Hey, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. What have you been up to over the past year in this big old mess?
Thanks for having me! In this past year, I was busy recording my brand new album as well as doing a lot of writing. I also recorded a duet, “Hello, My Friend” with Barney Esville, which is currently charting in Europe on the Hot Disc Country chart.
I’m very interested in how you started your adventure with music, and did you know from the beginning that this is what you wanted to do?
I began writing songs at the early age of 10. It was a way for me to express my emotions as a quiet child with an untraditional childhood. My mother encouraged me to take piano lessons at 14 and then I taught myself guitar in high school. My Granddad was a bluegrass musician, so he was also a huge influence for me to pursue music. After graduating high school, I moved from Knoxville, TN to Nashville to attend Belmont University and further pursue my music dream, and I haven’t looked back since. I couldn’t imagine a life without music.
Congrats on your new release, ‘Blackout Barbie’. Can you give us some insight into it?
Thank you! I wrote the song in 2016 with Molly Fair and came back to it in 2020 to finish the song and record it. I knew I wanted it to be a part of my upcoming album, and I released it as a single this June. I never planned the release to coincide with the new Barbie movie, but the timing of it ended up working out perfectly. “Blackout Barbie” is about the girls we are envious of that look like perfect cookie cutter models, but we don’t really know what’s going on inside of them. Sometimes they aren’t as pretty in the inside as the outside. The music video is out now on YouTube.
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as an artist?
As humans and creatives, I believe we never continue growing. As I reach more milestones in my career, I like to reflect on myself and see if there’s any blocks in my life preventing me from reaching my next step. I can’t be the kind of artist and musician I want to portray unless I am utilizing my full potential, which includes taking every opportunity I get as well as staying healthy, both mentally and physically.
What should we expect from your next releases in terms of style and sound? How different are they going to be compared to your previous works?
My upcoming album, Outside the Lines, is very different from my past releases. It’s labeled as country, but not all of the tracks on it are country. It’s country, pop, and even a touch of bluegrass. It includes a lot of the genres I have been influenced by, and it’s also a concept album in the sense that each track on it is a different color. It’s a way to express myself and show that this is how I think outside of the box and how I describe myself in different colors.
Where are you based? Can you tell us how the music scene there has inspired your sound at all?
Nashville, TN. Growing up, I always loved country music the most being from the southeast and just loving the storytelling aspect of the genre in general. But I was also always around an array of genres, so my songwriting in the beginning was more tailored to a pop/folk sound. Moving to Nashville, I was able to write with more country singer-songwriters and really develop more of a country sound with my songs. I still enjoy writing multiple genres, but country will always be my true sound.
If you could perform at any venue in the world, where would it be and why?
The Grand Ole Opry- It’s a dream venue for any country musician to perform at.
Can we expect a new EP or an album from you in the near future?
Absolutely! My new album, Outside the Lines, will be released on August 11th of this year. You can pre-save or pre-order it now.
Finally, have you got anything to share regarding upcoming gigs, and what have you got planned for 2023?
Yes- I will be going on tour in August following the release of my new album! Follow me on social media to stay tuned on where I will be heading this year. I’m very excited to share soon where I will be going.
