He Was Mowing Ditches Before Country Music Came Calling | Shane Profitt
Not long before Shane Profitt was playing the Grand Ole Opry and Ryman Auditorium, he was working for the City of Columbia, Tennessee, mowing ditches and playing music on the weekends.
That's not some carefully manufactured country music backstory. That's Shane.
Shane Profitt during his Heart of the Gulch interview at CMA Fest in Nashville.
When he stopped by Heart of the Gulch during CMA Fest 2025, we got one of the funniest and most unpredictable conversations of the weekend — while also digging into the blue-collar life behind his music and his single “Long Live Country.”
Inside Shane Profitt’s Heart of the Gulch Interview
Welcome to Heart of the Gulch, a Nashville-based interview show and country music platform featuring artists, singer-songwriters and personalities shaping music and entertainment. Host and creator Tony Mendoza sat down with Shane Profitt during CMA Fest to talk “Long Live Country,” “How It Oughta Be,” growing up in Columbia and the everyday people who continue inspiring his songs.
Mowing Ditches to Making Country Music
Shane's story starts about an hour south of Nashville in Columbia, Tennessee.
Heart of the Gulch host Tony Mendoza interviewing Shane Profitt during CMA Fest.
Before music became his full-time career, he worked for the city while spending weekends playing shows around Tennessee. He had originally picked up the guitar after asking his grandfather to teach him Hank Williams Jr. songs.
That working-class background eventually became one of the defining pieces of his music.
Long Live Country
Released during CMA Fest weekend, “Long Live Country” might be one of Shane's most autobiographical songs.
Written by Shane alongside Matt Rogers and Lindsay Rimes, the song celebrates Columbia, SEC football, 40-hour work weeks and the people and places that shaped him. Even the artwork paid tribute to his former job mowing ditches for the city.
Shane Profitt discussing his single “Long Live Country” and Columbia, Tennessee roots.
It's country music about Shane's life because, frankly, Shane's life is pretty damn country already.
How It Oughta Be Changed Everything
Before “Long Live Country,” there was “How It Oughta Be.”
The breakout single became Shane's first charting country song, reaching No. 16 on Billboard's Country Airplay chart and introducing a much larger audience to his booming voice and blue-collar songwriting.
Since then, he's performed on the Grand Ole Opry and in front of sold-out crowds at the Ryman Auditorium — a pretty wild change of scenery for a guy who wasn't far removed from working for his hometown.
Through all of it, Columbia is still at the center of the story.
Watch Shane Profitt on Heart of the Gulch
Watch our full conversation with Shane Profitt as he talks “Long Live Country,” “How It Oughta Be,” his Columbia, Tennessee roots and the blue-collar life behind his country music.
Tony Mendoza is the Nashville-based host and creator of Heart of the Gulch, featuring conversations with country artists, singer-songwriters and personalities from Nashville and beyond.
