Warren Zeiders is living proof that an athlete’s mentality can endure long after the final whistle. The country-rock singer recently explained on Artist Friendly with Joel Madden how the habits he built through his lacrosse-playing days continue to shape his writing and recording style, as well as content creation. For the Hershey, PA, native, he’s learned that music demands the same daily commitment as athletics: If you show up and put in the work, good things are bound happen.
These days, the “Pretty Little Poison” singer takes a happy but never satisfied mentality to his career. “You get one victory lap, and that’s it,” he told Madden. “Take it in. Like, be grateful, soak it in for a moment.”
From lacrosse reps to songwriting sessions
Growing up in Hershey, Zeiders was an attacker at Hershey High School. He went on to play at D-III Frostburg State before several concussions cut short his lacrosse career. Zeiders transferred to Penn State Harrisburg, before leaving his senior year, as music took center stage and he ended up signing a record deal. He still maintains some lacrosse connection, telling Madden that he invested in the Premier Lacrosse League. and spoke about the sport’s growth.
“After finding out my history with lacrosse and everything they “invited to be a collaborator and invest,” he says. “I owe that sport so much with what it taught me.”
The connection between sports and music, Zeiders said, is the work behind the performance. Just like the pressure involved to earn his place on a team, he connected putting in the practice and reps on the field to the demands that go with a budding music career:””
“Just because being an athlete my whole life, that’s all I ever knew was if you ain’t playing right, you’re gonna be benched,” he says. “And practice, and it’s all the hours on the wall shooting, all that stuff. That’s writing, putting time in the studio, that’s the content today. That’s everything. You you have to want it more than anyone.”
That mindset can help when the business doesn’t deliver the result he expected. Zeiders described the frustration of hearing fans sing along at shows while a song underperformed on country radio. Madden encouraged him to think about success as a “spectrum of outcomes,” rather than reducing it to a single chart position. Live audiences, ticket sales, streaming and growth in new markets can all offer signs that the music is connecting.
“As long as you’re happy with the person you wake up looking at in the mirror, doesn’t matter what people think about you,” he says, “as long as you’re comfortable in your own skin.”