By definition, a compass is a device used for navigation. It helps travelers choose the right path to find their destination, both literally and figuratively.
Spencer Crandall thought he planned his way, but his life’s compass is broken.
He entered Colorado Mesa University in 2013 as a football defensive lineman and had a high potential.
Football was his whole focus, his entire identity.
Like many top high school soccer players, you come to college with big dreams.
However, the freshman was sidelined with a double shoulder injury before his college career could take off.
A trip to the doctor handed Crandall a rigorous reality check: two torn labrums, a torn bicep, and various other shoulder problems.
His new reality was a candid diagnosis.
“They said, ‘You’re a mess.'”
Football is over. His focus and identity and his future had to change.
It’s time to transition. But to what?
“There was a transition period from ‘I’m an athlete, this is what I do’ to ‘I’m not an athlete, what should I do’.”
“I had a full-blown identity crisis. I was a football player and that was my identity.”
Suddenly he lost his concentration.
“I didn’t have a greater purpose. The compass wasn’t really pointing at anything.”
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the compass was pointing to a cheap guitar in the corner of my dorm room.
That’s what Spencer Crandall sounds country music onstage at Warehouse 2565 today.
The story of how he got here started when he returned to the CMU dormitory.
Crandall’s musical journey began when he learned to play the guitar in his high school senior project, unknown to him at the time.
By his own admission, he learned very little, but when he packed his bags for college, he picked up jockstraps and other soccer gear, and even got a cheap guitar. .
“When I went to college, I stole my brother’s blue Walmart guitar.”
However, he admits it was more of a prop than he was planning to play.
“I just had to impress the girls who walked into my dorm room,” he said with a laugh.
Little did he know that a cheap guitar would be the gateway to his future. But after he got injured and boredom hit, Crandall started strumming that guitar, and this time he really learned how to play.
And to borrow rock and roll lyrics, that one guitar felt good in his hand.
But it wasn’t like flipping a light switch, and the transition from football to country music took time.
His guitar playing reputation began to grow at CMU, and friends encouraged him to play at dorm parties.
A dream began to take shape after someone asked if they had an original song.
“This girl came up to me after I played her song and asked if I had a recording of the song,” he said.
It blew his mind. Someone actually liked his song and wanted to hear it.
“She was going through a breakup and said she wanted to hear it.”
He doesn’t remember what the song was, joking that it was “probably really bad,” but this woman thought it was great.
At that time, football was officially sacked, and his compass was firmly set on country music.
“I just wanted someone to actually listen to my music, and I think that was the moment I thought maybe this could be done,” he said.
After months of distributing music online, Crandall released a new album, Western, on October 21st.
He currently tours nationally in Denver, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Houston, Dallas, Chicago and more. When he debuts at the Grand His All-His Opry later this year, he’ll be making a stop at country music’s mecca.
But he knows he’s far from his great times and still has a lot to do.
“It was a pretty cool trip. “It’s been a fun trip, but it’s been a tough journey. It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows the whole time. It’s been hard work, but I love what I do.”
Crandall is an independent artist who has used online and social media platforms to grow his brand. His online numbers are quite impressive and include 1.2 million monthly Spotify listeners, 250 million global his career streams, and more than 2.5 million followers on TikTok.
As part of a family of country music lovers, and as a big fan of country music, this trip feels perfect for Crandall.
“I feel like all my life’s soundtracks have been country songs,” he said.
His list of favorite country music artists is long and includes names like Johnny Cash, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain and Kenny Chesney.
Crandall sees his country music as a craft, and it starts with songwriting.
And with so many great country songs over the decades, he’s dedicated himself to writing songs about his life.
“I’m really proud that it’s about my real life,” he said of his song. From heartbreak to mental health to falling in love to the love I want, it’s my real life experience.”
As far as writing songs about love, Crandall has confessed that he was once in love, but is now single.
At 27, he has a wealth of life experience to help him write songs.
“I had a lot of difficult conversations with myself. I think songwriting is about those difficult conversations.”
Some of those difficult conversations led to one of his favorite songs – “I didn’t” – which he wrote as “a daily reminder to live life with urgency and purpose.” I will help you.”
Crandall has become a fully-fledged country music artist, and his life as a CMU football player is a distant memory.
As a big football lineman from Thunderridge High School in Highlands Ranch, size mattered.
At £260, he was encouraged to go even bigger.
But those football memories are always near the surface, especially when you’re getting ready for a performance.
“Eerily similar. It’s the same butterfly, the same anxiety, the same preparation. Football takes a lot of preparation. So does music.”
When he’s ready to go on stage, he feels the same rush he did on the soccer field.
“I always feel like I’m trying to tackle someone,” he said with a laugh.
As an independent artist, Crandall really didn’t know how else to get into the music business.
“I’ve wanted to do it since I was a kid, but I didn’t know how, so I just started. I did something a little unconventional by going straight to the fans,” he said. I got
With the ultimate goal of making it big and performing to packed stadiums, he knows he’ll eventually need a record label deal.
For now, he’s happy with the spiraling trajectory of his career.
From playing football to spinning a compass to making a blind leap into a music career, Spencer Crandall is living a new dream.
And his shoulder feels great.
