Dasha
Photo: Acacia Evans
interview
In between releasing the deluxe edition of her album 'What Happens Now?' and kicking off her headlining North American tour, rising country singer/songwriter Dasha relives some of her biggest moments since "Austin" became a global smash.
Megan Armstrong
|GRAMMYs/Sep 30, 2024 - 02:50 pm
This time last year, Dasha trusted her gut. She had released her debut album, Dirty Blonde, in January 2023, and couldn't shake how detached she felt from the music after the release party in Los Angeles. After initially pursuing a songwriting degree at Belmont University in Nashville, the San Luis Obispo, California, native had gone all in on becoming a pop singer/songwriter living in L.A., but, as she says now, "I was playing a part." So, Dasha moved back to Nashville.
"I knew that returning to my roots in country music was what I needed for my inner artist to shine," the singer/songwriter born Anna Dasha Novotny tells GRAMMY.com. "I told my friends I was going back to country, and they were confused because I already had all of this pop stuff. I was just like, 'I know you don't understand, but it makes me feel so good about myself doing this for me.' I just knew it."
It was only a matter of weeks before betting on herself paid off. What would become What Happens Now?, Dasha's unapologetically country LP, poured out of her between February and August 2023. She was still an independent artist, but she knew she possessed her golden ticket in her back pocket: an undeniably catchy revenge anthem called "Austin."
"I felt more myself than I'd ever felt in my entire life," she says. "It was me and five people [on my team] saying, 'We have all the pieces. How do we light it on fire?'"
"Austin" officially dropped last November, but didn't send TikTok up in flames until What Happens Now? arrived in February. The country-pop earworm rocketed Dasha to viral stardom, thanks in part to an infectious line dance choreographed by the ballet-trained dancer herself. "Austin" was inescapable throughout the summer, as evidenced by the song landing on the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.
Charting and streaming success was validating, but Dasha placed more weight on country bona fides such as Keith Urban, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Kelsea Ballerini reaching out to commend her on "Austin." During a promo run in London, Dasha serendipitously ran into Shania Twain, who gave Dasha her stamp of approval; on Sept. 26, Twain presented Dasha with The Female Song Of 2024 at the People's Choice Country Awards for "Austin" — a full-circle moment that meant even more to Dasha because it was a fan-voted award.
Fans (and artists) have flocked to Dasha because her wry, vulnerable lyricism is a natural extension of her personality, as showcased by "Austin." What Happens Now? rapidly turned Dasha into a breakthrough star, but she doesn't feel lost in the overwhelming results. If anything, she feels emboldened in her authenticity.
"It's going to be hard to follow up this year, but I have to understand that your first moments are supposed to blow your mind," she says. "It's supposed to exceed expectations. It's supposed to be this crazy. As long as I keep writing songs, releasing music and making music videos I'm just as passionate about — keep the authenticity going and stay true to myself — I'll be set."
Next up, Dasha will kick off the North American leg of her headlining Dashville, U.S.A. Tour in New York City on Oct. 8. Below, in her own words, Dasha reflects on her year of unimaginable firsts — from making her Grand Ole Opry debut to her monumental first visit to Austin, Texas.
Enjoying The Success Of "Austin"
I wrote "Austin" on May 15, 2023. I remember writing a different song, and we'd gotten the hook in the verse, and I was just like, "Guys, I'm pissed right now. I'm not writing a sad song right now." We took five in the backyard, and I said, "We need to write a revenge song. I'm pissed at this guy right now."
We used the same chords, and we just sped 'em up. We were just f—ing around playing guitar, and I blurted out the melody. "Did your boots stop working?" came to my mind, but I was paying more attention to the melody. Travis [Heidelman] said, "Wait, what did you just say?" I didn't remember, so I listened back to the voice memo. It was a very collaborative process where all of our brains lit up at the same time.
November is a weird time to put out such an upbeat song because people just want to listen to "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town," but our strategy was to let the DSPs play with this before we have a moment when the album comes out in February. That was the long-term plan, but I felt discouraged that more people weren't immediately like, "Oh, my God, this song is so good." Because I knew the song was so good.
I was talking the other day about how artists get so tired of playing their first hit, but I love "Austin" so much. I'm so proud of the songwriting. I genuinely never get tired of hearing it. I always turn it up when I hear it on the radio.
I'm proud of the song, but I'm also really proud of the story behind it — how a group of independent music lovers did it. There was no major label behind this. It was just lucky timing, a good song, and a group of friends that wanted to do something special. I started writing when I was 8 years old. I put out my first song when I was 13 years old. I've always, always wanted to do this with my life, and "Austin" is the reason that I can. I don't think I'll ever get tired of playing it.
Releasing 'What Happens Now?' (And The Deluxe Edition)
In February [of 2023], I took a trip to Nashville and wrote "Drown Me." I was like, Oh, my God, have I just been denying this part of me that's so authentic? I fully committed to making a country album, and making this country album made me feel whole again. It made me fall in love with songwriting all over again.
I am a country artist, and I've always known that deep in my heart. I had to go through the artistic development of doing pop music, writing for different artists, living in Nashville, living in LA, and then moving back to Nashville to find myself as an artist. But this album is the first time I've ever put out a body of work that feels actually like myself.
I had written the song "What Happens Now?" I freestyled, "But now, we're older/ What happens now?" It was stream-of-consciousness because I was moving to Nashville in a month and feeling weird about being in my early twenties. The album was almost called King Of California because I have a very masculine personality, so I liked the idea of claiming myself as the King of California, but [my manager] Alex [Lunt] suggested What Happens Now? My dad thought it was cool. By naming it What Happens Now? — I love manifestation. I was genuinely calling in a crazy year. Bring it on, baby.
Feb. 16 is when the album came out. The next week, we were [filming] the "Austin" line dances. Every day, I posted five [TikTok] videos while working on a horse ranch. I worked there because I had been an independent artist for three years — that does not make a lot of money. As a side job, I would shovel the horse s—, ride 'em, train 'em, whatever, because I grew up riding horses, so it made me feel grounded.
The day after [the album dropped], I threw my phone up on the fence and was like, "Move, horses, I gotta dance!" That was my biggest TikTok, too. I think it had, like, 70 million views. Anywhere I could possibly get a video, I was like, F— it, here we go, baby. It was two or three weeks after that when the song had gotten so big on TikTok.
The most pressure was releasing the next single after "Austin." That almost drove me off a bridge. It was so scary, but "Didn't I?" was the perfect next single.
I almost named the deluxe album What Happens Next? I have no plans of slowing down anytime soon. I feel like I'm just getting my bearings, and I'm ready to go harder. Anything is possible, and I'm ready for it.
Making Her Late-Night TV Debut On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Jimmy Kimmel asked me in March. That was the first big pop culture moment. Like, Oh, s—, this huge talk show host wants me to come and be the musical guest. At this point, I was just a TikTok artist, which has such a bad connotation. I hate it because it's like, What do you want me to do? Not post my songs online? Sorry that it blew up. But at the time, that's how I was perceived. It meant so much to me to have Jimmy and his team reach out.
Afterward, I got TMZ'd on the way to the parking lot. The headline was "Dasha looking slightly frazzled." But even though it was the worst TMZ ever, I was like, the fact I got TMZ'd at all is kind of crazy. People care about me. I felt like this was going to be something. I knew it was just the beginning. I just felt this fire inside me. Everything in my body, my mind, and my soul felt right.
Landing A Major Label Deal With Warner Records
Feb. 27 is my birthday, so Alex and I met with every f—ing label under the sun during my birthday week. I was treated like a princess — flown first-class across the world. It was such a crazy time because I was still broke.
There were nights when I wondered, What is the right decision? I mean, it was the best labels in the world. There was no wrong decision. But Warner Records felt like a family. People cared about me on a human level. As an artist, that can sometimes disappear quickly. You can get treated more like a product or a workhorse. I had already made personal connections with a lot of people at Warner Records. I felt safe there. That's why I chose them.
I felt so powerful going to those meetings, being like, I am the hottest thing on the market right now. Every label wants me, and I know it. A year ago, if I were doing those label meetings, I would've been like, "No, anything you want!" But because I had what they wanted, it was a total role reversal.
I was a little coy during meetings. It was fun having the attitude of, "I have a hit song. What's up?" Obviously, it was a joke, and they loved how I played up that role. But it reminded me, like, You are a powerful woman. It's fun to be in a position to show women you've got the power, girl, and you can be in this position, too.
Performing At The CMT Music Awards
When I got asked to play at the CMT Awards, I wasn't thinking about my first trip to Austin being to perform "Austin." But on the flight there, I was like, Wait, this is so cool. The universe has winked at me so many times.
I was scared that people would be like, "She's fake! She wrote 'Austin,' and she's never been here!" I'm like, "Chill out. The song is about Nashville, but Nashville doesn't rhyme. What did you want me to do? Write a s—ty song?"
I was so overwhelmed that I looked at my stylist and said, "Just make me look good." I gave her this vision — a reference picture of Khloe Kardashian in a floor-length cheetah dress. I needed to make a statement for my first carpet and wanted to reference Shania. Sami Miro did a custom floor-length dress for me. We had one size. Thank God it fit!
I'm a very emotional person, and I was trying to fight back tears when fans started screaming "Austin" from the stands. I was in full glam, like, Girl, do not do this right now. But I screamed back at them, and it was a fun, full-circle moment. Those five minutes walking the outside part of the carpet were genuinely one of my favorite moments of this entire year.
After my performance, I was shaking. I was so overstimulated and so stoked. I remember Lainey Wilson walking up to me. She was just like, "Girl, you killed that. I'm so proud of you." Even though we didn't really know each other, [it] felt like, Oh, I have a friend here. Those simple things mean a lot.
Playing Nissan Stadium For CMA Fest
Playing CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium was my first-ever stadium performance. I went to Nashville when I was 13 years old with my dad to take publishing meetings with anyone who would talk to this random 13-year-old girl with a really big dream. Nissan Stadium was the first stadium that I had ever seen.
I had two minutes while they were announcing something. Standing up there, I was like, Oh, f—, I'm about to play this stadium I saw from Music Row when I was 13. It felt full circle and really, really special.
Then, I jetted over to the Spotify House at Ole Red on Broadway to play with Keith Urban. Two weeks before CMA Fest, I was doing a press run in Germany and got a text that said, "Hey D, this is Keith (Urban)." I was like, Is this a prank?! He said he was such a big fan of "Austin" and would love for me to come sing "Austin" at his Spotify House set during CMA Fest. Keith was the first artist of that stature to reach out and have me perform with them. And that was just such a surreal f—ing moment for me.
Debuting At The Grand Ole Opry
My publicist, Avery King, called me, and I was tearing up. Avery is such a good friend of mine, and she was just as excited as I was to have that news come in. It's been special to have all these big first moments with people who genuinely give a f— about me.
The Grand Ole Opry is a mystical, magical place. You hear about it growing up. It's so iconic. I felt so overwhelmed because it's the physical center of country music history and culture.
There was a beautiful piano in my green room, and I was trying to warm up my voice. I play guitar and piano, but started on piano. My mom put all her kids in piano lessons, even though I hated it. Thanks, Mom!
When you strip down "Austin," it's actually a really sad song. You can hear how betrayed and hurt I was by this guy. So, I started playing "Austin" on the piano in the green room. It felt so real singing it in the Opry on a piano. We chose to do the stripped-back version instead of the full band version of "Austin" for my Opry debut because I wanted to show that side of the song — the sultry, pain-ridden side — especially because acoustic songs shine at the Opry.
Headlining A Tour For The First Time
My dad has been calling Nashville "Dashville" for years now — such a dad joke. So when naming the tour, I was like, Wait, is it kind of cute if it's called Dashville, U.S.A.? Dashville is also my LLC, and I would love to open up a line-dancing bar called Dashville one day. It was very effortless.
I got advice from a voice teacher early on: No matter how small the venue is, pretend you're playing for 30,000 or 100,000 people in a stadium. My whole life, I've been working up to this moment. Not only did "Austin" do what it did this year, but it also brought the live show component. A lot of people who have a hit song don't sell tickets, and I understand that. I don't know how I got so lucky.
This is the first time I've played shows that are so authentic to me. I'm really excited to share more of my heart with people. Also, getting rowdy! I want there to be a mosh pit of people line dancing.
I want to build a community around my music — not just around liking my music and me. I want my fans to get to know each other and my shows to be their friendship bonding. My goal for this tour is to build the biggest, brightest and most supportive community. I feel like my style of country music is very inviting for all people.
I sold out every single show in Europe. Usually, there are a lot of little girls and younger people, but the tour's opening night in Stockholm was full of older couples. I was at the merch booth after the show, and there was a line of 15 dads excited to buy a T-shirt. Then, going to Ireland and having a tent with 10,000 people packed and screaming "Austin" — I could hear it through my in-ears. These moments have been such a magical way to start this very long career that I hopefully have ahead of me.
Latest News & Exclusive Videos
Kris Kristofferson performs in Norway in 2019.
Photo: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns
news
Prolific songwriter and three-time GRAMMY winning singer Kris Kristofferson died on Sept. 28 at age 88. Revisit his legacy with five of his most important songs, whether they were chart-toppers for himself or icons like Johnny Cash and Janis Joplin.
Matt Wickstrom
|GRAMMYs/Sep 30, 2024 - 07:43 pm
After over a half century in the public eye, doing everything from writing hit songs to appearing on the big screen, Kris Kristofferson passed away at age 88 on Sept. 28. While he may not have had the most powerful voice himself, the power of the "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down" singer's pen always ensured his songs would find the right person to guide them, with folks like Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Tyler Childers, and countless others recording his work through the years.
Following the unsuccessful launch of a music career under the name Kris Carson in the late 50's, Kristofferson enlisted in the U.S. Army, eventually starting a band while stationed in West Germany that revived his ambitions. Upon his return to the States in 1965, he moved to Nashville, working odd jobs to make ends meet prior to releasing his groundbreaking 1970 debut, Kristofferson. Largely written by Kristofferson himself — a format he'd continue for all 18 of his solo albums — the album produced hits like "Help Me Make It Through The Night," "Me And Bobby McGee," and "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down" and instantly made him a force to be reckoned with.
Aside from his songwriting, Kristofferson is also known for his work as an actor, most notably on 1976's A Star Is Born. Starring alongside Barbra Streisand, the romantic musical drama netted him Golden Globe Award for Best Actor the same year. Originally released in 1937, the movie's narrative has been re-hashed time and time again — including a 2018 remake with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper — but Kristofferson's version has continued to persist as the standard, similar to how his songs have also stood the test of time.
With three GRAMMY Awards to his name, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, and a penchant for crafting hit songs that has long gone unmatched, look back on Kris Kristofferson's legacy as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
"Help Me Make It Through The Night," 'Kristofferson' (1970)
Inspired by a quote from Frank Sinatra in Esquire magazine about what he believes in ("whatever helps me make it through the night"), "Help Me Make It Through The Night" was written by Kristofferson while staying with Dottie West as a starving artist. It's arguably the most instrumental to his success, earning him his first GRAMMY for "Best Country Song" in 1972 and inspiring covers by the likes of Sammi Smith, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson.
Although Smith's version of the song was the biggest commercial success (reaching No. 1 on the charts), the aching of Kristofferson's voice on the original pairs perfectly with the ballad's somber tone, leaving the listener legitimately questioning if the singer will wake to see another day.
"Me And Bobby McGee," 'Kristofferson' (1970)
Another of several timeless hits from Kristofferson's GRAMMY Hall Of Fame-inducted debut album, "Me And Bobby McGee" is perhaps best known for Janis Joplin's posthumous version that released and jumped to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. The song also enjoyed chart-topping success in the country community thanks to Gordon Lightfoot and Jerry Lee Lewis, further evidence of its captivating nature — and Kristofferson's prowess as a songwriter altogether.
The freewheelin', borderline waltz about two drifters hitching a ride through the American south sees Kristofferson tying together the hitchhiker's lack of anything tying them down to his own life, something best embodied in the lyric, "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose."
"Why Me," 'Jesus Was a Capricorn' (1972)
Featuring harmonies from soon-to-be wife Rita Coolidge and fellow country/gospel star Larry Gatlin, "Why Me" sees Kristofferson pleading for spiritual guidance and direction from Jesus: "My soul's in your hand," he yearns on the chorus. It's a response of sorts to another of his most successful songs (and an eventual No. 1 country hit for Johnny Cash), "Sunday Mornin' Coming Down."
Notably, the heartbreaking hit was Kristofferson's only No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart as an artist in his own right. The song's success further reinforced it as one of his most enthralling and crippling compositions ever, as he questions his own good fortune with lyrics like, "What have I ever done/ To deserve even one/ Of the pleasures I've known."
"From The Bottle To The Bottom," 'Full Moon' (1973)
Following in the footsteps of the pity-plagued lyrics of "Why Me," "From The Bottle To The Bottom" sees Kristofferson dueting with Coolidge for a combination of tongue-in-cheek humor ("If happiness is empty rooms/ And drinkin' in the afternoon/ Well I suppose I'm happy as a clam) with tear-in-your-beer heartache.
The myriad of emotions captured by the song's ambiguous title leave its interpretation constantly shapeshifting, no doubt contributing to the allure that helped it win a GRAMMY for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group in 1974. Though the pair's marriage ended in 1980, their musical partnership proved fruitful and successful: along with releasing two more albums (1974's Breakaway and 1978's Natural Act), they celebrated another GRAMMY win in 1976 for their rendition of the Rhythm Steppers' "Lover Please" in 1976.
"Highwayman," 'Highwayman' (1985)
After more than a decade of success as both an artist and a songwriter, Kristofferson joined forces with classic country colleagues Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to form one of the most renowned supergroups in music history: the Highwaymen.
The iconic foursome debuted in 1985 with "Highwayman," the Jimmy Webb classic about a soul with four different incarnations that inspired the group's name. Each personification is played by a different member, with Kristofferson taking the role of a sailor killed in a shipwreck while traversing South America's Cape Horn en route to Mexico.
The success of the song and album would go on to spawn not only two more Highwaymen records in the next decade, but also inspired the formation of other supergroups like the Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty) and Honky Tonk Angels (Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette). What's more, it solidified Kristofferson's place as one of country music's greats — a legacy that is sure to live on through generations to come.
Latest News & Exclusive Videos
Mason Ramsey
Photo: Alex Crawford
interview
With a lower tone and six years of experience, Mason Ramsey proves he's not just a yodeling child star with his debut album, 'I'll See You In My Dreams.' The country singer/songwriter reflects on his "whirlwind" journey and how it shaped his artistry.
Matt Wickstrom
|GRAMMYs/Sep 25, 2024 - 09:32 pm
Mason Ramsey doesn't even remember why he was at Walmart on that fateful day in March 2018. And due to his family's lack of internet at home, he didn't even know his yodeling had made him an overnight sensation until calls from "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and the like began rolling in a week later.
But while his nasally, high-pitched yodels are what first brought him attention, it's his old-soul sensibility and silky voice that have proved he's anything but a fluke or one-trick pony. With his debut album, I'll See You In My Dreams, Ramsey shows that he's a true star in the making and a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
The album marks the latest chapter in the singer's journey to carve out a music career from his viral moment, which has gone on to make fans out of everyone from Lana Del Rey and Zach Bryan — who welcomed Ramsey on stage this past June at Boston's Fenway Park and last summer in Tulsa for a coveted guest role on "Revival," respectively — to Lil Nas X. The latter culminated in a star-studded performance of their "Old Town Road" remix together with Billy Ray Cyrus, BTS, Diplo, and Nas at the 2020 GRAMMYs, a moment that Ramsey still considers one of his biggest milestones to date.
"It's been a whirlwind of a ride for me, the past six years," Ramsey tells GRAMMY.com. "You know, some people would say it doesn't feel real sometimes, but how I keep myself in a balanced mind is, stay humble, stay grounded, and remember where you came from. And sometimes I'll go back home to keep me in that mindset."
That steadfast approach and passion for music was instilled in Ramsey by his grandparents, who raised him in the tiny Illinois town of Golconda. He heard his first Hank Williams cut as a toddler and was instantly hooked. "I started to pick up the words on certain songs like 'Your Cheatin' Heart' and 'I Saw The Light' before I could talk," Ramsey recalls.
By age 5, he was singing in front of paid audiences everywhere from local nursing homes to festivals to — you guessed it — grocery stores.
Those performances persisted for years until a video of Ramsey singing Williams' "Lovesick Blues" in an aisle at his hometown Walmart broke the internet in 2018, changing the youngster's trajectory forever — and leading those local gigs to cease due to strangers consistently recognizing him in public. "I could get kidnapped. Something bad could happen, you never know," Ramsey jokingly told Billboard in 2018.
But he certainly didn't stop performing. In fact, along with his appearances on "Ellen" and the GRAMMYs, he graced the stage at Coachella and Stagecoach festivals and performed at the Grand Ole Opry eight times within his first year of fame.
Despite the unexpected way his musical aspirations came to fruition, Ramsey, now 17, insists that his rapid rise to fame was never all that overwhelming.
"We didn't treat it any differently than we'd been doing before," Ramsey says of his approach to post-virality stardom. "I just thought of it as me always doing what I love to do… and performing and inspiring people to do what I do. We just looked at it as the next step in life for me."
After signing with Atlantic Records in April 2018 — becoming the youngest country singer to sign to a major label in almost two decades — the then-11-year-old delivered his first EP, Famous, three months later. Another EP, Twang, followed in 2019 and spawned another viral trend on TikTok with its title track, which Ramsey even played into that March, recording a reel of himself dancing to it — outside of a Walmart, of course.
He took a break from music in 2021 and 2022, taking the time to, well, simply be a teenager; he worked at his family's sandwich shop (which had its own viral moment), fixed up his 1968 Chevy K10, and attended prom. All the while, Ramsey honed "what I really wanted to say with my music," as he said in a statement upon announcing his 2023 EP, Falls Into Place, and engaged with his millions of followers online — the latter of which has become one of the main keys to his continued success in 2024.
While many of his fans first began following him for his music, it's Ramsey's playful and self-deprecating humor (like his response to his sandwich shop job: "don't knock the hustle y'all") that has kept them around and begging for more. And since the release of Falls Into Place — on which he co-wrote four of the five tracks — he's continuing to prove his prowess as a singer/songwriter, too.
Ramsey co-wrote all 14 tracks on I'll See You In My Dreams, crafting a timeless, bluesy country sound that feels like it was plucked straight out of the 1960s. Of course, he's still only 17, which is reflected in the album's lighthearted tales about the importance of family and navigating young love, like the rizz-fueled "Prettiest Girl At The Dance" ("I ain't the jealous type/ But seeing you tonight/ Makes me feel all kinds of ways").
"I wanted my songs to be more relatable, and being a writer on a song, and putting my words in it instead of singing songs that someone else has written for me [is the best way to do that]," Ramsey says. "I feel like I can relate to the songs more, and the audience can relate to me more."
Yet, his old-school influences — as well as a post-puberty tone — help Ramsey deliver such tunes with a maturity beyond his years. It makes appearances on numbers like the somber heartbreak ballad "Blue Over You" (the song that caught Lana Del Rey's attention) or the reassuring "Something You Can Hold" feel like they're being sung by a seasoned vet rather than someone who only recently became old enough to drive.
While the record also takes forays into Tejano territory ("The Woman From Havana"), jazz ("Lies, Lies, Lies"), gospel ("Joy") and rock 'n' roll ("Trouble Is"), it finds comfort most in the country sound that was so instrumental in setting Ramsey down his current path. And through it all, he reminds that wherever fame may take him, he's still the small-town boy from Golconda. "No matter how far they roam or where they go/ They always go back to the place they know," he assures on the waltzing "Cowboys Always Come Home"; on the crooner "Family Pictures," he sings, "Some are here and some long gone/ And some didn't stay for too long/ I'm carrying their memory in the pocket of my jeans/ So they'll always be close to me."
Equipped with a lot to say and a lifetime ahead of him to say it, Ramsey has big plans for how he'd like his music career to pan out. As he headlines his own tour of intimate venues around North America this fall — his second headlining trek of 2024 — he's already envisioning his own arena and stadium tours in the years to come. It's no doubt a lofty goal, but he's already defied expectations of viral fame, so who's to say it can't be done?
"I really love being in front of fans — or just people in general, especially other artists. There's just an energy spike I get from it," Ramsey says. "Being in front of a new audience and showing them what I can do, it means a lot."
Latest News & Exclusive Videos
Keith Urban
Photo: Courtesy of PFA Media
interview
On the heels of releasing his 11th album, Keith Urban gives GRAMMY.com an honest look inside his approach to making country music and how it played into his latest release.
Alison Bonaguro
|GRAMMYs/Sep 23, 2024 - 06:07 pm
When Keith Urban announced his 11th studio album in June, he revealed that it wasn't initially called HIGH. In fact, it wasn't even the album he was hoping to create. So he scrapped all but four songs and started over.
The problem with that album — which was called 615, named for the Nashville area code — was that it was missing something: him.
Going into the studio with an open mind and a free spirit, Urban created an album that is, as he said in his album announcement, "so much more of what I actually wanted to say." As a result, HIGH captures who Urban is as a prolific songwriter, navigating everything from unbridled light-heartedness to poignant heartbreak.
The four-time GRAMMY winner co-penned half the songs on HIGH, and produced all 12 along with some of Nashville's finest writers and producers, including his longtime collaborator Dann Huff. The result is 40 minutes of Urban's heart and soul, and everything in between.
In celebration of HIGH's release, Urban sat down with GRAMMY.com to reflect on how the past two decades have shaped the way he makes music, feels music and plays music — and how it all led to his latest masterpiece.
You've said before that making and playing music makes you euphoric. Is there a secret to maintaining that kind of high after nearly three decades of making country music?
It's my curiosity and passion that just burns very intensely. The center of me, my spirit, feels no different now than when I arrived in Nashville. Literally no different. In a strange way in the sense that I often forget that I've done anything. So I sort of feel like I haven't accomplished anything. But the real plus side of that is that I'm not encumbered by it in any way. It doesn't weigh on me.
Is that high as intense as it was when you made your 1999 debut album in America?
It is, because when it came time to make my first album in Nashville, that was when I had a clear idea of writing songs and the way I wanted to make records.
That album was released almost exactly 25 years ago. And it gave you your first No. 1 at country radio, "But for the Grace of God." That really carved out a special place for you as a singer/songwriter.
Well, I'm obviously drawn to those themes because that's how I was raised with my mom and dad. We were a working-class family, we didn't have much of anything, but we had our family and we were very close. I never once felt like we were lacking anything.
So even on the new album, "LAUGHIN' ALL THE WAY TO THE DRANK" has that familiar theme of a guy that seems to not have anything, but he's kind of got it made, you know? It's literally recognizing that you don't need much to have a full life.
On a song like that, or any of the others on this anthology, do you ever have a gut feeling for which songs will soar to the top of the charts, win awards, or otherwise stand the test of time?
I can't even tell you how many years ago it was that I completely detached from what songs work, what songs connect, which ones don't, or how they do it. And even more so now, the definition of success is so individual. That's a good thing — that that definition now can have infinite meanings for an artist.
The success of the song, if it only barely cracked the top 50, and yet you meet somebody at a concert who says it completely saved them and changed their life, you would deem that song an incredible success. Those definitions are changing constantly.
That's a good thing, right?
It is. Because think about a song like Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer." It was on her Lover album, and it did nothing. But her fans really liked it. So about four years later, they released it as an official single. And then it was absolutely massive. It just hadn't been discovered yet.
A little bit like your "You Look Good in My Shirt."
Right? Seven years later! [Laughs.]
What was it about your never-released album 615 that made you want to start over on HIGH?
I've always made records one way, which is fairly loose. My producer Dann Huff can definitely testify to that being my favorite way to make an album: to just show up at the studio. And when I get to the studio, I'll decide what we're playing that day. It might not be the one we were planning on if I think, "I just don't feel that song today. How about this one? Can we give this a swing?"
So it's always about trying to do what I'm passionate and curious about, and what I'm loving and capturing that day. I've always made records that way. But I didn't do that when I made 615. Instead, it was a specific effort to try and capture certain kinds of songs and make a certain kind of album. It was more premeditated, and then the end result felt a bit linear. It was missing a bit of playful and adventurous spirit, and I knew I had that album in me.
Has that ever happened before?
Well, on some of my albums previously, I've wandered off in so many musical directions. I'd have some of my fans go, "I don't know where you're going with these songs." I felt like people were saying they never knew what to expect from my albums, but it didn't sound like a compliment. Then I felt like maybe I need more focus and discipline in my life and on my albums. And that's what I did on 615. I ended up with 13 songs that sounded focused and disciplined. But the edge, the curiosity and the exploring the edges were missing.
Not all fans want focus. Sometimes there is beauty in the ambiguity, how one song can mean ten different things to ten different people. I think that's where you shine.
Well, people wrestle with metaphors sometimes. When I hear "Wichita Lineman," I don't see Glen Campbell up on a pole fixing power lines. I hear a man who's lonely and missing somebody. Songs don't need to be so literal.
But then sometimes, there's no mistaking what a song is about. "MESSED UP AS ME" paints such a dark blue picture of lonely yearning, in both versions: the album cut and the stripped-down piano version. What made you take it from sad to worse?
When we were figuring out how we would play the song live, I sent it to my keyboard player. And somewhere along the line I heard just the keyboards and the vocal. And I went, "Oh. That's really good. That song holds up really well with just ethereal keys." That was the embryo discovery of that version.
A good song is a good song when the bones are good, just like on the Ariana Grande song "We Can't Be Friends" that I reworked.
Another song on HIGH that sounds like it hit home for you is "HEART LIKE A HOMETOWN," because you moved around so much as a kid. Now that you and your family have called Nashville home for so long, does a song like this anchor you?
The feeling that song evokes is really beautiful — when you're going out and pursuing your dreams, your passions and your interests that maybe go beyond your hometown. Maybe there is a person that you were leaving behind as well. It's like, "Which one do I choose? Which way do I go?"
But the beauty in that is how a hometown is there for you if you ever find yourself out there, lost, and want to come back. Your hometown says, "I am completely open. You can come back anytime." Nashville feels that way now, because I've lived in Nashville way longer than I lived in Australia, which is crazy.
"STRAIGHT LINE" is a little bit more reckless than that one, in the best way. Is there a person who is that straight line for you?
Some of these songs aren't about a relationship. They're almost looking-in-the-mirror songs. On this one, it's more of an interior conversation with two sides of myself. The dutiful grounded, responsible guy, and the wild, living-on-the-edge guy.
I'm trying to balance those two guys, but then maybe you've become a little too reliable, and you've lost a bit of your color and your edge. I write these songs historically in relationship form, but many of them are actually about the duality inside me.
And when it comes to producing the music, you seem to be casting a wider net these days than when it was just you and Dann Huff. What is your thinking behind that?
Almost exclusively, every outside producer that makes it onto my record is a songwriter on that track. I'm not out there tapping a whole bunch of different producers. I'm writing with people who also happen to be producers. There's an interesting thing in Nashville where there's a lot of track people who just do tracks. So I love it when I can write with really good writers who are also really good producers.
Pretty soon it will be time to take all these songs on the road. Or, more specifically, to Las Vegas, when you start your Fontainebleau residency on Oct. 4. Will that change the way you take the stage each night?
It's interesting how many similarities there are between a residency and a traditional tour. I've been asked to do residencies in Vegas for many years before I actually did one. I would always say no. It just sounded like an episode of "Severance." It was like, "It's just gonna be this place over and over and over?"
I couldn't stand the thought of something that resembled a day job, you know? That was exactly what we don't want to be doing. But now, I can see that the audience is different every night.
Can you give those shows a sense of the lively camaraderie of playing in bars, when you were just getting started?
Definitely. It's a spirit of intent. That's how I approach what I do when I go on stage. It really doesn't have anything to do with where we are. I'm gonna get up on stage and do exactly what I do, which is to get everybody to come together and forget about their lives for the whole time. We're gonna find everything in common, have a great time, and live in this other existence for a little bit.
And I always want to play with the audience, not at them. I need their participation. I need a huge amount of complete spontaneity and unpredictability. None of that changes, even in a big Vegas setting.
My shows are structured so I have threads all throughout where songs can get extended or shortened. I can make a quarterback call and throw a song in right here, spontaneously.
For as long as you've been in Nashville, you've been such a genuine champion of other country artists, both your peers and the genre's newcomers. That's rare, and it has shown itself on this album with the collaborations you've done this time around, with Lainey Wilson and ERNEST. How do you decide which country artists you want to work with?
It's always because of who I feel a connection with. I don't look at their streaming numbers. I don't think about anything other than artistic compatibility. So when I read an interview about BRELAND many, many years ago, I thought, "This is a kindred spirit artistically and creatively. I'd like to see what we could do." And then with ERNEST, he is just another kindred spirit.
And with Lainey Wilson, when I heard her voice, it was within seconds that I thought, "I feel like I know who this girl is." And I hadn't even met her. But her voice tells me that I know who she is — she is grounded, down-to-earth and just the real deal.
Our song "GO HOME W U" might be one of those songs that has its own trajectory and journey and timeframe. It's not time sensitive, it's just about going out drinking and being flirtatious in a song. And that's timeless!
Latest News & Exclusive Videos
Miranda Lambert performs in 2023
Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images
feature
Country superstar Miranda Lambert celebrated a new chapter by making a solo project in her native Texas for the first time in over two decades. Take a deep dive into her journey and how it all led back to the Lonestar State.
Matt Wickstrom
|GRAMMYs/Sep 12, 2024 - 03:26 pm
With a strong will and brazen sense of humor, Miranda Lambert has always proudly represented her native Texas with her music. But the country star's tenth album might just be her most inspired by the Lonestar State yet — which is exactly why it's titled Postcards From Texas.
Recorded at Austin's famed Arlyn Recording Studios, Postcards is full of hard-driving honky-tonk sounds and references to home running through every lyric. Along with being Lambert's first album with Republic Records — her new label home after 20 years on Sony Music Nashville — Postcards also marks the singer/songwriter's first solo studio album recorded in Texas since her 2001 independent, self-titled debut. Similar to that album, Postcards is a record as Texan as they come, and marks a full-circle moment for the trailblazing artist.
"I just felt like finally, I'm home," Lambert told Variety earlier this year. "I feel like that on the label; I feel like that recording it in Texas. And this music really reflects what made me the artist that I am."
Postcards takes listeners on a road trip-like experience with songs referencing familiar Texas towns like Luckenbach ("Looking Back On Luckenbach") and San Antonio ("Alimony") along with more obscure places like (90 miles from) Pecos ("No Man's Land"). The "I've Been Everywhere" narrative is a combination of her previous two records — 2021's The Marfa Tapes and 2022's Palomino — that see her jamming around a campfire alongside frequent collaborators (and fellow Texans) Jack Ingram and Jon Randall one moment, and running down the highway coast to coast the next. Only on this trip, all roads lead to Texas.
Lambert's affinity for home comes at a time when the three-time GRAMMY winner is at peace in her life and career perhaps more than ever, thanks to her new label and marriage to former NYPD officer Brendan McLoughlin. In turn, Postcards From Texas is a testament to just how far she's come since trying to break through as a female country artist in Texas in the early 2000s ("The Texas scene wasn't a place for girls at all back then," she told NPR in 2019).
Despite any setbacks in her home state, Lambert moved to Nashville in 2003 following a third place finish on the now-defunct singing competition "Nashville Star," which helped her land a deal with Sony Music Nashville later that year. Even as an aspiring artist, she made it clear that nobody was going to tell her what to look like, sound like, or who to write with, swiftly turning her into a modern-day outlaw.
Her strong-willed nature culminated in a big way on her 2005 Sony debut, Kerosene. With Lambert co-writing all but one of the 12 tracks (and single-handedly penning five), the record introduced Lambert's fiery, no-BS persona through songs like the GRAMMY-nominated title track, "New Strings" and "Me And Charlie Talking." The moment marked a passing of the torch from the likes of Shania Twain and The Chicks — both of whom captivated fans in the '90s with their empowering anthems of womanhood — to Lambert, who began to gain a reputation by listeners and industry heads alike as a free spirit that wasn't to be messed with.
While 2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend doubled down on her unabashedly bold image (see "Gunpowder & Lead"), Kerosene's follow-up also hinted that Texas will always be on Lambert's heart. The earnest ballad "Famous In A Small Town" saw her reminiscing on what she left behind at home, a sentiment she revisits on "The House That Built Me," a tear-jerking ode to her childhood home from her third studio set, 2009's Revolution. The latter would go on to become her first No. 1 country hit and first GRAMMY-winning song, proving that she can be equally as impactful with vulnerability as she can with vengeance.
Lambert found a successful balance of both on her next two albums, 2011's Four The Record and 2014's Platinum, as well as her work with Pistol Annies, her trio with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley launched in 2011. And while 2016's The Weight Of These Wings kicked off with the playful single "Vice," much of the two-disc album offered more poignant balladry as Lambert reflected on her very public divorce from Blake Shelton.
"Every record I've ever made has been a reflection of where I am right then in my life, however old I am," Lambert told Billboard in 2016. "And I've never held back at all. But this time with what I happened to be going through in my life, being honest was never really a choice. Everybody knew anyway. So I just said, I'm gonna journal it, and — good days and bad days — use it for my art."
One of the album's most affecting tunes is the two-time GRAMMY-nominated single "Tin Man," which also ended up being very fortuitous for Lambert thanks to co-writers Jack Ingram and Jon Randall. But before they became her right-hand men, she recruited another new collaborator for her seventh full-length album, 2019's Wildcard: Jay Joyce.
Joyce helped Lambert expand her sound into the rock and pop space more than ever before ("Mess With My Head," "Locomotive"), resulting in a fittingly more upbeat feel for the singer, who found love again with McLoughlin and married in 2019. As her first album without longtime producer Frank Liddell at the helm, it was also an indication that the singer/songwriter was ready to evolve. But Ingram and Randall were the Wildcard collaborators (both co-wrote "Tequila Does"; Randall was also a co-writer on "Pretty Bitchin'") who would ultimately serve as Lambert's guiding light for what was to come.
The trio's collaborative album, 2021's The Marfa Tapes, first brought Lambert back to her Texas roots, written and recorded together in the titular small West Texas town. Utilizing only two microphones and an acoustic guitar, the record was as raw and real as it gets, and took on a distinctly Texas flavor through songs like "Waxahachie," "Amazing Grace (West Texas)" and "Am I Right Or Amarillo" — the last of which features a town that would later pop up again on Postcards' lead track.
The next year, Lambert revisited three of The Marfa Tapes' songs on her eighth solo effort, Palomino ("In His Arms," "Geraldine," "Actin' Up"); the rest of the album's 15 tracks included narratives about living life on the road on your own terms, like "If I Was A Cowboy," which saw Lambert reclaiming her outlaw swagger.
The mix of The Marfa Tapes' acoustic ballads and Palomino's stories from the road coalesce into one on Postcards From Texas. Often pulling from her own journey, Lambert hones in on a Texas-sized sense of place — literally and figuratively — with stories about rogue hitchhikers running from the law ("Armadillo") and high-stakes divorce settlements ("Alimony"), as well as callouts to various cities and state landmarks along the way.
Meanwhile, other songs see the re-emergence of the hard-headed Lambert that fans first met with Kerosene and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Tracks like "Dammit Randy" — a co-write with Randall and McLoughlin — show her walking away from someone in disappointment who's no longer serving her, whereas the fiery "Wranglers" has her fully embracing her younger self, confirming that part of her is here to stay no matter what (because "Wranglers take forever to burn"). It's a side of Lambert that has ebbed and flowed over the course of her career, but throughout Postcards, it's evident that a return to Texas played a big part in reinvigorating her signature sass.
"The woman scorned thing kind of worked for me in my career, so going away from that for too long feels like something's missing in my records and missing in my set and missing in myself," Lambert admitted during a recent interview with TalkShopLive. "When I heard 'Wranglers' I was like 'Oh, there it is. She's back.' [Laughs]."
Collectively, Postcards sees Lambert arguably more inspired than she's ever been — happily in love, with a fresh start at a new label, and back in Texas where her story began. She's proud of where she's been and where she is now, and being back home solidified that.
"I've been making records now for 20 years, so it makes sense to go back to some of the emotions I felt as an artist and as a person through the years and put them in one place," Lambert asserted to TalkShopLive. "I think Postcards From Texas does that."