Composer Rick Skoog spent six years traveling around the country painting water towers and oil tanks. As the days on the road began to blur, he turned to journaling to process his thoughts and experiences. Out of the journaling came a lyric, one that would be his ticket to Nashville.

“Going to Nashville happened really quickly,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Skoog headed down to Nashville in an old pickup truck to break into the mainstream country scene with co-writer Roy Holdren after showing Holdren a few of his lyrics. Skoog figures he made about 38 trips from Minnesota to Nashville in the span of five years. During that time, he lived at the Nashville truck stop, promoting and recording his music and hanging out with the Nashville crowd.

“I got to meet some really great people,” he said.

One of the best things Skoog said he did in Nashville was to volunteer for the Songwriters Guild of America, which placed him in the same circles as Loretta Lynn and Toby Keith. Skoog described Nashville as “the small town of the music industry” he said. The extremely competitive atmosphere eventually prompted him to return to his home state of Minnesota after several years working towards a breakthrough in the country music industry. A transfer opportunity from his employer, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, brought him to the North Shore and he now lives on the shores of Lake Superior in Hovland and is building a cabin near Ely.

“I was pretty hot and heavy into [the music industry] from 2000-2006. I totally divorced myself from it the last two years and now I’m starting to get into it again,” he said.

Skoog said he never set out to be in the music industry. He also doesn’t consider himself a musician, although he does play guitar. He said he contributes an editor's ear when it comes to composing music.

“Musicians are really into it and want to add everything to their songs,” he said. “I say, ‘Let’s focus on this,’ or ‘Let’s focus on that.’”

Besides country music, Skoog has also worked with Twin Cities R&B artist Rebekka Fisher. Lately, he and collaborator Dave Werhane have focused their compositions on film soundtracks, leading to several Los Angeles trips.

“It’s fun. It’s like adult Disneyland,” he said. “It’s completely foreign to how I live here.”

Currently Werhane and Skoog are working on soundtracks of documentary films. Their music has appeared in a sea kayak documentary and last year was used in Justine Curgenven’s "This is Canoeing" documentary. Skoog said he enjoys working with a script and writing music which centers on the main themes and events in the film.

Skoog and Werhane are continuously seeking to carve out connections and take on new projects, but Skoog said after 15 years in the music industry he tries not to focus too much on one single project as they work to take their music to the next level.

“As soon as you send out something, it’s out of your hands,” he said. “I always try to focus on what’s next.”