Episode 43: Tiera Kennedy - podcast episode cover

Episode 43: Tiera Kennedy

Apr 30, 202442 min
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Episode description

Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Tiera Kennedy is an artist and songwriter currently signed to Songs & Daughters, the publishing company of Nicolle Galyon. Additionally, she is the host of the Tiera Show on Apple Music Country. Recently, Tiera was featured on Beyoncé’s #1 Album ‘Cowboy Carter’.

On this episode, Tiera shares her journey, from moving to Nashville and signing a publishing deal to leaving a record label and releasing music independently, the struggle to be honest and real in the music industry, and how opportunity comes when you least expect it.

New Episodes every Tuesday.

Find the host Troy Cartwright on Twitter, Instagram.

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This podcast was produced by Ben VanMaarth.

Intro and Outro music for this episode was composed by Troy Cartwright, Monty Criswell, and Derek George. It is called "Same" and you can listen to it in it's entirety here.

Additional music for this episode was composed by Thomas Ventura.

Artwork design by Brad Vetter.

Creative Direction by Mary Lucille Noah.

Transcript

Speaker 1

What's up everybody ? Troy Cartwright here . Welcome back to another episode of 10 Year Town . Before we get going , we are very , very close to our subscriber goal on YouTube , so if you can go to our YouTube page and hit subscribe , it would help us out a ton . You can do that at 10YearTowncom . Hope you guys are having a great week , thanks .

Today's guest is Tiara Kennedy . You know Tiara from her feature on the latest Beyonce record and from her own music as well . In this episode we discuss her journey through Nashville , the highs and the lows , how she found some of her favorite collaborators and the advice that she would give to her younger self . I really enjoyed this one .

I know you guys will too . So without further ado , here she is . I'm making an executive decision . We're just going to roll no headphones today because you got a cool hat on .

Speaker 2

I know I always make it difficult .

Speaker 1

You and Cole Ford are the only people that have not worn the headphones .

Speaker 2

I like it .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

I've really been into the hat thing lately . It just like it's pretty sick . It just makes it easier in the mornings , you know , not actually having to do my hair .

Speaker 1

I feel like I want to do like . I've gone through phases where I'm like being the hat guy .

Speaker 2

Yeah , you would like kill a hat .

Speaker 1

I feel like I don't know what kind of hat to wear .

Speaker 2

Like I feel like you could do like a short brim , like a little like a fedora , maybe , Like a fedora , but then I'm like a fedora guy , but that's cool .

Speaker 1

I don't think I want to be a fedora guy . I don't think I'm ready for that yet .

Speaker 2

I feel like that's like a , it's a commitment . I feel it .

Speaker 1

Like I already feel like I'm getting old oh my gosh .

Speaker 2

No , you would pull it off . I feel like hats , just like they make any outfit cooler . I have confidence .

Speaker 1

Are we rolling ? Awesome , I feel like . When was the last time I saw you ? It was some award show at the Ryman .

Speaker 2

Award show , ACM Honors maybe .

Speaker 1

Yeah , that's probably what it was . I couldn't remember if it was that or AI , whatever the there's a lot of award shows .

Speaker 2

Oh yeah , I think it was .

Speaker 1

ACM Honors , though I think you're right .

Speaker 2

What is the writers award ? Is it AIMP Awards ? Yeah , yeah , maybe it was that one , I can't remember .

Speaker 1

I've been to like three there , I feel like in the last year . I know yeah so yeah also I didn't realize .

Speaker 2

I just played there the other day for a Patsy Cline tribute show , which was really fun , but I'd like I've never really been like backstage . I never have it's like cramp back there .

Speaker 1

It's tiny . Yeah , how many dressing rooms are there ?

Speaker 2

I mean there's a good bit of dressing rooms . But okay , to be fair , the first lady was there , so you know , they kind of like took over . There was some stuff going on , yeah there was a lot of stuff going on .

Speaker 1

Because I just went and did a thing at the Opry for the first time which I'd never been there before and did a thing at the Opry for the first time which I'd never been there before and their backstage is crazy huge .

Speaker 2

Yeah , wait , did you make your debut ?

Speaker 1

No , I didn't . I just went to meet everybody they gave you a tour yeah yeah , yeah , they do the whole thing .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Which was kind of insane being there . It was so cool yeah . I I was so heavy is not the right word , but it feels you feel very honored to be there .

Speaker 2

Yes , it . It's like you feel the history of everyone that's been there yeah , yeah .

Speaker 1

And then you know I'm toxic . So I'm like how have I never been , like when ? I was at this label , doing all this stuff , like how did I never do this ? Like what were they doing ?

Speaker 2

Literally . I say that all the time . What ? Are you doing .

Speaker 1

Yeah so .

Speaker 2

But yeah , that's awesome though . Yeah , the Opry's cool . What are you doing ? Yeah , so , but yeah , that's awesome though , but yeah , the Opry's cool . I always say it's like , um , it's like an artist's Disney world you know , it's just like everybody has their doors open .

Speaker 1

Everybody's so welcoming and yeah , yeah it's so cool , it's good vibes and it feels very , like you said , historic yes but it also . They have a great way of making you feel very welcome .

Speaker 2

It's not stuffy at all . No , you know what I mean . Yeah , it's . It's hard to explain , right Like it's . It's magical . That's the word that I would use , exactly .

Speaker 1

So it's pretty cool . Um well , I always start this thing off with the same question , which is how long have you been in town ?

Speaker 2

off with the same question okay , which is how long have you been in town ? I've been in town for eight years where from ? I'm ? From Birmingham , alabama , nice , um , and when I moved here my whole family moved up here with me so they really yeah , so , my parents and my two younger sisters . I have an older sister .

She's still um back in Birmingham , but yeah , I brought them all here and they love it yeah .

Speaker 1

That's so cool , they're thriving . Did you , did you move here like for were you going to school , was it strictly for music or what was kind of the- .

Speaker 2

Definitely for music . Yeah , I wanted to go to Belmont but it's super expensive so I didn't . I got basically a full ride scholarship to University of North Alabama , okay . So I went there for a year and it's pretty close to Nashville so I could like come up here on the weekends to like meet people and , you know , write sometimes .

But after a year I convinced my parents Well , actually the town convinced my parents to move here , because they were kind of like my momager and dadager , so they would be in meetings .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

And everyone was like if she wants to be in country music , she has to be here , and so they heard that . Enough to where they were like , okay , we'll move .

Speaker 1

They believed you . Yeah , yeah , how did ? How ? Were you kind of on sounds like you were on some people's radar already at that point . So how did ? How did ? Um , I don't know , how did that kind of all start ?

Speaker 2

yeah , so when I was in the shul , in muscle shoals um , I was riding a lot with mike mcguire , um of shannon doa , okay , and he introduced me to Laurel Kittleson , who she was at Big Machine at the time and she was like kind of one of the first people I met in town and she was just so great and like introduced me to anybody in the industry , like any

writer , or if there was another publisher that you know she thought I would vibe with and , yeah , she kind of put my foot in the door .

Speaker 1

That's so sick so you move up here , I guess . Yeah , bring the whole fam .

Speaker 2

Yeah , brought the whole family . The day I moved here . I had a show at the listening room , which was it was really cool for me to like move here and immediately hit the ground running because , like I dreamed of being here for so long and I was like I am gonna work my hardest .

So , yeah , I played a show at the listening room and then kind of like my thing when I first moved here was just like I did like a lot of restaurant gigs . I would play at the row in Midtown , um , and play like in hotel lobbies and I just did that , yeah , for like the first couple of years that's awesome .

Speaker 1

Just yeah , pays the bills right yeah um , were you at this point , had you met or were you working with any publishers or anything like that , or what was it kind of a ?

Speaker 2

yeah , we like it , we'll see yes , it was exactly that , and and I didn't I didn't really know what to expect moving here . Um well , maybe I did . I did have expectations and they were the wrong expectations . I thought that I was going to like play the bluebird and get discovered .

Speaker 1

Totally , because that's the story I heard .

Speaker 2

Yes , and then I realized that it's very much so . Not that . And you know , my goal was to sign a publishing deal when I moved here and I felt like it was taking longer than it should Totally wasn't .

I signed a publishing deal about two years into moving here , but I am grateful that it happened when it did and not when I wanted it to , because I so was not ready . Like my songs were not good , they're not good .

Speaker 1

It's hard when you're young , too , or when you're getting started .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

You believe , your songs are there .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

You know , yeah , because you just don't have the depth of knowledge yet Exactly , and it's hard because you're like . You know , I feel like I was like a dog , like straining on a leash or something .

Speaker 2

Yeah , Just trying to like let me go . Yeah , and , like I , when I moved to Nashville , that was my first time , one of my first times co-writing I like hadn't had a lot of experience doing that because there's not really that kind of culture in Birmingham .

Yeah , um , and so the only songs I'd written were by myself and , yeah , I thought they were good , but they weren't . And because I went and I got into the room with other writers that were more experienced and have been here for a long time and I learned so much from them and , yeah , definitely those first couple of years my writing got so much better .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , you learn fast .

Speaker 2

Yeah , you know yeah .

Speaker 1

So your first publishing deal . Who was it with ? And how did it change your life oh my gosh .

Speaker 2

So um , I signed with uh songs it's songs and daughters big loud and warner um , and sam jervie was at big loud . She's . She's not there anymore . I love sam I love her so much , um we still , we still hang yeah and I still give her hell sometimes to leave me . But yeah . So I met her and we just were doing the thing .

I was like sending her songs and she would send me feedback and I didn't know that Songs and Daughters was even a thought when we were talking . I obviously was a huge fan of Nicole and her writing and she came to one of my listening room shows and in my mind I was like , okay , this is super cool . Maybe I'll get the chance to write with her .

Never in a million years would I think that I would sign a publishing deal with her . I think we , like , went back and forth for it was probably another year it felt like another year , you know back and forth sending her songs .

And then one day she called me and I was at the gym and asked me if I wanted to sign a publishing deal and I was like heck , yeah , this is the best day ever .

Speaker 1

That's so sick . Yeah , it's the best call to get .

Speaker 2

It's the best because it like . For me it was like the first validation of like okay , you're doing something right , yeah , yeah , you didn't move here for nothing .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , and I've talked to a lot of publishers on this podcast and just in general .

Speaker 2

And I know a lot of publishers say like getting to offer a writer .

Speaker 1

Their first deal is like the coolest thing , yeah , even when I was going through my second round , you know like , had my first deal for five years and then was doing the publisher dance again yeah . It was still like I had a few offers and every time I would get one I would be like are you for real ?

I know it feels like it's the coolest feeling feels like you want me , you like me .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I mean , we all want to feel wanted , right , you know ?

Yeah and also I think , like songwriting is such a like you're kind of you're doing it in a silo , you know , and and sometimes like you don't really know if it's good , and I think we all have imposter syndrome , you know , and so like getting offers from people that have been in the business , know what they're doing , like that's definitely like a good stamp of

validation .

Speaker 1

Oh , absolutely , yeah , yeah . Um , so once you signed that deal , did it sort of change the the levels of rooms that you were getting into with writers , or was it ? Was it more of the same , or how did that kind of impact your ?

Speaker 2

writing career . Yeah , for sure , I definitely felt like I . I felt like I was getting into rooms , I felt like I was honing in on what my sound was and who I wanted to write with .

And yeah , definitely getting into cooler rooms , which is also super intimidating too , like even like having a publishing deal , like there still is that imposter syndrome of like am I actually good enough ? And so you know , I , I remember just like walking into these rooms and like , oh my gosh , I hope that they're not like , oh , this girl's a joke , you know .

But yeah , I think that was the most fun process for me was like getting to be in the room with new writers and figuring out , you know , not necessarily who I like and who I don't like , but like I guess , like who understands my sound , the most you know and like really narrowing down that pool of writers .

Speaker 1

Yeah , Finding your , your crew .

Speaker 2

I guess and yeah yeah , yeah , it's you .

Speaker 1

You start to realize , realize , oh , I'm getting , not just I .

I like to think that every song that I write is pretty good yeah but it's finding the people where I'm consistently getting um if I'm writing for me as the artist yeah the type of songs that I want to do as an artist yes and then on the other side of that is of course like okay , these songs I'm writing with these people are getting cut by other artists .

Speaker 2

And that's cool too . So trying to make sure I'm always trying to be strategic , I guess , yeah , which for me , like I've never been the kind of writer that wants to write for other artists . I definitely love writing for myself .

Speaker 1

It tortures me .

Speaker 2

It's tough . It's tough getting into the brain of another artist and also being an artist myself . So , yeah , I think that's definitely been like an interesting thing to navigate because my sound is so specific .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

Um , you know R and B country and um , it's kind of one of those things where , like , you either get it or you don't like you either grew up listening to that kind of music and you just have that in you , Um , and so , yeah , that that was definitely um , and I , you know , I think , still like writing with new people .

That's like you know , something that I'm like trying to navigate .

But also , I think you've , I think you figure out pretty quickly when you start writing the song , whether or not it's going to be for , whether it's going to be for me or for another person , and so I think also , I , you know , try to be in the mindset of , okay , I'm servicing the song If it's not for me , like we're still going to write a good song

today .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , yeah . There is this moment in a write where it dawns on me this one's not for me .

Speaker 2

This is not .

Speaker 1

Yeah , this isn't going that way , but that's okay , I have to immediately adjust . Well , I don't know , it's a slightly different mindset uh-huh it is but I will say 90 plus percent of every cut I've ever gotten . Not on , that's not on me as an artist has not been . Because I was . I was thinking we were going to write for so and so artists .

It was always just it just happened . I think it's for me or I just think this is a great song , you know , and somehow it finds a way .

Speaker 2

Yeah , that's so cool too , like when you just randomly it's like , oh , this person wants to cut this song . It's like , wow , okay . I was like , yeah , I've like I've , you know , had that happen a few times and you know , like I said , I'm not specifically writing for other people , so it's always cool when , when that does happen .

Speaker 1

Oh , yeah , it's the best . Yeah , um , all right , so got this . You signed this publishing deal . You're doing your thing .

Speaker 2

Yep .

Speaker 1

Um , so what ? What happens next ? You're doing your thing , so what happens next ? What's the next waypoint on the journey ?

Speaker 2

Yeah , so I started . Well , I met my producer , Cameron Bedell .

Speaker 1

Love Cam .

Speaker 2

We love him . He's also a pain in my side at the same time . He's like my older brother and we wrote this song together . The first song we ever wrote together was called Founded in you , and it was a two-way which , like you know , those can be terrifying sometimes because you don't know if you're going to vibe or not .

And we wrote this song and he sent me the demo . I was like whoa , this is exactly what I've been trying to say as an artist and the exact sound that I was looking for , and so I had to do a little bit of convincing for him to be my producer , because that wasn't his thing . He hadn't dabbled into the producer world yet .

And so , yeah , I finally convinced him and we just we started making music together , put that song out , and then I put an EP together , put that out , and we did all of that independently .

Speaker 1

And .

Speaker 2

I didn't really have like any you know expectations around it . I just I knew that I had , I had found a thing and , um , I wanted people to hear it and so , um , yeah , that was kind of . That was kind of the next step after I signed my publishing deal .

Speaker 1

That's awesome . Yeah , yeah , Um yeah . I remember when all that stuff was was coming out . Um , it's really , it's really cool , it's different .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I remember when all that stuff was coming out . It's really cool , it's different . Yeah , you know .

Speaker 1

Yeah , it felt like you . Yeah , it felt like something fresh yeah . And we need that , you know .

Speaker 2

Yeah , it was . Yeah , it's really fun thinking back to making that music , because there definitely there was no , we just had to create , like there wasn't a lot of opinions around what it should be , which was a lot of cooks in the kitchen . Yes , it was the best , it was the best feeling .

Um and yeah , that that's founded new just like took off , yeah , um it's . And it was like over covet too , um , over over the pandemic . It got like it landed on a hot country and got like over 20 million streams and just it really like catapulted me , um , you know , to a place that I didn't . I didn't think that I was ready yet , but we , we dove in .

Yeah , like record labels started reaching out and I was like , okay , I guess we're doing this yeah , and what was that process like when they started reaching out ? well , it was funny like the first few started to reach out and I was like , okay , this is fun .

I get to like kind of experience , what this is like , but I definitely am not looking to sign a record deal right now . And then more started to reach out and we started to take meetings and it got serious and I was like , okay , this is happening . This is happening .

You know , I had reservations around it because I've been independent for so long and I loved it Like I was thriving . Me and my husband . My husband's my creative director and you know we've always just created content together and kind of , you know , built this together and I didn't want to lose that . You know because I'd heard stories of how record duels go .

It was terrifying .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

You know . But also , on the other hand , I was like , well , maybe this is my moment and maybe I should take advantage of it while it's here , yeah , and so , yeah , we started taking the meetings and took a meeting with Bing Machine and Valerie and I it was . It was funny because I like I just I didn't know what to expect . Going into that meeting .

I , you know , I played him a couple of songs and they kept asking for more songs and I was like , at this point , I don't know , I don't even remember that many original songs , I'm going to have to start playing you some covers . Then they offered me a deal on the spot . Wow , and again I was like , okay , I guess we're doing this .

Speaker 1

Yeah , that's crazy .

Speaker 2

Yeah , it was wild .

Speaker 1

That's crazy . Yeah , it was wild , and did you ? Did it go back and forth for a while , or was it ? Was it pretty ? Did it all happen ? Pretty quick , cause sometimes a record deal can take nine months to get through the whole short form to long form .

Speaker 2

Yes , yeah , Honestly , it was , it was pretty quick . Yeah , I was expecting it to drag out , because you know , I know that's how contracts go . Um , but yeah , it was , it was pretty quick . Um , so I'm a deal , and um , a few months later we went to radio and then we started that whole ride .

Speaker 1

Yeah , boy , it's a ride .

Speaker 2

It is a ride .

Speaker 1

Yeah , were you doing the radio tour and stuff , or was this still pandemic ?

Speaker 2

yeah , so it was . It was like coming , we were coming out of the pandemic and , um , people started to open up and so I actually got to , which I was excited , like I .

I know that radio tour is a lot , um , but I was excited to put in that work and to be able to say that I did it , um , and so , yeah , I think we were on the road for two months maybe , um , on radio tour , and it was also like radio tour during the week and then festivals on the weekend , so I wasn't , I wasn't home that much .

Um , it was , it was a lot , but I , I really even still like I look back , like I I enjoyed it because it was something that I looked forward to being able to experience for a long time .

Speaker 1

Um , for those that don't know , can you kind of describe what being on radio tour is like ?

Speaker 2

Yes , so it's just basically going around the U ? S and visiting all the country stations and um playing the single and a couple , a couple of other songs .

Speaker 1

um , you know , to introduce yourself to the programmers in the hopes that they'll play your song on radio . In the hopes that they'll play your song on radio , yeah , or is it a lot of early morning flights and late nights and dinners that's ?

Speaker 2

kind of the perception . Yes , the early mornings actually there weren't too many of them , that wasn't too bad . There was a lot of dinners .

But again , I kind of wanted to have the mindset of like , okay , I know all of these things going into it , I know that I'm probably gonna have to get up super early , you know , probably gonna be eating really bad food and maybe sometimes singing for people that aren't really listening to me .

But it is what it is you know , and I going to make the most out of it . Yeah , so that's what I tried to do .

Speaker 1

Part of the ride . Yeah yeah , that's amazing . That's . That's such a great attitude to have . Yeah , I had a . My radio tour experience was all during COVID .

Speaker 2

Was it so ? Did you do it on Zoom ?

Speaker 1

Yeah , but it was just so .

Speaker 2

Oh , that's the worst .

Speaker 1

It was so everything you're describing .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Was all the same things that I was prepared for . Yeah . You know , and I've been meeting these program directors over the two years that I was kind of waiting my turn right .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

So I had , you know , I would like keep a file , keep a note with like oh , this program director , you know , because it's not like a transactional thing , it's just you're meeting a lot of people and some of the people I really connected with and it's like , oh , this guy , we talked about his son .

Yes , and his son is into this or that or whatever , and just trying to remember .

Speaker 2

Yes , it's a lot to remember . You have to write it down .

Speaker 1

Yeah , but I enjoyed it , yeah , and I was excited for it , and you know it's nobody's fault , it's just sort of you know , yeah , covid happened .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I mean you probably , because , like the , I feel like too , like the latency , and like nobody , like who's going to , who's going to talk , who's not going to talk , you know like it's super weird .

Speaker 1

Yeah , super weird , it's just not . It's not quite the same . And there's not you know you're there for 20 minutes on a zoom call and then you know there's not going to be any spontaneous . I really thrive in the okay , we've talked business , now let's hang out yeah , same .

Speaker 2

You know I like to connect with people .

Speaker 1

Yeah , on a deeper level so yeah it was hard , but yeah you know , the music industry is hard and it'll it'll break your heart , so yeah , part of it , yeah . So , um , all right , so you do this radio tour , do the single , and then you're kind of , I guess , still making music and stuff and yeah's what I was doing before I signed my deal .

Speaker 2

But you know , everything with labels is just slower .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

It's a lot slower .

Speaker 1

Yes .

Speaker 2

And so we put Founding U went to radio and I think they pulled it like a few months later .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

And then you know kind of went back to the drawing board and we recorded a couple songs to put out . So we did that . And then towards the end of my deal I went back on radio tour again . So I did radio tour twice , with another song .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

Yeah , the second time I definitely was like okay , I don't know , I don't know if I can enjoy this as much as the first time . But yeah , we did that again and it was kind of the same situation like pulled it again a few months later .

Speaker 1

Yeah , it's hard .

Speaker 2

It's tough , it's super tough . You know , I kind of it kind of felt like all of my worst nightmares of having a record deal was coming true . It yeah , it wasn't panning out the way .

Speaker 1

Yeah , the way I wanted it to . Yeah , yeah , well , you have this video that I saw that you posted kind of after things didn't work out the way that you wanted them to , and it's so . It's such a compelling piece of content . You know , I mean that's a very I don't know . I don't like the word content .

Speaker 2

Yeah , I know , content is king , it's so real .

Speaker 1

Yeah , I know , content is king , it's , it's , it's so real .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

It's so . I watched it again today , just kind of getting ready for this interview , because I saw it when you posted it and it still hit me .

Speaker 2

It still hits me when I go back to watch it . We yeah no go ahead I . No , go ahead , I , I , I .

Towards the end of my deal , I started to get more vulnerable about how I was really feeling about the industry and my place in it , because I kind of did this thing where you know you pretend that everything's okay when you're out in public um , you know , and that got to be really tough . I just couldn't do it anymore .

Um , and so I started posting these videos um , we call them T-Erapees and , um , just kind of share my feelings . You know about what I'm going through , and it felt so good to just tell the truth and to be honest about the fact that I wasn't happy .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

And so you know , then , when I got dropped from my record deal , I felt it really important to not just skim over the fact that I got dropped , like I like that's hard , you know it's .

It's really hard , and I didn't want to have to go out in public and explain over and over again that I , you know what happened , explain over and over again that I , you know what happened . And so , um , my husband and I just we just sat down and he put up the camera and we just talked about you know how I was feeling and it was . It was a really .

It really is just like a peek into our conversation , because he is my creative director , so he is in the thick of it with me . He's also my husband , so everything that happens , I'm going home to him either excited about something or crying about something . We just sat down and just had a real conversation about it .

I was scared out of my mind to post that video .

Speaker 1

So you know it's good .

Speaker 2

Yeah , yeah . But it was also such a huge sigh of relief to just put my feelings out there .

Speaker 1

Yeah , how did you feel afterwards ?

Speaker 2

I was terrified . I was terrified because I didn't . You know , the point of that video was not to make anyone angry or , you know , to point fingers .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

I just wanted people to know what I was feeling , yeah , and so I definitely had . I definitely was a little scared that I didn't want anybody to take offense to that video , because I still love so many of the people at my label , at my former label , and so , yeah , I was scared about that .

But a lot of them were so great and they reached out and we talked and it was great and so I was like , okay , everything's good , it's all good yeah , everything's all good um . You know I've I got my feelings out there .

Speaker 1

I said my piece , yeah , um and yeah yeah , it's good , and then you don't have to deal with the yeah yeah , it's . It's such a weird time after you have a change .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

Because people are like oh , how's that thing going ? You're like sometimes you just don't want to explain it , so you just say , oh , it's okay .

Speaker 2

Yes , and that's what I did , honestly and like towards you know , the past couple of months of my deal , like I was doing a lot of that , you know , and and also it's funny because people would also say like you're killing it right now .

You're doing so much , I see you everywhere and I'm like really because I feel like I'm nowhere like I'm doing nothing , um , and so yeah , it's all it .

Speaker 1

Perception is always interesting , yeah so , um , after all that happens , do you know at this point like that you're about to be like featured on like Beyonce record ?

Speaker 2

no , let me just walk you through it . Like I get dropped from my record deal and I'm just in the state of what am I going to do now ? Because it's not like I chose to leave and I knew that I was leaving . Like it was a shock , you know . And so I'm like , okay , what do I do now ? Leaving like it was a shock , you know .

And so I'm like , okay , what do I do now ? And I even question , I even ask God , like is this what I'm supposed to be doing ? Am I supposed to be here ? Because this doesn't feel right . And I just kept hearing him say I'm not done with you yet and I didn't know what that meant , but I trusted that he didn't bring me this far to let me down .

Yeah , and so , you know , we started planning to put out music . You know , I was like God doesn't want me to give up , so I guess I'm just going to keep making music . So we started planning that . And then Beyonce announced that she was putting out the Cowboy Carter album . Well , no , she dropped the two singles actually .

Speaker 1

Yeah .

Speaker 2

And I was like , oh my gosh , my favorite artist ever is here and I'm so excited about this , and so I put out a cover , and that alone , like the cover that I posted , was like my first time having a viral moment .

Speaker 1

Oh really .

Speaker 2

Yeah , which you know . That's also another thing that I feel , like you know , in the industry , like everyone's pressuring you to go viral . And you're like okay , no one knows how to go viral , so like what do you want me to do ? So that was like it was .

That was a really cool moment for me and you know it felt like it just felt like , you know , a hug from Jesus of like I told you I got you . You know , just that little like viral moment for me was such a sign .

Speaker 1

There's a quote that I love . I don't know , I don't remember who said it , but it says opportunity is a strange beast and it frequently appears after a loss .

Speaker 2

Yeah .

Speaker 1

And that has been true in my life . Yeah so many times , something that I think is the worst thing that's ever happened to me happens . And then , soon after , the best thing that's ever happened to me happens .

Speaker 2

And I feel like it's hard to go through those hard seasons , but it makes it so much more special when it does happen , because you know that you went through it to get there , you know , and that's exact , that's exactly how I felt , um , and then I just I just randomly got axed to to be on on this album .

I have no idea how they found me I don't know if they saw the cover , I have no idea , but I was it . I still can't believe that it happened to this day ?

Yeah , because I I was so used to , you know , sitting at home and scrolling through Instagram and seeing other people get opportunities that I wanted so badly for myself , and I was so used to that feeling and having to , like , therapize myself you know through that .

And so now , to like actually be the one getting to experience the cool thing , to like actually be the one getting to experience the cool thing . It's such a strange feeling for me , like I'm so not used to it , um , but I'm , I'm just , I'm soaking in every moment .

Um , it's , it's crazy to me that this happened , like yeah you know , right after getting like the worst thing that could happen as an artist , and now , like you said , the best thing that could happen as an artist , and now , like you said , the best thing that could ever happen .

Speaker 1

Yeah , are you taking it in ? Are you feeling good ?

Speaker 2

I am I am , and I , you know , I used to be so bad at celebrating moments because I'm always on to the next thing , like , okay , this happened . Now I got to do the work to get to the next thing , you know , yeah , but , man , like the past two and a half years , they were so hard , they were so hard and I was the most oppressed I've ever been .

And so now to be on the complete opposite side of that , I am soaking in every single moment and every day . Yeah , yeah , just sitting in it . I love it . It's so cool .

Speaker 1

Such a such a amazing record and yeah like , yeah , it's very , it's very cool to be a part of .

Speaker 2

I can't even imagine . It's so cool , I mean it's , it's wild to think about . Like I also feel like something like this has not been done on such a massive scale .

Like she is , to me , the biggest artist in the world and I'm such a newbie like I'm I'm , you know , yes , I've been in town for for eight years but like she has so many years on this industry , you know , and so for her to see an artist like me , it's , it's just wild , yeah , it's wild it's uh , almost impossible to describe yes , exactly , exactly yeah ,

wow , that's , that's so , that's so great yeah amazing story .

Speaker 1

Um well , what's uh ? What's next ?

Speaker 2

what's next ? Yeah um well , I have a song called I Ain't a Cowgirl that we put out . It's the first independent release , yeah , and we are putting out a song every five weeks until the album , so we're cranking it out .

You know , I kind of was like for so long I felt like I wasn't putting out music , and so now to have complete control of you know what I put out and what it looks like , we are just like we're loving it .

Speaker 1

Oh yeah , yeah , it's such a great feeling .

Speaker 2

And you know it's such a great feeling and you know , especially like creating with my husband . He's just , he's so great and like I tell him all the time like I'm honored to be able to work with you because he just comes up with this vision , you know , for content , for videos , and I just show up and I'm like , okay , I'll do my thing .

And you know it's such a partnership , it's beautiful .

Yeah , we have a lot of fun and I feel like I've grown so much as a human and as an artist and really honed in on what my sound is , what my brand is , and so to put out my first album and to be I'm so proud of the music and the way everything looks and and yeah , like it's it's a grind , Like the independent life is a grind , but I love it .

I love it so much . I love having my hand in everything .

Speaker 1

Yeah , yeah , getting to steer the ship . Yes , yeah , that's amazing . Well , thank you so much for being here . Thank you , I appreciate it . Thanks for telling , telling your story . It's an amazing story , thank you , and that's it . Episode of 10 year town . If you're still listening , you must've liked it .

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