Justin Biltonen has spent the last eight years touring the world as the bassist of 3 Doors Down. ... [+]
Justin Biltonen has spent the last eight years touring the world as the bassist of 3 Doors Down. When he’s not on the road, the North Carolina native is pursuing a solo career as a country artist, penning songs in Nashville and playing local writers rounds. He never intended to be a country singer, but after several writing sessions some of his collaborators urged him to record and release the music he was creating.
“I never really thought of doing that even though I loved it,” Biltonen, who grew up performing in punk, rock and Southern rock bands in high school, says of trying his hand at singing country music. “I just started playing writers rounds here in town. People were liking it. I put out a couple songs and 3 Doors fans loved it and it’s been growing from there.”
Biltonen grew up listening to country music and playing guitar. He eventually joined the church band and gravitated to rock and punk music throughout high school. He had success with a Southern rock band after high school, booking shows through MySpace and opening for Slash and Korn. It was around this time that he signed a management deal with the same company as 3 Doors Down.
“That was probably 12 years ago. Through that whole time I was doing the other band, I was starting to write country music. It was something that I'd grown up on and started to relate to more instead of the heavy, angsty rock and roll stuff,” he says. “I was still living in my hometown and driving back and forth to Nashville every chance I could to write with a songwriter named James House. He took me under his wing and started teaching me how Nashville songwriting works, writing for a purpose. It sparked that passion to really get to Nashville and start doing it in whatever professional capacity I can get into.”
Along the way, he kept in touch with 3 Doors Down and one day got a call from the band. They were in need of a bassist. He auditioned, rehearsed with them for two weeks and then headed to Moscow, Russia for his first gig. Since joining the band nearly eight years ago, Biltonen has written several songs with 3 Doors Down for 2016’s Us and the Night.
Biltonen gained confidence writing with 3 Doors Down and in Nashville. He says the songwriting skillset and etiquette translates to both genres as far as sitting down with several people who are throwing around ideas and learning how to keep your ego out of it. For any genre, he says it’s important to learn how to work with other people to build the best songs possible.
Biltonen was supposed to be on the road for 3 Doors Down’s 20th anniversary tour for the majority of 2020. Due to Covid-19, he’s instead spent the year in Nashville working on his solo music and launching a new apparel company Sacred West Trading Co. “I like to draw and design stuff. So when things shut down, I was trying to think of other ways to keep creative and build a business that I could keep going whether I have music or not,” he says. “Folks aren't going to let anything stop them when they're creative.”
While his new single “Wild Mustangs,” out today, wasn’t written during the pandemic, Biltonen saw the need to release new music after putting out the soaring ballad “Worth Hanging Onto” in June. “[‘Worth Hanging Onto’] really meant a lot to me. It was about taking care of the things that are important to you; not just physical stuff, but relationships. The words just felt very poignant to what was going on with everyone worried about the pandemic and lockdowns,” he says.
The song was well received and did better than any of the previous songs Biltonen had released, landing radio play and debuting on several country and Southern gospel charts. Follow-up song “Wild Mustangs” further showcases Biltonen’s talent as a vivid songwriter and compelling vocalist.
Biltonen penned “Wild Mustangs” with frequent collaborator Richard Mitchell last year. The pair were talking when Biltonen threw out the title. Mitchell then recalled early dates where he used to drive around the desert.
“He specifically mentioned a time where he and his girlfriend saw wild mustangs out the window and that's what sparked that first line,” he says. “It’s young love and loss, coming of age. Haunting memories of those good times [and how] young love is passionate and then fizzled out. I was playing it out at writers rounds and my own solo shows and people always came up to me afterwards and said, ‘That’s a cool song’ so I knew I needed to get it recorded and get it out.”
The song was produced by Maks Gabriel and features 2020 CMA Musician of the Year Jenee Fleenor on fiddle. “I knew what I wanted on it with the fiddle and the storm sounds and how to build it and put it together,” he adds. “It was such a visual. Whenever me and Richard were sitting there talking about it, it was a direct memory that sparked this whole story and that's really cool.”
Biltonen plans to release another new song in early 2021 as well as continues to perform via Facebook Live and Instagram Live. He says the 3 Doors Down fans have fully embraced his solo releases even with him pursuing an entirely different genre of music.
“I really feel like we have the best fans of any group that I've ever seen. They’re dedicated, they’re locked in with whatever content the band is doing. I was extremely fortunate to have that built up from the years that I've been in the band,” he says. “Whenever I put out my solo stuff they locked onto it and they really enjoy everything that I've put out. It’s been a huge blessing.
“I'm doing a totally different genre and a whole lot of our fans have reached out over the couple of years saying, ‘I wasn't a country music fan. Now I love it because of your songs,’ which is super cool.”
