Who Is Justin Schools? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music

Full name – Justin Schools
Birthdate – 09/20/1999
Hometown – Ray City, Georgia
Current city – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical influences – Luke Bryan, Randy Travis, The Fray, Alan Jackson
Current Single – “Somewhere Right Now” (as of date of article: 6/2/2025)

Today’s spotlight shines on newcomer, Justin Schools. The talented singer-songwriter has music in his blood, and he is on the path to greatness. We chatted with Schools about his path so far, his current music, and everything in between!

Growing up, Schools was surrounded by music thanks to his musical family. “I grew up in South Georgia, pretty much the middle of nowhere. […] I grew up listening to music and helping out and working around farms, just living the country lifestyle,” shared the singer, adding, “My mother sings and still sings in church to this day. I grew up around it, I had some cousins who played in bands around Georgia, so music has always been a big part of my life.”

From an early age, the singer-songwriter played and snag in church and led worship at his school. “Country music was a part of my lifestyle, so I listened to a lot of that and Christian music.” In high-school, Schools’ music catalog expanded to the genres too. “I played a lot of sports, so that opened me up to a lot more music. I listen to some rap, some hip-hop, and I kind of got into classical a little bit. […] It’s a little bit of everything.”

His wide musical taste allowed him to draw inspiration from different artists, which he still feels inspired by today. “Growing up, I grew up listening to Luke Bryan, and some people hate it, and some people judge me for it, but now I’m just accepting it. Luke Bryan is one of my biggest influences as far as his songs he wrote coming into country. I grew up that way, so I related to him a lot. Outside of Luke, Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, and I listened to a lot of The Fray coming up too. They’re one of my favorite bands, so they inspired a lot of my songwriting too.”

The Turning Point:

Upon graduating high-school, Schools went to college in his home-state.”I started playing in a little acoustic group in college and playing bars, and stuff like that. That kind of extended into writing songs,” he shared, adding, “coming out of high-school, I went to college, and I was a terrible student in college. I would skip class just to go to work or to play a show on the weekend. I wound up going to four different colleges really before I decided to finally make the move up to Nashville in 2021.”

Prior to making the move to Music City, Schools found himself trying to make college work, while really desiring to focus on music. “People tell me I lived twelve different lives all in one,” he shared. “I went to one college and did the fraternity thing and had fun at that one school, and then got out of there. Then I went off to one college and went there, and was doing great in school for the first time, then COVID came around, and everything went online, and I am by no means a technology guy.”

This led Schools to take some time off. He eventually ended up transferring to a private music college in Memphis, Tennessee. “I majored in songwriting, which I didn’t really major in it, because I only went for one year, and I went there, and I did not enjoy the college in Memphis at all, I was back and forth from Memphis and Nashville a a lot, just writing back and forth with guys here in Nashville, I felt like Memphis was kind of just my way to be involved with music without having to stress about my first months rent.”

After that, he moved home for the summer, saved up money, and officially moved to Nashville at the end of 2021.

Today:

Flash forward to today, Schools is living full-time in Nashville, and releasing music for the first time, giving his dream a real shot. He most recently released new songs, “Hurt Like That.” and “Somewhere Right Now.” While the singer’s initial music leaned more towards old-school Luke Bryan, his current sound is an incredible blend of rock and country influences that feel all his own.

Schools shared that “Hurt Like That” marked the first time he really felt he found that sound in his music. “I had the idea of “Hurt Like That,” what could it be, and you could go so many different routes with one idea. Then the melody kind of popped in my head, and I took it into a room with some great writers, and we didn’t really nail down what I wanted, so I took it back, and took it in another room with some good friends of mine, and we finally got the product that you hear today. […] “Hurt Like That” is a cool song. It’s different than when I first started writing. […] It’s a new lane that I feel like I’ve gotten into, and I’m really enjoying it, and it’s fun, and it feels great.”

“Somewhere Right Now” is an incredible follow up “Hurt Like That,” showcasing Schools talent even more!  Fans can expect even more music coming down the pipeline soon. Stay tuned! “We for sure have more music coming out this year. We worked really hard on them.”

Connect:

To keep up with Justin Schools, follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Justin Schools’ music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.