At just 15 years old, Maddox Batson is proving that age is no barrier to country music stardom. His journey began in 2022, when he started sharing TikTok videos of himself singing and playing along to his favorite songs. His raw talent and heartfelt voice quickly caught the attention of music executives, leading to his first live shows the following year.
In 2023, Maddox released his debut single “Tears in the River,” which soared into the top twenty on Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 chart. By late 2024, he followed up with fan-favorite singles “I Wanna Know” and “X,” earning millions of streams worldwide and solidifying his place as one of country’s brightest rising stars.
Now signed with Warner Records, Maddox has already launched his own sold-out I Need A Truck Tour, captivating audiences across the U.S. In March, he achieved a dream milestone—making his Grand Ole Opry debut with “I Don’t Like You Anymore,” a song he co-wrote with hitmaker Ashley Gorley. Most recently, he’s been joining Lainey Wilson on her Whirlwind World Tour, performing on some of the biggest stages of his young career.
We spoke with rising-star, Maddox Batson about his current headlining tour, his favorite golf courses across the US, and his favorite pastimes in his hometown of Nashville.
Any highlights from the I Need A Truck Tour so far?
I mean, pretty much every show is filled with highlights, but I’d have to say some of my favorites were playing the LaGrange show down in Georgia. I played that venue around a year ago at this time, and I was opening up for Gabby Barrett. I came back a year later and sold it out as a headliner, which was really cool. That’s probably one of my favorite highlights. Another highlight was when I was in Charlotte. Madeline McGraw, who was in my recent music video “Coincidence,” came out on stage. Those two moments were probably some of my favorites.
Tell me a little bit about the new song “Coincidence.” What’s the story behind it?
I was in the studio with Beau Bailey. It was an early studio day. It was probably about 8:30 a.m. I don’t know why it was such an early day, but I got there and we were originally writing another song and we had a concept. We were trying to write it, but it just wasn’t really going anywhere.
We decided to just put a stop on that one and to kind of pivot. We ended up pivoting to “Coincidence.” It was Beau Bailey’s idea and he had the concept already. He was asking if there’s different experiences that I’ve had through life and was just taking stuff from me. We wrote it pretty fast and put down the vocals. The second we sent it to my inner circle, we knew that it was one that we had to put out. It’s one of my favorites for sure.
I know you just had a big show with Lainey Wilson in Nashville. Has she given you any career advice or tips?
By just being around her I’m picking up so much. We haven’t had many sit-down conversations yet, but just watching her perform and seeing how well she handles the crowd, seeing how well she performs. She’s no doubt in the running for entertainer of the year. She’s just an amazing person. I’ve just had the best time out on tour with her. I remember before I went out on stage, I was walking out of my green room and I ran into her and she gave me a big hug, and she was like, ‘You’re playing Bridgestone’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right.’
But then I was like, ‘Well, you’re also playing Bridgestone.’ This was her first time headlining, so I just told her the same thing. It was just a cool little moment between me and her, and I’m just super excited for the last few shows I have with her. She’s been truly amazing and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s been great.
Any artist dream collaborations that you would want to write or sing with?
I’d have to say Morgan Wallen. I mean, 100%, just one of my favorites of all time. I love John Mayer. I’d love to do stuff with him. The obvious ones. Maybe Justin Bieber or something like that. Those are probably my top three.
One more artist is Joe Nichols. Joe Nichols has one of my favorite country music songs of all time, “Brokenheartsville.” I think getting a writing session with him would be kind of fun.
You’ve been on the road all year. Have you discovered any hidden travel gems or places that you would tell people to visit?
I had never been to Knoxville, and I got to go. It was probably my favorite city I’ve ever been to. It’s a city big enough to where you’ve got restaurants and activities, but also small enough where you can just go chill and have fun at your house.
I’m a huge Tennessee Vols fan, so I got to go see Neyland Stadium when it was empty. I got to go see the UT golf stuff. That was just awesome. Right now I’m in Milwaukee and we get to do all this ghost tour stuff tonight. I’m not really excited about that. I’m not a big horror guy myself, but my family is kind of forcing it upon me. Hopefully I’ll have fun.
Has a place that you’ve been to ever influenced a song?
Well, it wasn’t necessarily the place, but it was the girl at the place. I performed a show in Lima, Ohio. I got on stage and I was doing my meet and greet, and this girl came up, and she was very pretty and my mind kind of went blank. I never asked her name or where she was from or anything like that. I was kind of mad at myself. Then I made my team search for her a little bit. We all were searching because I just wanted to see who she was and find her name and kind of talk to her a little bit.
We ended up finding her, but before we found her, I had a studio session out in LA and they asked me what I wanted to write about. I was like, ‘There’s this girl, and she’s wearing a green dress at the show.’ We ended up calling it “Girl In Green.” It’s one of my favorite songs that we put out, and it’s one of my most successful as well. It’s funny how that can work, you know? We ended up finding her, and she ended up coming to the first show that we played it live. I thanked her and she thanked me and it was a cool little moment. It was fun.
Any bucket list travel places you want to go?
I’m pretty excited for Europe. I don’t know exactly when I’m going to go, but I’m very excited for that. I’ve always wanted to go over the pond and just go check it out. Hopefully we go to Ireland. I’m a huge golfer, so I’d love to play St Andrews. That’s a bucket list thing for me when I’m over there. Boston is going to be super cool and seeing all the Salem stuff. But really Europe and Australia, when I go over there -– those are going to be super fun.
Do you have any favorite courses in the US?
I’d have to say some of my favorites that I’ve played are The Greenbrier in West Virginia and The Broadmoor out in Colorado. One more would be Richland Country Club in Nashville. It’s pretty awesome. I love playing that one as well.
Do you have any must have travel items?
I’m a huge animal cracker guy. I always have to have animal crackers on my bus. I keep an Xbox on my bus at all times. I’m a huge gamer. We all keep all of our golf clubs. We play golf literally more than we play music. I love golf. I’d have to say AirPods, because a lot of people are on the same bus and get on your nerves. You kind of want to block them out every now and then. My dog actually chewed mine up recently, so I’m kind of upset about that, but it’s okay.
Do you have any tips for traveling with family?
I love my family more than anything. They do get on my nerves sometimes but I love them. At the end of the day, they’re the same people that I can come home and talk to about anything. They’re never going to judge me, never going to leave. They’re just always going to be there for me. That’s why I love having a few family members on my bus. I just love being able to talk to them. That’s like, the coolest thing for me.
What’s your perfect day in your hometown of Nashville?
I was born in Nashville and grew up for seven years in Nashville. Then I moved to Birmingham and lived there until just last year when I moved back to Nashville. My perfect day is I wake up around 9 a.m. and I go play golf at Hermitage. I go play 18 holes there then I go eat at Hattie B’s. Then I’ll come home and probably watch Christmas movies with my family. So, play golf, come home, and probably eat my mom’s cooking. I think if my mom cooked for me, that would probably be perfect.
What’s your favorite Christmas movie?
My favorite Christmas movie is either Home Alone 2 or Christmas Vacation.
Now, what does your perfect day look like in Birmingham?
I lived in Chelsea. There were not many days where I wasn’t going to school. My perfect day would have to be not going to school. When I was there, the best thing I would love to do was go to Defy, a trampoline park close to my house. I loved going there more than anything just because it was a social gathering place. Everyone was there at all times so you could just hang out with your buddies, or a girl you had a crush on while also jumping on trampolines. It was the best of both worlds.
I wake up, go get a three-hour wristband at Defy. I’d probably use it till it expired. Then I’d go to Habanero’s, which is our local little Mexican place that everyone loves. Once again, I come home and I’m probably watching Christmas movies with my dog, Walter. He never made it back to Tennessee. He passed away around a year and a half ago. I’d say watching Christmas movies with him would be super fun.
What do you do about school now?
It’s all online. I just have two lectures a week, and then I have home schooling throughout the week with my classes. It’s relatively easy, but also enough to advance me in my school and hopefully to get my diploma relatively soon.
Is it hard to balance school and life on the road?
It definitely is at times. As a professional procrastinator like myself, it’s very hard to balance it because you do everything and then you’re like, ‘Okay, I can do it later.’ Then later comes and you have nine assignments due by 12:00. So, you’re kind of cooked there. It definitely gets too much at times. I have a tutor and a lot of people around me that help me balance it out. We set out time to help me do homework to make sure I complete everything.
What’s your craziest travel story?
I had a festival in San Francisco that I had to be at. I was in Atlanta the day before filming a project then I had a flight that night at like midnight. None of the flights were taking off because of a storm and all our flights got canceled at like 3 a.m. We were kind of cooked. I had to book a private jet that cost a lot of money to fly out to San Francisco the next day. We got there ten minutes before my show. I have to say it was not the best festival. I don’t know if it was worth it, but we did get there. We had a great time. We put on a good show. It was a very hectic 48 hours for me.