Craig Campbell Closes Door on Five-Year Gig at Nashville’s Stage

Craig Campbell has spent years cutting his musical teeth and paying his dues on Nashville's fabled lower Broadway. Now that his debut single, 'Family Man,' is doing so well at radio, the south Georgia native is saying goodbye to his longtime family at the Stage, the club where he's played an ongoing weekly Tuesday night show for the past five years. But just because he's moving on to greener pastures, doesn't mean he doesn't realize just how invaluable his time at the Stage was to his budding career.

"I've spent a lot of time down here," Craig tells the Boot. "I've been playing down on Broadway for about five years doing my own thing with my own gig, so Broadway's a big part of my life and career up to this point."

The venue was also an important part of Craig's own family life as well, he acknowledges. "The Stage was where my wife Mindy and I started hanging out when we first met, and both of my girls were born during my tenure at the Stage," Craig tells Taste of Country. "Mindy and I have shared that stage more times than I can count, and it's one of my favorite places to play live."

Craig says he knew his hit single, 'Family Man,' was going to be something special when he sat down to pen the tune with fellow songwriter Joel Shewmake. "Joel had the idea for the song," Craig tells the Boot. "He was telling me how he's a family man. At the time, my wife was pregnant with our first baby and I told him, 'I want to be a part of this song, so let's write it together,' and so we did. We brought Jon Henderson in and finished it later on, and to this day it's one of my favorite songs I've ever written. It's doing well on the charts so far, and now I'm just excited to get out on a big ol' tour. I just want to go play some country music and meet some new people."

Craig is playing his final show at the Stage tonight (Tuesday, January 4). He'll hit the road this spring in support of his self-titled Bigger Picture Group debut, which is due March 1.