Canton South performer Mitch Rossell on Garth Brooks: 'He's a different level of human'

'Mitch Rossell doesn't talk with the swagger or boastfulness one might expect from a country music artist who has written songs for Garth Brooks and opened for the icon at stadiums.

"Garth is the reason those people are in those seats, not me," he admitted during a recent phone interview to promote Rossell's 7:30 p.m. concert Friday at Canton South High School.

Acknowledging the thrill and privilege of opening for Brooks before tens of thousands of fans, Rossell said he will feel more in his element at the 893-seat Performing Arts Center at Canton South High. He is appearing in Stark County after Canton Local Superintendent Brett Yeagley won a contest for a backyard concert.

Tickets are $20 and available for purchase online at https://www.cantonlocal.org/ or by calling school offices at 330-484-8010. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

"It's really cool to do venues like this," the 29-year-old Rossell said. "Any venue under 1,000 people because you get to meet a lot of new folks, and I always enjoy that.

"It certainly can remind you how blessed you are," he said of meeting fans at smaller shows. "At least for where I'm at right now, even though I've gotten to do some amazing things, I'm still in the grinding part of my career big time, so it definitely keeps you humble. I've been at it for a while and haven't reached the point I want to be at, so that definitely keeps me pretty humble.

More:Country music loving school official wins Mitch Rossell concert at Canton South High

"The business is pretty hard and beats you up," Rossell said. "It's hard to get too big of a head ... when this business kicks you down, but I definitely appreciate (meeting fans) because it reminds you of the reason you write songs and the reason that you do what you do."

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Friday's concert will have a fuller sound than when opening for Brooks as a one-man acoustic performer.

"There will be a little more dynamic to the sound," he said of performing as a trio. "We'll do a lot of originals, a lot of stuff that isn't out yet. We just started playing some new songs we're going to be releasing soon. .. And we will do some covers as well. Some fun stuff.

"I want to make you laugh, I mean belly laugh," Rossell added. "And then I want to make you cry and I want to make you feel everything, from that all the way to the other, and everything in between."

Rossell wrote No. 1 song for Garth Brooks

Rossell has co-written three songs for Brooks: "Dive Bar," "All Day Long" and "That's What Cowboys Do." He also wrote "Ask Me How I Know." Appearing on Brooks' 2016 album, "Gunslinger," the song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart.

Although Rossell wrote the chart-topper for himself, "I was pretty ecstatic when (Brooks) cut it, which was way cooler than me cutting it."

"Ask Me How I Know" and "Dive Bar" both will be on Rossell's setlist for the Stark County concert. Rossell's solo material will include "Then Again" and "All I Need to See."

Rossell opened for Brooks in 2022, posting on Instagram: "Touring with the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) this summer was life-changing. I still can’t believe it actually happened. Grateful is an understatement.

"Opening for Garth Brooks period is next level," he said in the video clip. "But doing it in front of 70, 80, 90, 100 thousand plus people with just an acoustic guitar, that's not even a dream, man, that's a fantasy."

In 2016, Rossell released the album, "Raised by the Radio," which includes the songs "Any Girl," "Not Enough," "Mine Was a Backroad" and "All About Me."

Several singles have followed, including the popular "Ran into You" featuring Trisha Yearwood in 2021 before releasing "A Girl Does" and "Seeing Her" in 2022.

Playing songs live at intimate shows like Friday's at Canton South High School is why Rossell makes music.

Maybe "the last three weeks have been hell for (a fan), and you could be the reason they finally got to smile a little bit," he said. "And hearing those things inspire me.

Rossell on Garth: 'He's the greatest to ever do it.'

Rossell is used to fielding questions about Brooks, who has sold more than 150 million records, ranking ahead of Elvis and second only to The Beatles. But he does so amicably and eagerly.

"You're talking about Garth Brooks," he said. "He's the greatest to ever do it. The single most selling solo artist of all time. He's a legend, but it's almost not even a big enough word for what I think of him, and that's just musically, and that's not even the highest praise I can give him.

"He's just as a person everything that you hope someone will be in his position or in any position," Rossell continued. "He would be successful no matter what he's doing because he's an amazing leader and he's an amazing person.

"He's truly a shining light, an example to everyone around him, and so it's an honor to even get to talk about him, because I just think so much of him as a person," he said. "So it never bothers me when people ask me to brag about Garth because it's easy."

'He's a different level of human.'

Rossell talked more about Brooks' kindness and generosity than his slew of hit songs and celebrity stature.

"Garth and I are similar in the way when we do things for people behind closed doors, that's where we intend to keep them," he said. "Not because we're trying to be secretive, but because we both are men of faith and we believe if you do something kind for somebody, it's not to go out as the Bible would say .. and brag about it or want everybody to see it."

Rossell recalled the time he was at Brooks' home north of Nashville.

It was November or December. As the two men walked and talked outside, Brooks noticed Rossell didn't have a coat. So Brooks gave him one, and even offered to let him keep it.

A few days later, when Rossell was getting ready to fly to Cincinnati for the tour, Brooks reached out.

"Before he gets on the plane, he's about to leave the house, and he texts me out of nowhere and says, 'Hey, man, do you need a coat?' I was like, 'Why is he thinking about me needing a coat?' Of all the million things going on in his life, of all the people messaging him, emailing him, all of his commitments, his press conference ... (and) he thought to text me and ask me if I needed a coat, which it turns out I had forgotten my coat again, so I answered yes.

"That's just one of so many examples that I could give, but he's a different level of human," Rossell added. "It's pretty remarkable."

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com

On Twitter @ebalintREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Garth Brooks songwriter Rossell says Canton South show will be great