Interview with Taylor Acorn

Hello! It is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing it Backwards, a podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Taylor Acorn over Zoom video. Taylor talks about where she was born and raised, how she got into music all throughout middle school and high school. She was very into track. She actually went to college on a track scholarship and didn't really start writing songs until after she left college. I think it was her sophomore year she moved to Nashville and that's where she really began writing music. She told us about getting signed to her first publishing deal, releasing music as a country artist, the viral success she had on TikTok by taking kind of a country spin on old emo songs. 4 (2m 20s): She also talks about the new music she's been releasing in that pop punk emo vein and the massive tour she's on with real friends and with confidence. You can watch our interview with Taylor on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. It'd be amazing if you subscribe to our channel, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Bringing Back Pod. And if you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, it would be amazing if you follow us there as well and hook us up with a five star review. 5 (2m 54s): We'd appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts, wherever you listen 4 (2m 59s): To podcasts, we're bringing it backwards with Taylor Acorn. 6 (3m 3s): Hello. 4 (3m 4s): Hi Taylor, how are you? Good, 6 (3m 6s): How are you? 4 (3m 7s): I am fantastic. Thank you so much for doing this. No, 6 (3m 11s): Thank you for having me. This is awesome. 4 (3m 13s): This is so cool. I, I love what you're doing. Let me just say I'm a huge email fan and I just listened to the first date acoustic cover. You did. Oh my gosh, what a great version of that. 6 (3m 27s): Thank you so much. 4 (3m 28s): Yeah. Was that like, because that song is so like, you know, Poppy and kind of tongue and cheeky and I'm like, How, you know, acoustic, it'll be interesting and then it's like, whoa. It's like totally different song. 6 (3m 40s): Honestly, I, I was kind of nervous because it is like you said, so like tongue and cheek as far as the lyrics go. And I was like slow down. I mean like when they sing it you can't really hear it and it's upbeat, so it kind of masks the whole like, I don't know, like kind of cliche like idea of it. But yeah, we were really shocked like when I got the final mix back and I was like, this is cool. I think people might like this. 4 (4m 7s): Yeah, it's so good. I, I think it's really 6 (4m 10s): Awesome. Thank you so much. 4 (4m 12s): Yes, of course. I'm Adam by the way, and this is a podcast about you and your journey and music. 6 (4m 19s): Well it's very nice to meet you Adam. 4 (4m 20s): Nice to meet you Taylor as well. Nice to meet you. And I love the new song that you put out as well. Psycho is great. Thank 6 (4m 27s): You. Thank you so much. 4 (4m 29s): So are you in Nashville now? 6 (4m 32s): I am, yeah. I've been here since like 2017, so 4 (4m 36s): That's amazing. I'm, I'm in Nashville as well, so, Oh, 6 (4m 40s): In no 4 (4m 40s): Way. Yeah. 6 (4m 41s): How long have you been here for? 4 (4m 43s): Not long. February, 2021. 6 (4m 48s): Ah, well welcome. Welcome to the Natural 4 (4m 50s): Way. We're south, We're south in Williamson County. I got a couple kids in school and stuff. Oh, that's awesome. But yeah, that's, I saw that you're here. I was like, Oh, that's amazing. Yeah. But originally from Philadelphia, is that what I saw? Or Pittsburgh? 6 (5m 7s): Yeah, so we, my family we're from like North central pa, so Okay. The closest we're from like the middle of literally nowhere. And the closest city I guess I would say would be like Williamsport, which most famous for like Little League World Series. 4 (5m 24s): Okay. 6 (5m 25s): All of that stuff. Not sure if you're like into sports at all, but a 4 (5m 29s): Little bit. But that's cool that the Little League World series is there. 6 (5m 32s): Yeah, there's really not much going on. I mean we're even like an hour outside of like that area we're in like the middle of nowhere, like as rural as it could possibly be. 4 (5m 44s): Is that right? 6 (5m 45s): Yeah, it's, it's really small, but my boyfriend's family, they live in Pittsburgh so we do go back and forth a lot and that's really nice cuz at least I get to feel a little bit like I'm back at home, but Sure. Not quite. Yeah. 4 (5m 60s): Well how, how many people were in your town growing up? Do you remember? 6 (6m 3s): Oh my gosh. I mean I, so surprisingly my school was like one of the biggest in the area and I graduated with Max maybe, I don't even think it was this much, but like a hundred kids. So it was small. Oh gosh, it was really small. It was, 4 (6m 23s): That's crazy. My graduating class, we had the big, I grew up in San Diego and the biggest, we had the biggest one, it was 1200 kids were in my, just my graduating class. 6 (6m 32s): And that's to me is so insane. Like I literally knew every single person I graduated with and there's so many people that I'll meet here. And my roommate, she's actually from California as well and she's like, I don't, I don't like ever, I haven't met anybody or what did she say? She was like, I graduated with so many people and there were some people that I had never even seen before at my graduation and she was like, I didn't even know they're in my grade. And to me that's like crazy. 4 (7m 1s): I'm like, who the hell is this? 6 (7m 3s): I know. I was like, I wish it was that way. I would have been a little bit more invisible. 4 (7m 9s): Oh, that's so cool though. I mean, to go to such a small town, like do you come from a musical household at all? 6 (7m 15s): No, not at all. My family is like, they're very like business and sports oriented. Okay. So sports were like a really big thing and I like music. For me it was kind of something that I found on my own. Everybody of course in my family like loves music just as listeners look to it. But literally like, God bless my mom. She thinks she's good at singing but 4 (7m 42s): Really she's not. I was like, 6 (7m 44s): I 4 (7m 44s): Didn't get it so good. Like I'm shock that you didn't come grow up from like, Yeah. At maybe you did like really early taking lessons, but like I'm, Yeah. 6 (7m 54s): Yeah, it's, it was actually like kind of fun though because I was the only one who really did anything like that so they always came out and they were really supportive of me doing like talent shows and stuff like that. So I don't know, I kind of like being the only one that can play music cuz they're good at literally everything else. I'm like, I'll be over here doing my own thing and you guys can do your thing over there. So 4 (8m 20s): Do you have a lot of siblings or siblings? I 6 (8m 23s): Have, I have two. So I'm the middle child. I have an older brother, he's about six years older than me and then my sister and I were like 18 months apart, like we're really close. 4 (8m 33s): Okay. And were they, your brother and sister, are they into sports or were they into sports growing up or and was your family kind of, did you go that route at all? 6 (8m 42s): Yeah, so my brother, he was really big into like baseball, football. He went to college and played baseball and my younger sister is like super good at basketball and we both played soccer and ran track and I actually went to college on a track and field scholarship. So I was 4 (9m 1s): Like, wow, you're really 6 (9m 2s): Good. My dad, I mean I, I wouldn't say I was really good by any means, like I would've never been in the Olympics or anything like that. But that was something that my dad got me into when I was really young cuz that was like his love. Like he was a big football guy, but he like loved track and field and so, god, I must have been like five or six when I got into like a club track team and we were traveling around at that time we lived in like a suburb of Seattle and so that was like a little bit more prevalent out there. 4 (9m 36s): Yes. 6 (9m 36s): Yeah. So we would go to like Seattle and we'd go to like Cascade and stuff like that. And that was kind of like what I did. And he ended up passing away when I was eight. And so, 4 (9m 50s): Oh, I'm sorry. 6 (9m 51s): No, it's, it's, it's fine. But we ended up moving to Pennsylvania for that reason, just to be closer to family because Oh 4 (9m 59s): My, Okay. I was gonna ask how you, so you, were you born in Seattle area? 6 (10m 3s): No, I was actually born in St. Paul, which is like so 4 (10m 7s): Weird. 6 (10m 7s): Yeah, it's so weird. We lived in White Bear for a few years when I was like really little and then my dad got a job out like outside of Seattle, so we ended up moving and when he passed we just moved to be closer to family because I mean, of course granted, you know, single mom with two or three kids at that time my brother was like getting ready to like go to college and stuff. So we just, 4 (10m 35s): Yeah, we just made the move. Yeah, that makes a lot, I mean, yeah, a lot of sense. Like let's get near people, especially this time. Yeah, that's, and that's sad. I'm so sorry. 6 (10m 46s): No, it's, it's fine. I mean it's been, it's been many years now, so it's like I've had a lot of time to cope and resonate with everything and I'm very thankful for my family and yeah, I don't know, it's, it's good. We're good. 4 (11m 1s): That's good. Well, going into track, like were you, did you do a certain event or what did 6 (11m 7s): You do? Oh my gosh. So my main events were like the 100 200, I did the four by four relay and the four by one relay. And our track team, my high school track team was actually like really great at the time when I was in high school. I don't really know how they're doing now, but 4 (11m 27s): No, 6 (11m 27s): Keep going. So it was really fun. Yeah, no, no, no. It was actually kind of funny. My, my track coach, he was teacher at my high school and we were really close, like all of us were so close and I remember getting a text from him, it was like, I think my sophomore year of college, this sounds so bad, but he was like, I miss you guys too much. I don't think I can do do this anymore. I'm quitting the track team. 4 (11m 57s): Oh wow. And 6 (11m 58s): I was like, oh no. But yeah, we had like a really great team at that time and I, I kind of like bounced around through like every event really. And then in college I ended up doing like the heptathlon and pentathlon, which in hindsight kind of made sense because I did do so many. But if I was to pick like an event that I like really loved was like the 300 hurdles. But I never started doing that until like my senior year. So 4 (12m 29s): See that's the one I would be like, this is gotta be dangerous. 6 (12m 32s): Oh it sucked. It was the worst, It was the worst. Having to like go over hurdles when you're like totally gased 4 (12m 40s): And yeah, I was gonna say when you get towards the end and you're super tired, like oh my, yeah, I can't even imagine. It's like clipping my feet. 6 (12m 47s): Yeah. And then in college it was the 400 hurdles and I was like, yeah, no, I don't think I can, I can do that one. So I, I decided on just doing everything. 4 (12m 58s): Okay, that's smart. Would you get towards the end there though? Is it like, I'm not even gonna try to jump away. Like if you're halfway through and totally tired, do you just go run around them? 6 (13m 10s): Honestly, like looking back on it now, I'm like, I'm pretty positive I would just like black out and then by the time I was done I was like, wow, I did that. I don't know how but good. And I wasn't really great at like the 400 in general, so it was just, it was brutal but, 4 (13m 28s): Well, yeah. Oh my gosh. But you obviously are good enough to get a scholarship, but going back to to your music, when did you start singing? 6 (13m 36s): So, oh my gosh, I've always just kind of loved it. I would like listen to the radio and I would always sing and then when I would just like, I was super shy when I was younger too, so I would like hide up in my room and just sing. So like for a really long time no one even knew that I could, I don't think it was until like my seventh grade year I decided to do a talent show on like a whim and everybody was like, you can't sing. You know what I mean? Like, like middle school kids are just like kind of brutal. 4 (14m 9s): Oh they are 6 (14m 10s): The worst. Yeah. And I sang like a kid, I sang literally to like the track of a Carry Underwood song and she's like singing in the background 4 (14m 22s): The did you take the Wheel? Which one? 6 (14m 24s): Don't forget to remember me. So it was like one of her newer ones or her older ones. 4 (14m 29s): Older ones, sure. 6 (14m 30s): Yeah. And I remember doing that and then from there people were like, Hey, like you're kind of good. And then that sparked the, the interest of me, you know, like going and learning how to play guitar and then, you know, I would do like little talent shows locally and stuff. And my, I met this girl when I went to high school and she was really good at playing guitar and so her and I, we like made a little band. We were kind of like the wreck, but okay not as good. But we thought we were at the time and we would do like the high school talent shows and stuff together and I don't know, 4 (15m 8s): Like science and everything, like originals. 6 (15m 10s): So at that time we did a lot of covers and things like that. I didn't really write anything until, oh my gosh, maybe like 2015. I was like, I would, I would write stuff and I would, you know, like try to make things up and, but it just never, I don't know, I just never had the confidence to really show anyone. I would show like my sister and stuff and, but you know, as far as like going and playing my songs out to people, I was like, no, I can't possibly do that. 6 (15m 53s): Okay. Like 4 (15m 54s): Yeah, you just show him to, you said your sister, but nobody really knew that you wrote songs. 6 (15m 59s): Yeah, so no one really knew that I wrote. And then when I ended up meeting my manager now he was like, What do you got? And I was like, well I have like some voicemails of things that I just kind of like made up and I don't know if you've listened to like any of my older stuff, but yeah, have my first, like my first country EP that, those were all songs that I wrote by myself. Really? Yeah. And so I was like, maybe I can do this, I don't know. And then from from there I ended up getting a publishing deal and I was like, this is like the craziest thing ever. Like yesterday I didn't even know that I knew how to do this. 6 (16m 39s): And now I'm like writing 4 (16m 41s): Had a publishing deal, 6 (16m 43s): I'm writing with like people and like running into like these artists that I never thought I would ever see in person. And it was just really, it was crazy. 4 (16m 51s): Oh my gosh. Well I wanna talk to you about that cuz that's really fascinating. But back up just a bit here. So you started learning guitar around like, around the seventh grade time too, when you, after you did that, that time 6 (17m 4s): Show? Yeah, I was, I was probably around like 14, 15 when I started learning. Yeah. 4 (17m 12s): And was that just all self-taught? Just and what made you wanna play guitar? 6 (17m 16s): Well, I had met that girl and she was really good and I knew that, well obviously at the time, you know, like Teller Swift is doing her thing and you would see her on like the award shows and she's playing guitar and there were so many artists like Jewel and things like that. And I just thought it was so fascinating and so cool that like these females could play an instrument for themselves and I just wanted to learn. I was like, if I'm gonna like continue this, I'm probably not gonna have Kelly forever. So Sure. You know, she was a year older than me, so I was like, she's gonna graduate and like go off and do her own thing. 6 (17m 58s): And so I just figured, I was like, I'm gonna learn and I borrowed her guitar and I was like, if I can't playlist by the end of this week, I'm not even gonna try because clearly I just don't, 4 (18m 8s): You'll give yourself a week. 6 (18m 10s): I gave myself a week, I was like, if I can do this in a week, I'll give you your guitar back and I'll never play it again. You know what I mean? But I, I just really wanted to learn and I have like, I'm a little like a d d so 4 (18m 29s): I'm a d d, 6 (18m 31s): It's very hard for me to have like a patience for something. So I really have to just like focus in on it. And I think that's why I gave myself like a week. I was like, if I can kind of play this buddy end the week, like then I think I'll be good. And I did, I taught myself, I just sat in our basement and watched YouTube videos and just played and played and played. I think one of the first songs I learned was like, Do you remember the artist Katie Groves at all? 4 (18m 57s): I, I don't, 6 (18m 58s): She was like a pretty big on like YouTube and stuff at the time and I had come across some of her stuff and I just learned all of her songs and it was bad, but I could play. 4 (19m 10s): Yeah, I mean that quickly too a week just to give yourself a week. I mean, that says a lot. Yeah. 6 (19m 16s): Yeah. I just like honed in and learned how to play. I'm, I'm still like not the greatest as far as like playing goes, but I do, I do enough to give back 4 (19m 27s): Advice. Yeah. I can write songs. A lot of people just use it as like a vehicle to Right, right. 6 (19m 31s): Yeah. And then my mom ended up buying me my first guitar and yeah, 4 (19m 36s): It was, What did you get an acoustic guitar? 6 (19m 38s): Yeah, I think, oh my gosh, what even was it, It was like a honner or something like some weird brand that like, I don't think I've seen another person use ever in my lifetimes. Sure. And then I eventually upgraded to a tailor, which was, which was, there you go. Pretty bougie for me. But 4 (19m 56s): Do you have that other guitar still? 6 (19m 58s): I don't, I, I traded it in so I could get like a discount on the one, the new tailor that I got at the time. So yeah. That's cool. 4 (20m 9s): So, so what, okay, so obviously you were good at track and that was kind of a big part of your life. I mean, to be able to go to college for that was music in doing what you were doing with music, just kind of another hobby that you had and then you were going to college. Are you going to, to go in as a tra you know, for track? Was that something that you're pursuing like, okay, I'm, I'm here in college, I'm doing track. Like was the fo the the hope to go to the Olympics and make that your, your career? 6 (20m 39s): I just never really thought that I had the talent to be in the Olympics. I also was in the mindset too where I didn't really have like the drive to practice that much. I was kind of just doing it and it was more social than anything. It got me a lot of really great friends and it was fun because I, I enjoyed track but was it something that I was gonna continue on forever? Like no, I knew I wasn't gonna do that. But also too, like coming from such a small town, I think you're kind of conditioned to have the small town mindset where it's like go to college, figure out what career you wanna have. 6 (21m 21s): It's probably gonna be business or you're gonna be like in the medical field, you know how it is and then you meet the love of your life and you get married like that and then move back to the small town that you like. 4 (21m 34s): That's right, of course 6 (21m 35s): What happened to a lot of my friends and stuff like that, which there's nothing wrong with that, but I just always kind of felt different. Like I just felt like there was something out there that I was just missing and I don't know what it that is. And music was always something I just really loved and whether that was just listening to it or playing it, and I will be honest, I was not the best student when it came to my college courses Okay. And stuff I really wasn't. And I would just sit in my room and I would like learn songs and play and the girls next to me, they're on like the softball team and they would always bang on the wall. 4 (22m 17s): Oh really? Like 6 (22m 18s): She'd be like, shut up. It's literally 10:00 PM like why are you singing? And yeah, I just, I just did that a lot. And then I would do, there was like this little program within my school where you could go and you could play at like the hub and stuff like that. And so I would go and play like little acoustic stuff and you'd make what was called bare bucks and it would just be like money that you could use around like the campus and whatnot. And I really enjoyed that. And then started a YouTube channel and that kind of started to get some traction and I was literally just playing little acoustic covers in my dorm room and don't 4 (22m 58s): Know and putting 'em up on YouTube. 6 (22m 59s): Yeah. Putting 'em up on YouTube. And once I started seeing like a little bit of traction from that, I was like, I just feel like this is so much more me than this person over here. As much as I enjoyed being in school and meeting the people that I did and like being on my own, I think it was a really vital thing for me to kind of see like, okay, I can be without like my family and I can, you know, kind of live on my own and do it that way. So I dunno, there are a lot of valuable things that I learned from college, but Right. 4 (23m 33s): But you've also found what you wanted to do, right? I mean 6 (23m 36s): Yeah, of course. Which is the purpose of college. Right, 4 (23m 38s): Exactly. You know? Exactly. 6 (23m 41s): So yeah, that's kind of how it all unfolded for me. And at that time, I think it was like my sophomore year, my mom decided to like up and move to Virginia and so I went back there and knew absolutely nobody and I would just play around at like little diners and bars and I was playing like three hour sets. Like looking back now, that's Wow. I don't even, yeah, I was like, I don't even know how I knew that many. I could never do that now. But yeah, no, I would do, I would do all of that stuff and then eventually I, you know, got 4 (24m 16s): Decided to move to 6 (24m 17s): Nashville. A little golden ticket. Yeah. To come to Nashville and been here ever since. 4 (24m 23s): Real quick. So with the YouTube channel, was there a video or one of your covers that did really well that kind of attracted more people to your channel? Or was it just something that you kind of built slowly over time and then became something that you were like, I wanna do this instead? 6 (24m 38s): I'm trying to think. There was a cover there. It was when Taylor Swift was releasing her 1989 album but had taken all of her music off of like Spotify, 4 (24m 52s): The streaming. Yeah, I 6 (24m 54s): Remember that. Yeah. So off of all of the streaming platforms. So I had done a cover of her song, All you had to do was stay. And at that time I think everybody was like trying to find her music and somebody had taken it and actually pitched it up, sped it up so it kind of sounded a little bit like her, but it wasn't weird. Yeah. It was really weird. So people were going on like MP three to YouTube converter type thing and like downloading that version. And I actually like, after I had like put the cover out, it was doing like, okay and then I actually was bad and I was like, I don't wanna have to buy this album. 6 (25m 37s): Like I'm gonna try to like see if I can maybe find something online. Somebody leaks, something I had downloaded, I had downloaded that version of my own song and my sister, my sister was like, this kind of sounds like you. And then I hadn't looked at any of the comments or anything and I found it on YouTube, looked through the comments and there were people that are like, this is Taylor Acorn's cover, like go look at it. And then I looked at my cover and it had like hundreds of thousands of views and like comments and it was so it was like the weirdest thing. So that was kind of like the like catalyst for my YouTube channel. 4 (26m 14s): Wow, okay. So you even heard it. Yeah. Whoever pitched it up and sped it up did a pretty good job then if you, you were, you were also convinced that it, it was her. 6 (26m 23s): Yeah. But it was also so weird too because I had a lot of people, like random people out of the woodwork that I hadn't talked to in like years from high school and stuff and they're like, I heard this and it's you. And then they're going and like defending me on YouTube and it's like, yeah, as much as I wish that they would've maybe given me credit, like they, they didn't gimme credit or anything. They like made it seem like it was Taylor. 4 (26m 46s): Right. Yeah. They just 6 (26m 47s): Playing like a live version of it. Yeah. There are all of these people that I like, I wasn't really friends with or anything like that, but like went and like were coming to my defense and the person ended up like blocking me and all of the stuff from YouTube and I was like, okay, this is weird. But it was like my first little scandal, my first little 4 (27m 7s): Like video you guys called him out and then a little bit viral. Yeah. That's crazy. 6 (27m 11s): Yeah. But yeah, it was really interesting and from there I just, you know, my videos did pretty well, but I mean the quality was terrible. It was just like an iPhone for us or whatever on my window sill in my kitchen and I would just play and 4 (27m 29s): Yeah. But it's authentic, right? I mean people are, that's why TikTok I feel like did so or does so well because it's just, you know, there's no real editing or there could be, but a lot of it's just like, here's my phone and I'm gonna do this real quick. 6 (27m 43s): Yeah. And like, this is like who I am. Like you're literally seeing into like my bedroom of my house and 4 (27m 50s): You 6 (27m 51s): Know, more personal, it's like, kind of like it used to be, you know? 4 (27m 55s): That's cool though. So then you get back to Virginia and you're, you're digging around and what makes you decide or how do you get to Nashville? You just decided one day like, ah, let's do this. 6 (28m 6s): So it was kind of in the, in the midst of all of that Taylor Swift cover stuff. I was working on Texas Roadhouse and I had been working there for quite some time and probably been like two years at that point. And I was just like so over it. I was like, I need to just figure out something else to do. I was like, I really wanna play music, but the likeliness of me being able to go to like Nashville and all of that, even though everybody was like, You should go. I, I just convinced myself. I was like, there's just no way. And I got this email from this guy, his name is Cade and he was my age, but he was interning at a publishing company out here and he was like, I'm really trying to get like my own artist thing going and I would like my first artist to be you, like my artist project. 6 (29m 1s): And I was very wary at first because, you know, I watched a lot of true crime and stuff like that and I was like curious this kid that's like my age and was like trying to get me to come out to Nashville and I was like, I'll fly you out and like, you know, you 4 (29m 17s): Like calm down creeper. 6 (29m 18s): Yeah. And I had also, like, at the time, you know, before that I, you know, I had auditioned for like American Idol and the Voice and stuff and you meet so many kids, like young kids that their parents have gotten in like, like contracts and stuff with producers that totally just like rip them off and take their money and then never hear from them again. And I, in my head I was like, I never want that to happen to me. And so I was very wary and he was persistent like for a few months he was like, just come out like it's, it's, I promise you like I'm not gonna kill you. Like it's gonna be great. And I was like you saying that makes it even more sketchy cause it's like the fact that you have to defend yourself. 6 (30m 3s): But, but no, I, I ended up, you know, asking, Well can I bring someone with me? And he was like, Anyone you want? And I brought my sister and smart. Yeah. She came with me and we all just clicked. It was like meeting like a long lost cousin or something that you hadn't seen since you were kids and you just like are able to just catch up. And so we went and recorded two songs and after that, like the rest is history and him and I have been working together ever since. And yeah, it's been, it's been pretty cool to see like the growth of everything and yeah, I'm like, so 4 (30m 39s): Once you get out, sorry. No, you're good. I was just gonna say, so once you get out to Nashville and you, you meet your manager and, and stuff starts going, you were in that country world though, right? Yeah. And were you always a fan of the like emo genre? 6 (30m 55s): Yeah, so that's, I think that's kind of like where it was so strange is I always grew up on like the rock like early nineties grunge scene and that's like my like niche of music. And I think with the country stuff at the time, I think that's kind of just like what I was writing and I had a lot of people telling me, Oh you have a country name and you should be a country singer just like Taylor Swift and you know, I feel like every girl that plays a guitar and sings gets that comparison Sure. In general. But also my manager was like, you know, country is a really good place to get a start at least in music and start to build a fan base. 6 (31m 41s): So I thought, you know, I'll give this a shot and maybe, you know, in a few years I can kind of do what I wanna do and you know, which is the pop punk stuff. I just didn't really know what that looked like at the time. And yeah, I've, I've always been a fan of the pop punk stuff and the rock stuff and the more that I got into the country world, I was like my values and like who I am as a person, I just feel like, so outside of my comfort zone. And I think that's kind of when I, I decided to just like take a few steps back and be like, I need to just like reevaluate what I'm doing here and, but I am very thankful for the country stuff because just as I had hoped, you know, it brought me some really amazing fans and people to like, you know, listen to my music and people that have even stuck around with me now, my new stuff and yeah, I know it's interesting. 4 (32m 41s): Yeah. So once, like when did that switch happen? Like at what point were you like, I, you know, I'm not really vibing with the country music as much anymore, I kind of want to steer this way. 6 (32m 55s): So I was writing for a publishing company out here and when I first moved to town I was actually signed to them as like an artist and a writer. Okay. But I had always wanted to do the artist thing more so than the writing thing because like I told you, I didn't even know I could write like two years prior to. 4 (33m 16s): Yeah. Yeah. So 6 (33m 17s): I didn't know I was like even any good at it. So I still don't really know if I am, I'm just trying my best, but 4 (33m 24s): Yeah, you're good. 6 (33m 25s): Thank you. But yeah, I don't know. I got signed as an Artis and a writer and the guy who got, or the guy who had signed me after about a year of being there, he got let go and at that time there really wasn't anybody to step in and take over his role as like the artist. 4 (33m 47s): Like an a and r person 6 (33m 49s): Manager. Yeah. Like head of a and r. And so 1 (33m 52s): Mary redeemed a $50,000 cash prize playing Chubba Casino this year I was 2 (33m 57s): Only playing for fun. So winning, this was a dream 1 (34m 0s): Come true. Chumba Casino is America's number one social casino experience. It's serious fun with over 80 casino style games to choose from. You too could win life changing amounts of cash. Be like Mary log on to chumba casino.com and give them a whirl. That's chumba casino.com, no purchase necessary void or prohibited by law 18 plus terms and conditions apply. See website for details. The voice in the preceding commercial was not the actual voice of a winner. 6 (34m 23s): That was a really confusing time because all of my artist stuff kind of took a backseat because no one there really knew how to help me and they were just kind of throwing me into rights with people that to me it just like really didn't make much sense. And I was very confused because I would write like a super bro country song over here and then like something completely different over here. And being so new to like that whole process, I think my identity had kind of just like gone to the wayside. And so I had a talk with my publisher and I was like, hey, I'm very confused. 6 (35m 5s): I'm kind of struggling mentally with what's going on and this whole change and everything and I just don't know if I am bringing to the table what you are expecting of me because you know that those are like big shoes to fill when you're like writing for somebody who writes like all of these number one singles and expects you to write like a number one song, you know, within the first two months of you being there. I just didn't feel like I was even like remotely on that level. And so I had asked her, I was like, like, is it okay if I take like a step back from this? And she was like, Yeah, we were honestly kind of thinking the same thing. So it was very amicable. 6 (35m 45s): Okay. Like my split from them, but they gave me all of my songs that, that's incredible there. Which I, I guess like doesn't really happen a lot and I was, no, never that and yeah, and I, yeah, I just decided to like focus on myself again and I started writing with this guy Dan Swank, who is actually the auxiliary player for all Time Low now and Oh cool. Yeah, and he at that time was writing at Ryan Dawson's studio and so I got to meet them and you know, kind of dive back into what I knew as far as like my love for music and kind of found myself in that again. 6 (36m 27s): Granted there were a lot of like trials and tribulations, a lot of songs that I wrote that are just like so bad. But yeah, I kind of found my sound again and it's, it's been really fun ever since. Now I can kind of just like experiment and do whatever and I don't feel confined to a, a specific, you know, structure of song like I did when I was in country and yeah. 4 (36m 53s): So once you put out, or once you start doing what you're doing now, you said you, you know, obviously you built a fan base in the country world. Was that something that you're concerned about? Like, am I gonna put something out and then have all my prior fans just turn their back on me or, 6 (37m 10s): Oh my gosh, I, that actually kept me up at night the thought of that because I did, I, I didn't have a huge following, but I had a following that was very loyal to me and I loved them so much and we were just, we connected on such a deep level and I think, you know, also being somebody who was very introverted, just on a general standpoint, like feeling like I was gonna lose those connections because of a music decision was really scary. And so, yeah, there was a lot of, a lot of moments where I was like one foot in, one foot out. 6 (37m 53s): It's like I had all of my people that had supported me and really loved me and my personal life being like, you need to do this. If you feel like you have to do it, do it. Like, you're obviously not happy over here. So, but you know, I knew that I was making people on the other side happy with the music that I was putting out and it wasn't until I actually started doing the covers where I was like, I'm I'm just gonna, I'm gonna put out a cover of a song that I love and it, my very first one was Jamie All Over and that like, I don't know, it, it just like opened the floodgates for me for people to be like, Oh my gosh, country and punk can like live in the same world. 6 (38m 41s): Like what is this? And so I, I started to see like my fans from the country world now clinging to these new songs of these bands that they maybe have never even heard of in their life. And I don't know, like it, it was a very organic thing and it was like just really awesome to see. And I know now like going on tour with real friends and stuff, I have so many people from my country days that are like, I can't wait to see you, but I also can't wait to see Home Team and real friends and with confidence. And I was like, yeah. And they're like, I've never heard of them before, but you know, it's just, it's really cool. So. 4 (39m 18s): Well I think what you do is brilliant because a lot of country is, you know, melody and, but it's also comes down to the lyrics and the stories behind in the songs and that's what I think, at least for me, connected me with emo in that whole genre of music as a kid and growing up was like, oh my gosh, like these lyrics are so like dark slash like deep and you know, there was something about it. And then being able to translate that in more of a like yeah, like easier to swallow way for people that aren't maybe into, you know, whoever the main or whatever. Yeah. Like, oh okay, like, oh this, this is cool. 4 (39m 58s): Like I just think the way you do it is so brilliant. 6 (40m 1s): Oh well thank you. 4 (40m 3s): Yeah, I mean like when I was, I was listening to even the Aval cover, I was like, whoa, like, because this is still a pop song, but the way you kind of, you turn it into your own and yeah. It's just, it's really cool what you're doing. 6 (40m 17s): Yeah. And I think that's been the most fun of it too, is just like still keeping like, I don't know, like those songs to me. Like I feel almost weird saying that I change it up or something like that because I really try to keep it as like, like to the original version as I can, like melodically and stuff. I don't usually change that up, but it is really cool to see like people being like, you just like turn this into like something completely different. And I was like, I feel like I tried to keep it like pretty, you know, to like 4 (40m 51s): Yeah, you don't, you don't change the melody. Right. You just, the way that you changed the inflection of your voice. Yeah. And you're, you're, and like I said, yeah, that's why I think those songs were so good and the lyrics were so good and then you're keeping it, but you're making it more of a like, you know, broader audience could appreciate it, so to speak. 6 (41m 12s): Yeah. Well thank you. 4 (41m 15s): Yeah. Like I'll listen to first date and I'm like, wow, this is like something like, you know, my grandma could get down to like, oh, you know, like, cuz it's got the acoustic vibe, but if you, if you heard the original and you put it up next to that, like what? Yeah, This is crazy. Like it's so much different. Yeah. 6 (41m 31s): He'd be surprised though. How many people Absolutely. Just roasted me on that one though. It was, that was a rough time. It was rough. Really? Yeah. Oh, that was the cover that I was like, I'm never doing another one ever again. But I, I mean of course I'm still gonna do covers. I I love it. 4 (41m 49s): But was it just like blank fans going off? It 6 (41m 52s): Was just, yeah, 4 (41m 54s): Like interesting. 6 (41m 54s): It, it's so strange and I, I should have known this, you know, being, and I'm sure you probably know this too, being an emo fan is a very sacred 4 (42m 5s): Thing. Yeah. 6 (42m 6s): You know, growing up listening to that music, you, I like, I don't blame them for being a little bit territorial, you know what I mean? Here's this little blonde girl coming in, jumping around being like, I'm gonna change this song into this and it's wedding version. You know, and there's like, I, I opened the floodgate for people just to be like, this is the worst thing that I've ever seen. But, you know, with that though, there are a lot of people and it, what's really cool is like, I have a lot of friends that are like attending weddings and stuff right now cuz you know, I'm at the age and they'll send me like videos of the people that, like, their friends that I don't even know or anything that are using that cover and, and that makes it like, that makes it worth it. 6 (42m 55s): Like they can use that for their special day and I don't know, despite all of the negativity that I did there, I, there's a lot of really amazing people that I've used it for that 4 (43m 5s): Moment. Yeah. I mean, 2 million people disagree like off your Spotify plays just on that song alone. I mean, 6 (43m 12s): Well thank you. 4 (43m 13s): And it's funny that you say that people do hold cause I am one, I'm, you know, that holds that emo thing to a, a level of, you know, I'm, it's sacred to me. And I remember when I saw like emo night coming around, I used to piss me off because I'm like, this isn't even emo song. What the hell are they? Like why are they not playing like these bands and then Mr. 6 (43m 33s): Bright Side again. 4 (43m 34s): What? Yeah, it's like, what, when was the, when were the Killers in Emo band? Like I must have missed that one. Like it, and I remember my buddy went and I'm like, these are the songs that I would play. And he's like, Yeah, this wouldn't work. Like no one cares about American football. I'm like, they they should because this band is blah blah blah. And I'm like trying to give him like some history lesson. He's like, no one gives a shit, dude. He's like, no, no. So I see it, but then it's like, I don't know, to roast you on first date. It's like Blink was already so massive at that point. Like get out of there. 6 (44m 5s): Well you know what was like even crazier though is like, I think it was just like my delivery of it and like maybe I just like, maybe that wasn't what I was supposed to do, but there are a lot of people that were like, Do you remember this song? What this song has been around for? Blah blah blah. I was like, it's literally been out for 20 years. Right. Like if you think about it, that song came out 20 years ago. Like I wouldn't expect anybody 4 (44m 31s): To remember so old. Like, I'm so old. 6 (44m 35s): I am too. 4 (44m 36s): Grew up with Blink. I actually, I can defend you because I grew up in the same town Blink came from. So the, Yeah, I grew up in Powerway area and the sores they sing about in the Dan or the Dude Ranch record was the one that was right next to my parents house anyway. Oh no way. Yeah, it's crazy. Go in there now and there's all these like love letters to them. Oh awesome. Yeah, that's signed all over the walls. But like that album came out so much later. I mean that was so far down the line. They had already peaked. It wasn't like you were Yeah, I don't know. It's funny. All but about it, 6 (45m 10s): It was really weird. And then the thing that got me to was like, the people that were like, Okay, yeah, try to do the verses to this song. And I was like, okay, you're not even talking about the right song at this point. You're talking about like, what's my age again or something. Cuz they would like quote the lyrics and I was like, that's not even in this song, but like, okay, go off. Right. Do you know? And that was, it was rough, but I'm, I'm glad that you like it and I'm glad that people can use it for their weddings 4 (45m 39s): And yeah, that's cool. I mean, I would even fight to say that Blink 180 2 hasn't been in, like, they aren't even, in my opinion, they're, they've, they're the biggest pop punk band of all time, but Oh yeah. You know, when you get to my, what's my age again? Like that was even, you know, so far down the line in their career. 6 (45m 54s): So Yeah, like they've been around for a long, long time and 4 (45m 59s): So yeah, like Travis Barker didn't even join the band until the third album. It's like, you know what I mean? So just, it's interesting to me. But yeah. Love what you're doing though. And okay, so you, you do the, you start and then you start putting out your own original songs that are in that, that realm as well. And then how does that go? 6 (46m 21s): Honestly, it, it went pretty well, I guess. 4 (46m 25s): No, I mean you're doing, it's doing well on, I'm, I'm looking at the numbers, but I'm just wondering like for you, okay, now there's the country thing and are these people are gonna turn their back on me and then now I just, I I'm gonna just go for it. 6 (46m 38s): Yeah. To be honest, like I, it it went really well and I think people just understood, I think by me like doing the covers and stuff and strictly only doing like the old email covers and songs that I, you know, kind of, I did it in a strategic way where it's like, okay, I'm gonna do one that maybe a lot of people know, but I'm also gonna do like Sayon or you know, something like that to where it's like maybe not every person that listens to email music would know this. So it's like the, the hardcore people Yeah. 4 (47m 14s): You got some deep cuts on there. Yeah. 6 (47m 17s): They'd be like, alright, she's not a fake hopefully crossing my fingers. They don't think that. But yeah, I mean like in, in like Neck Deep and story so far, things like that and Japan's that I, I love so much, much and by doing that I think it kind of like opened people's eyes to be like, okay, this is like kind of cool. And once I started doing my own stuff, I think they were a little bit more receptive to it because they're like, all right, the email fans are like, she's not like, she kind of knows what's going on. Yeah. 4 (47m 47s): And then, yeah, you kind of got some cred, like some street cred for it. 6 (47m 52s): I tried, I tried anyways. I was like, this is gonna go one of two ways. Either I'm gonna get absolutely wrecked or I'm gonna get, you know, some fans out of this. But I, yeah. And I tried to keep it too to where like the music wasn't so, so different. I remember when I first started doing the covers, the first song that I put out was a song called True Crime, which definitely had like more of like a dashboard confessional, kind of like a, like early Ava Levine, like I'm with you kind of vibe to where it was like not so far off from what I was doing before, but it kind of helped bridge the gap between like the two, like very like 4 (48m 33s): Different different genres, 6 (48m 35s): Things that I was doing. Yeah. And, and then from there on I just like kind of gradually like made my sound a little bit more heavier and I think I put up a song left You instead. And that was kind of like my first like, okay, this is Pop punk to me. Granted I still had a lot of people that were like, This is country. And I was like, okay, I'm never gonna get away from this. But, and then I, I released what came after that, I can't even remember Shape Shifting maybe? No. In my head. And that was like, yeah. And that one was like very like esque, like this is like more punk shape shifting is obviously like everything from there has kind of like gotten a little bit more heavier. 6 (49m 21s): So Yeah. And like this newer stuff that I'm putting out is like very like 4 (49m 27s): Yeah 6 (49m 28s): Paramore, I don't really know. I don't really know. 4 (49m 31s): It's more like it's, you listen to it and you wouldn't think country. 6 (49m 34s): Yeah. I mean, I mean I wouldn't think that, but I think regardless like there's gonna be people that just associate me with the country world in general. 4 (49m 43s): Yeah. I don't know. I heard it and I didn't think that when I so psychos the one Good. 6 (49m 48s): Yeah. So 4 (49m 49s): Well tell me about that song. And I want to hear kind of, and I wanna talk to you about this tour as well because this is Yeah, this is awesome. 6 (49m 56s): So I wrote Psycho with my friend Spencer Jordan and Phil Barnes. And that was actually a song that Spencer had brought in the idea at that time it wasn't like the tag wasn't psycho or anything like that, but I remember him coming in with like the first verse idea, and I'll be completely honest, I was like, ooh, ooh, ooh. I don't know if I would ever say that. And so I was like, Ah, but like I'll take a chance on it, you know what I mean? And to be like, the more that we kind of, you know, started picking it apart and putting the pieces together, I was like, Wow, I relate to this so much. 6 (50m 43s): And, but I will say I was like super nervous about it. Like when we had got the demo back, I was so stoked cuz I was like, this is probably like the most radio friendly song that I've done so far. And I was like, I could hear it, you know, doing like maybe going to radio or something and I, you know, I had sent it to, I usually send like my sister, my best friend Kelly, who I was in the band with and my boyfriend's sister because she's like younger and she's like more in like the Gen Z like, you know, era. Sure. And so I sent it to her and she was like, Oh my God, I love this. And everybody had said that they loved it. But you know, with the way that social media is right now, I obviously like am very sensitive to like what other people feel and what other people think. 6 (51m 34s): And I would never want to like, put something out that would potentially hurt somebody or like make them feel like I was being insensitive about, you know, a a certain kind of topic that I think the song can kind of like relay back to. And so I had like battled with it for a while. I was like, I really love this song, it's so fun, but I have a feeling I'm gonna get canceled if I put it out. And I Yeah. 4 (52m 4s): But that's so unfortunate. Like you, the fact that you can't even put art out anymore without having those to like run it through 19 filters is ridiculous. 6 (52m 12s): Yeah. And I at that point, yeah, I had sent it to like so many people. I was like, Phil was sending it to like his a and r people and being like, What do you guys think of this? Like, is there anything we should change? And you know, I kind of just like got to the point where I was like, this is gonna happen. You know what I mean? Right. Like, I can't obviously please everybody. And I was like, if something like this, you know, is what I go down for, well at least I can, you know, morally like I feel okay about it, you know what I mean? Like, I feel like I, I did something and we created something so cool and so fun too. And so I was actually really surprised, like I try to preface it in that way too. 6 (52m 54s): Like, this is like so hypothetical I would never do these things. Like I'm not an actual psycho, Do I watch a lot of true crime? Yes, I do. Maybe that makes me a little weird. But other than that I'm like, right. You know, like, it's all just very hypothetical and I, you know, when I teased it on TikTok and stuff like that, people were like, This is awesome. And, you know, kind of comparing it to like goodbye and stuff by the chicks and things like that. So I, I don't know that that made me happy. And then when we released it, I guess it's been doing pretty well ever since, so. 4 (53m 30s): Oh yeah. It's killing you. Yeah, 6 (53m 32s): Yeah, 4 (53m 32s): Yeah, that's, I know, I just feel bad that you even have to think like that. Like, oh, like this is gonna get me canceled. Like I, I don't know. I feel like that's a big thing right now for comedians. They can't come out to anything and you know, like there could be, should be taken totally outta context and then you're canceled. Like even comedians are having it where you have to leave your phone, like in, like you put it, they take it from you and you go into you. So 6 (53m 56s): You can't 4 (53m 56s): Sit. Yeah. So you can't film it and be like, Look what he said and like, cancel 'em. Like it's, that's so crazy to me. 6 (54m 2s): I know, I, I, I think it is too, like, and I can understand where people come from in that sense, but I also too, like, I think that's the one thing about music and about like art and stuff, is that it's a way of expressing yourself. Like it doesn't always have to be so literal or taken so literally, and I like, I'll be honest, like I was in a relationship for a very long time where it was extremely toxic and you know, this person made me feel like I was going crazy and I was like, I literally can't be the only female or, you know, person out there that has been in this kind of situation. And should I have worded it as like, like intense? 6 (54m 46s): Maybe not, but I just, I was just hoping that like, people would see the humor in it and like understand that it's very much so like a joke. Right. I think they have, for the most part, there are people that like will message me and be like, if a guy did this, we would get like, you know, so attacked and canceled immediately and I was like, 4 (55m 6s): Like sucks to 6 (55m 7s): Me. I don't to tell you. Like, I dunno what you want me to say to this. Like, I, it's a joke. 4 (55m 14s): Right, right, right. Well I think the song's awesome. Did you end up trying to send it to radio? I'm, in my opinion, I, yeah, I don't know. Sorry, go ahead. I wanna hear your answer. 6 (55m 24s): We haven't yet. We just kind of been like, honestly that hasn't been like my biggest concern I think with the, you know what I mean? Like, I just am, I'm in that like, everything right now is so fun and I'm just enjoying getting to connect with people and like putting out songs and doing what I've been doing. And so like the thought of doing all of that now, especially too, like if it's not the right song, if I write something down the line where I'm like, damn, I should have like done this instead. You know what I mean? To like better prepare myself for Right. That moment, you know? 6 (56m 4s): But I don't know. We'll see. I mean, if it 4 (56m 8s): Keeps, I was just curious. Yeah. Yeah. I come from radio. I did it for 17 years and I've watched it do one of these, so I'm, it's just funny or interesting for me to hear people say, Yeah, we're gonna figure radio. And it's like, well, I dunno the hell's listening. 6 (56m 22s): Yeah. Like right now I've just kind of been like having fun with it. Yeah. Like putting no stress on myself and I need to get through like this tour. 4 (56m 32s): This is your first tour, right? 6 (56m 34s): Yeah, my, well I've, I've played like so many shows in the past with like the country scene and, but yeah, this is like my first like pop punk, Like we're about to grind it out in a van for six weeks and sell merch and it, Yeah, it's, it's, 4 (56m 55s): That's cool. What a huge tour to be on. I mean, with real friends, with confidence. And do you have a band that you have together that, that you're gonna bring on the road? 6 (57m 4s): Yeah, so we're doing like a free piece. I'm gonna have like drum and guitar and so we're keeping it really small just for the sake of like, you know, pop pop music is a grind, you know, it's definitely not like it was, you know, a few years ago, but, you know, I'm definitely happier living that lifestyle than you know, the others. So I'm just like so stoked and all of the bands that are on the bill, like real friends, like I've listened to them for years, listened to them when Dan was the lead singer. I, you know, I even love like their, their new singer Cody and what they're doing now and just a huge fan of that with confidence of course. 6 (57m 51s): Like they've been around for a minute and the home team is actually like one of my favorite newer bands right now. So I'm like, 4 (57m 58s): That's cool. 6 (57m 59s): I'm like, the fact that you guys are like following up after me, like I'm just gonna sit there and like 4 (58m 6s): Be amazed every night. Yeah. It's 6 (58m 8s): Gonna be, it's gonna be so fun. It's gonna be so crazy. And I've heard nothing but really great things about all of those guys and I don't know, I'm just really thankful I'm like, You sure you want like a very emotionally unstable girl on tour with you guys? 4 (58m 22s): Well, I can vouch for, for with confidence just their guitar player. Scotty Mack, he's a, he's a buddy of mine and he's a such a cool dude. He's a Australian dude. He's really rad. 6 (58m 33s): No way. That's awesome. 4 (58m 34s): So he'll, he'll yeah. I just know I can vouch for him. 6 (58m 39s): I also too, it's, it's actually really crazy. I think that these are the very last shows that they're gonna be playing for a while. Oh really? Yeah. I think that they just made like an announcement, 4 (58m 51s): Like I didn't see that 6 (58m 52s): A week ago. Yeah, they're like, this is the last tour. So I don't know if they're all planning on doing like their own individual stuff, but just to be like a part of that too is like gonna 4 (59m 3s): Be really That's crazy. I didn't know that. Well Scotty's also in the band Unwritten law. Oh yeah. Yeah. So he, he plays with them and so I know that they're, those are guys that have been friends of mine forever. So that's how I met him originally. I didn't know him for with Confidence, so they put a record out recently. So I think that they, he might be doing something with them, but I didn't realize what confidence isn't going on. 6 (59m 27s): Yeah, I I think I had heard something too, like Jayden, I think he does his own solo stuff and I don't know. Yeah, I think, I mean they've been doing it for like the last 10 years and I totally imagine like that takes a toll on people. 4 (59m 42s): Yeah, yeah, definitely. You 6 (59m 43s): Know, and, and so just to be a part of something like that too. Oh my cat is literally on my, But yeah, just to be a part of something like that is gonna be really sad but also very like, you know, 4 (59m 59s): Awesome. Yeah, 6 (59m 60s): Amazing. Yeah, sure. And I think a lot of people are gonna come out like just for that reason too and I don't know. Yeah. It's exciting, exciting stuff. I don't know, I'm like, am I ready? I don't know. But we're gonna, we're gonna just go for it. Yeah, 4 (1h 0m 17s): You're ready. It'll be a rad. Yeah, it'll be a rad experience. I just have a couple more questions for you. Thank you so much for your time today. This has been awesome. 6 (1h 0m 27s): No, seriously. Thank you so much for having me. My cat is literally, of course she was like napping for the last hour and now she's going absolutely. Aw. 4 (1h 0m 34s): Oh good. The cat should go in the conversation. 6 (1h 0m 37s): She's like, this is the time where she's gonna be like jumping up all over everything and probably like hitting my blinds and Oh, okay. Didn't hear anything in the background, it's 4 (1h 0m 46s): Just, just the cat. Okay. All good. Crazy. Do you have an album coming or like an EP or anything? Or what Or more songs I'm sure recorded. 6 (1h 0m 56s): So I, we had initially planned to release an EP before tour and honestly I, I think for a little while I'm just gonna do like the single thing I, you know, I never, I have like this weird like love hate relationship with eps because I feel like, you know, it's very hit or miss when you put one out. I feel like there are some songs that kind of get skipped over and I am very, like, with everything that I put out, I like love every song for a very specific reason and I obviously want it to get as much love as it can possibly get and like hope that it like hits the right audience of, you know, people that I, I intend for it to hit. 6 (1h 1m 45s): And so for me too, it's like I don't want to like just put out this EP two when it's like I might have songs that might not necessarily like completely mesh together. So when it comes down to that, I want everything to be cohesive. And I feel like the last few songs that I've put out, like it's all kind of that transition period and I think if you were to like put them all together, it wouldn't really make a ton of sense. So I'm kind of like holding off for that and just putting out songs as they come and as they're ready and just doing that for a little while and then maybe an album down the line. 6 (1h 2m 31s): But yeah, I don't know, it's, it's also too so hard because I feel like people don't listen to albums the way that they used to. 4 (1h 2m 40s): I know, it's such a bummer 6 (1h 2m 42s): And I am somebody who still does. And I think the thought of of like putting something like so much of my time into something like that and then having people not, you know, hear it the way that I 4 (1h 2m 57s): Right. Only pay attention. 6 (1h 2m 59s): I want them to on the record. Right, right, right. I think that that would kind of be a little upsetting. But yeah, I don't know. I, I think about it a lot and you know, maybe eventually when, you know, I have a little bit of time and obviously it's not a cheap thing to do, especially when you're an independent artist, it's very like, you know, you kind of gotta keep your budget a little tight, but eventually maybe down the line I'll be able to do something like that. But until then, just putting out songs and, and writing and having fun with it and yeah, that's all I can really do. 4 (1h 3m 37s): Awesome. Yeah. Yeah. And why you, What's the bummers? You're not playing Nashville on this tour? What's going on? 6 (1h 3m 44s): No, I don't know. I knew that that was like one of the cities in the mix and then I think, I don't know, maybe they have a bigger poll in Georgia, Sir Georgia. 4 (1h 3m 56s): Yeah, I just explained I was, yeah, I was given Scotty a hard time last time with Confidence came through cuz they didn't play Nashville. I don't know if they've ever played here in Nashville, but they skipped this last time too. And I'm like, What man? And he is like, yeah, I don't know. Basically they were doing something in New York so they couldn't make it work with the tour. And then I saw this tour, I'm like, rad. Oh wait, they're not playing here. I 6 (1h 4m 20s): Know. 4 (1h 4m 21s): All good though. I was just curious. 6 (1h 4m 23s): I know, I'm, I was really looking forward to at least like one day at home. Cause you know, I it's, it's been such a long time since I've been able to like, get out and be like away and on the road. So it's like my idea of everything is kind of like, ah, things gonna be able to like be okay. Like, who's gonna watch my cat? Like, you know what I mean? Like giving myself excuses as to like, maybe I can't go like, but no, like I, I'm super excited and I'm mostly excited about the fact that they added so many like PA dates too. I'm like, Oh my gosh, they added State college and they added, you know, like, we have Pittsburgh our first day. 6 (1h 5m 7s): And I don't know that that excites me because they're, that's an area that I've always wanted to play and I've just never gotten the opportunity. And there's so many like east coast cities too, like Chicago and Boston and all of that that I, you know, I've kind of gotten a feel from like emo nights and stuff. There are people that have come out and so I'm just like really excited for them to actually hear like my, my new stuff and my, my own songs and yeah, it's gonna be fun. 4 (1h 5m 36s): Are you doing songs that haven't been released yet? 6 (1h 5m 40s): I am some. Okay. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I think by the time tour starts, I think there'll be, one of them will be coming out while I'm on tour and then there are two that are like secret. 4 (1h 5m 56s): Wow, that's 6 (1h 5m 57s): Cool. Yeah. 4 (1h 5m 57s): So people have to come out to hear those. 6 (1h 5m 59s): Yes. And they're, they're really fun too. There's, there's songs I'm super stoked about, so. 4 (1h 6m 4s): Awesome. Well I appreciate your time so much Taylor. Thank you so much for doing this. Well 6 (1h 6m 9s): Thank you so much for having me. 4 (1h 6m 11s): Of course. I have one more question before I let you go. Do you have any advice for aspiring artists? 6 (1h 6m 18s): Oh my gosh. Stay. I know this sounds like so cliche and I feel like there's so many artists that say this, but genuinely just like, stay true to yourself. If you're passionate about something, don't listen to the outside noise. I mean, there's gonna be people with a lot of opinions of what you should do and who you should be and how you should think. And it's, it's never, you're never going to be as happy as you are if you don't follow who you are and what you wanna be and what you wanna do. And that's been something I think like through the last few years I've really struggled with and up until, you know, the last two years I've finally found myself and it's taken me like six years. 6 (1h 7m 10s): And so I think just letting people know that if you wanna be an artist, just stay true to yourself and people are gonna gravitate towards that and they're gonna love you for you and for nothing else.