SE: K-State Senior Nick Walsh Sets Sights on Post-Football Career in Nashville as Singer/Songwriter
Sep 15, 2017 | Football, Sports Extra
Coming to K-State as a walk-on punter, Nick Walsh had very few in his corner who thought he would ever see the field. By the second game of his redshirt freshman season he was the Wildcats' starter, a role Walsh, now a senior, has not relinquished.
"I knew if I wanted it bad enough, I would get it," Walsh said. "It's like I made a dream come true."
During the offseason, Walsh realized another dream. It's one he hopes might land him in Nashville, Tennessee, where the No. 18 Wildcats (2-0) face Vanderbilt (2-0) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., which will be shown nationally on ESPNU. It's also where Walsh has his post-football sights set on pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter.
"I've always loved music," said Walsh, who first picked up a guitar at around age 9 or 10. "It's always been a passion of mine."
It wasn't until about four months ago that Walsh put his passion to the test. During a drive back to his hometown of Lyndon, he decided to give songwriting a try. He started off writing lyrics to backing tracks on YouTube and eventually turned it into a career goal.
"That's kind of what got me started," Walsh said. "From then on, I started messing around on my guitar and just tried to throw some lyrics around here and there, and before I knew it I was starting to write some cool songs."
Walsh said he wrote about 20 songs during a three-month portion of the offseason. Quickly he learned it was "something I love to do."
Despite the recent start, Walsh has already made significant contacts within the industry.
Through Reno Mussatto, a relative of Walsh's who owns the music label "Lakehouse Records & Publishing" in Orlando, Florida, Walsh said he was able to meet with a few singer/songwriters. This included Sean Dunn, who Walsh said "helped me a ton."
Additionally, Walsh made a strong connection with Erik Dylan, a Kansas native and professional singer/songwriter based in Nashville. He now considers Dylan, who has written for notable country artists/bands such as Kip Moore, Eli Young Band, Justin Moore and Thompson Square, "a really good mentor."
Dylan shares a great deal of respect for Walsh and what he represents — a hard working, "small town Kansas kid" fearless to long odds.
"I just love seeing a small town kid from Kansas chasing his dreams and getting to play DI football. I think he's taken that mentality and the same strategy into the songwriting realm and learning to play the guitar," Dylan said. "You can tell he's one of those guys that when he sets his mind to do something, he's one of the people that will make that happen."
Because of Walsh's character, Dylan finds it easy to serve as his mentor. Plus, Dylan said he sees a lot of himself in Walsh, in terms of talent and drive.
"What I noticed with him is his creativity," Dylan, currently working on his second full-length album, said of Walsh's songwriting ability. "Lyric, to me, is first and foremost. Just studying some of the lyrics he sends me, I can see a lot of potential.
"Songwriting is very subjective but, in my mind, listening to what he's doing, I think he has all the tools, all the creativity and that spark that I love to see in songwriters. I see him doing really good things in the future."
Every songwriter has a slightly different process. Walsh is still in the early stages of developing his. So far, he's found that taking an idea to a quiet spot with some meaning is a good place to start.
"I'll just sit down and write about life, try to put that with my guitar cord progressions and try to build a song off of it," said Walsh, who has a small group of people he will send recordings to for feedback. "I get some good feedback sometimes and other times I get the truth of, 'Fix this, fix that.' So I'm still learning but I'm definitely loving playing music to people and singing to people."
To breakthrough in Nashville, Dylan said it takes "talent and luck, but without the talent the luck doesn't matter." Walsh, Dylan added, "has the talent."
The luck comes with being in the right place at the right time. Dylan's big break came at an open mic night, several years into his now 12 living in Nashville, when Kip Moore noticed him.
"My mantra for what I've done is, 'Must be present to win.' And I tell anyone who wants to move to Nashville and try songwriting that that's kind of the key," Dylan said. "You have to embed yourself into the music community. You have to really work hard, try to write the best songs you can write and eventually grab someone's ear and hope that they can help you out or give you a break of some sort."
In comparison, Dylan said the approach to success in sports is not all that different from making it as a singer/songwriter. It's a message he has relayed to Walsh many times.
"I know he practices a million times for that one play where it really matters, when you have to do it. We kind of do that as songwriters, too, because I write 150 songs a year and the reason I do that is to stay sharp every day so when that one idea comes in, I know exactly how I want to write that," Dylan said. "I feel like the brain's a muscle, just like any other muscle, and you have to exercise your creativity every day. I hope that 10 percent of the songs I write are songs that could possibly be cut, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to write every day.
"I think it's just something you have to do every day, much like sports."
It also takes a certain level of self-belief and perseverance. Again, this is where Walsh can lean on his football journey, where outside doubt never deterred him.
"Looking back, I didn't have too big of a background in punting and, relating it to music, I never had a background in singing until a few months ago when I just thought I'd up and try it," said Walsh, sixth in K-State history in career punting average (41.9). "I had a few people who believed in me with the football thing and there's probably a few now that believe in me with the music thing, but I believe in myself and I'm really passionate about it.
"There's a lot of people who joke around with me about the music thing but you only get one life, so I'm not going to sit around and say, 'I wish I would've.' I believe in myself, and maybe sometimes that's all it takes. I can see myself down in Nashville someday, just playing music to people, and if someone likes my songs and something happens, then great. And if it doesn't, then I can look back and say I tried and at least be able to play to people the rest of my life. It's something that just makes me happy, playing music to people."
After this season ends, Walsh hopes to co-write some songs with Dylan and eventually put out his own album. For now, however, music is on the backburner. Currently, Walsh said his sole focus is on his punts' hang time, distance and placement. The guitar, chords and lyrics can wait.
"I'm just going to focus on this football season," he said, "and then we'll worry about all that music stuff come January."
What if an NFL opportunity presents itself to Walsh, a two-time member of the Ray Guy Award watch list? In that scenario, Walsh said he would train for football and write in his downtime.
"If I'm put in a position to have a look at the NFL, then I definitely would consider it but I would be putting a lot of time my time into both of those at the same time," he said, cracking a dream-filled smile, before adding: "Who knows? Maybe the Tennessee Titans give me a shot and I can enjoy the best of both worlds."
"I knew if I wanted it bad enough, I would get it," Walsh said. "It's like I made a dream come true."
During the offseason, Walsh realized another dream. It's one he hopes might land him in Nashville, Tennessee, where the No. 18 Wildcats (2-0) face Vanderbilt (2-0) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m., which will be shown nationally on ESPNU. It's also where Walsh has his post-football sights set on pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter.
"I've always loved music," said Walsh, who first picked up a guitar at around age 9 or 10. "It's always been a passion of mine."
It wasn't until about four months ago that Walsh put his passion to the test. During a drive back to his hometown of Lyndon, he decided to give songwriting a try. He started off writing lyrics to backing tracks on YouTube and eventually turned it into a career goal.
"That's kind of what got me started," Walsh said. "From then on, I started messing around on my guitar and just tried to throw some lyrics around here and there, and before I knew it I was starting to write some cool songs."
Walsh said he wrote about 20 songs during a three-month portion of the offseason. Quickly he learned it was "something I love to do."
Despite the recent start, Walsh has already made significant contacts within the industry.
Through Reno Mussatto, a relative of Walsh's who owns the music label "Lakehouse Records & Publishing" in Orlando, Florida, Walsh said he was able to meet with a few singer/songwriters. This included Sean Dunn, who Walsh said "helped me a ton."
Additionally, Walsh made a strong connection with Erik Dylan, a Kansas native and professional singer/songwriter based in Nashville. He now considers Dylan, who has written for notable country artists/bands such as Kip Moore, Eli Young Band, Justin Moore and Thompson Square, "a really good mentor."
Dylan shares a great deal of respect for Walsh and what he represents — a hard working, "small town Kansas kid" fearless to long odds.
"I just love seeing a small town kid from Kansas chasing his dreams and getting to play DI football. I think he's taken that mentality and the same strategy into the songwriting realm and learning to play the guitar," Dylan said. "You can tell he's one of those guys that when he sets his mind to do something, he's one of the people that will make that happen."
Because of Walsh's character, Dylan finds it easy to serve as his mentor. Plus, Dylan said he sees a lot of himself in Walsh, in terms of talent and drive.
"What I noticed with him is his creativity," Dylan, currently working on his second full-length album, said of Walsh's songwriting ability. "Lyric, to me, is first and foremost. Just studying some of the lyrics he sends me, I can see a lot of potential.
"Songwriting is very subjective but, in my mind, listening to what he's doing, I think he has all the tools, all the creativity and that spark that I love to see in songwriters. I see him doing really good things in the future."
Every songwriter has a slightly different process. Walsh is still in the early stages of developing his. So far, he's found that taking an idea to a quiet spot with some meaning is a good place to start.
"I'll just sit down and write about life, try to put that with my guitar cord progressions and try to build a song off of it," said Walsh, who has a small group of people he will send recordings to for feedback. "I get some good feedback sometimes and other times I get the truth of, 'Fix this, fix that.' So I'm still learning but I'm definitely loving playing music to people and singing to people."
To breakthrough in Nashville, Dylan said it takes "talent and luck, but without the talent the luck doesn't matter." Walsh, Dylan added, "has the talent."
The luck comes with being in the right place at the right time. Dylan's big break came at an open mic night, several years into his now 12 living in Nashville, when Kip Moore noticed him.
"My mantra for what I've done is, 'Must be present to win.' And I tell anyone who wants to move to Nashville and try songwriting that that's kind of the key," Dylan said. "You have to embed yourself into the music community. You have to really work hard, try to write the best songs you can write and eventually grab someone's ear and hope that they can help you out or give you a break of some sort."
In comparison, Dylan said the approach to success in sports is not all that different from making it as a singer/songwriter. It's a message he has relayed to Walsh many times.
"I know he practices a million times for that one play where it really matters, when you have to do it. We kind of do that as songwriters, too, because I write 150 songs a year and the reason I do that is to stay sharp every day so when that one idea comes in, I know exactly how I want to write that," Dylan said. "I feel like the brain's a muscle, just like any other muscle, and you have to exercise your creativity every day. I hope that 10 percent of the songs I write are songs that could possibly be cut, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to write every day.
"I think it's just something you have to do every day, much like sports."
It also takes a certain level of self-belief and perseverance. Again, this is where Walsh can lean on his football journey, where outside doubt never deterred him.
"Looking back, I didn't have too big of a background in punting and, relating it to music, I never had a background in singing until a few months ago when I just thought I'd up and try it," said Walsh, sixth in K-State history in career punting average (41.9). "I had a few people who believed in me with the football thing and there's probably a few now that believe in me with the music thing, but I believe in myself and I'm really passionate about it.
"There's a lot of people who joke around with me about the music thing but you only get one life, so I'm not going to sit around and say, 'I wish I would've.' I believe in myself, and maybe sometimes that's all it takes. I can see myself down in Nashville someday, just playing music to people, and if someone likes my songs and something happens, then great. And if it doesn't, then I can look back and say I tried and at least be able to play to people the rest of my life. It's something that just makes me happy, playing music to people."
After this season ends, Walsh hopes to co-write some songs with Dylan and eventually put out his own album. For now, however, music is on the backburner. Currently, Walsh said his sole focus is on his punts' hang time, distance and placement. The guitar, chords and lyrics can wait.
"I'm just going to focus on this football season," he said, "and then we'll worry about all that music stuff come January."
What if an NFL opportunity presents itself to Walsh, a two-time member of the Ray Guy Award watch list? In that scenario, Walsh said he would train for football and write in his downtime.
"If I'm put in a position to have a look at the NFL, then I definitely would consider it but I would be putting a lot of time my time into both of those at the same time," he said, cracking a dream-filled smile, before adding: "Who knows? Maybe the Tennessee Titans give me a shot and I can enjoy the best of both worlds."
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