ll bring an idea that’s important to him. Then the group or he will work on it with a particular writing partner. But then Foley likes to take an unusual step forward and work the song alone.

“I will take that song and I will go home with it by myself and tweak it. I will change words here, sentences there. My job is always to loop back in with the original songwriters,” he said. “Usually, though, I’ll rewrite a song once or twice before we ever think about recording it, just because we’re always trying to make sure it’s perfect, you know? Sometimes it’s hard to let it go and stop touching it.”

Like most emerging artists, Foley has covered his share of songs. Earlier this year, he released a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and plans to release a studio version, too.

In the meantime, Foley is looking forward to performing at the Ghost Hounds game. He’s a huge baseball fan and roots for the Atlanta Braves.

While on tour, he plans to also release four new songs.

“There’s a lot of shows, and I’m really excited to get some new music out in the world,” he said.

When he’s not on the road, he loves spending time with his newlywed wife and 6-year-old stepson, watching sporting events, playing video games and hanging out with friends and family.

As for his future in country music, Foley is happy for every moment he gets to perform.

“I’m one of these people who’s thankful for everything that I get, but I want as much as I can possibly get my hands on,” he said. “I’d love to be able to put together a career that really touches a lot of lives. And obviously, I want to go as far and as big as I possibly can. But at the same time, you know, I’m really happy that I’ve never had to work a day in my life, other than playing that guitar and singing songs.”

Crystal Schelle is a journalist whose work has been published locally, regionally and nationally. She enjoys trivia, cats and streaming movies.