Ella Langley visits with Katie Neal at the Audacy Studios at the Hard Rock in the heart of Nashville!
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00:00Here keeping us company, Ella Langley.
00:02Congratulations on your big CMA award win this week.
00:06Were you, where did you find out about this?
00:07Cause this was like before the show
00:08that they announced this one.
00:10In the car.
00:11In the car?
00:12Like three minutes before we pulled up.
00:14Did you get like a phone call
00:15or did you see it on when we all saw it?
00:17Well, a lot of my team were all kind of piled in
00:19like this little van getting over there to the red carpet
00:22and everyone started to record me,
00:24which is not really weird because I feel like
00:26at this point everyone just is recording me at all times.
00:30And then they, one of the girls on my team
00:34got on the phone and she was like, what?
00:35Okay.
00:36And then they put it on speaker and they're like, you won.
00:38Oh my God.
00:39We're about to put up a little video.
00:40And I was, my date to the awards was Erin Ratier,
00:43which is the other writer on You Look Like You Love Me.
00:45So we got told together, which was really, really exciting.
00:48That's amazing.
00:49I was so excited for you.
00:50I just like, I will talk about this song a ton,
00:52but when I saw that, I was like, hell yes.
00:56That's awesome.
00:57And then also the performance was incredible.
00:59TV performances are really hard,
01:01especially in a room full of like all of your peers.
01:03And I just felt like you got up there and you owned it
01:05and you looked like you'd done it a thousand times.
01:08I have done that song a thousand times.
01:10You've done that song a thousand times.
01:11But yeah, I think,
01:13but that's really what I just focused on, you know,
01:15I just kind of done that song enough times
01:18and feel like I've, this year I've performed more.
01:21I mean, I've been doing this for a while now,
01:24but this year definitely I've performed more
01:26than I have ever performed in one calendar year.
01:29And so I kind of just let all that out, you know.
01:34Well, you did such a great job.
01:35So this is our first time like really sitting down
01:38and I normally do like tons and tons of research
01:40before an interview,
01:41except when I'm sitting down with someone for the first time
01:43cause I want to like know your story from you
01:45and not from Wikipedia.
01:47So I just want to know a little bit about you,
01:49like growing up in Alabama,
01:51like how did you get into music?
01:52When did that start?
01:53It's been a thing my whole life.
01:56My grandparents on my dad's side.
02:00So my mom's from Michigan, my dad's from Alabama.
02:02So my mom's parents lived in Michigan
02:06pretty much my whole life.
02:08But my dad's parents lived a couple miles down the road
02:12and they loved music so much.
02:14My grandpa could play any instrument by ear.
02:16He's one of four.
02:18And so he's the second oldest.
02:21And I mean, they just grew up so poor.
02:23My grandma had my dad when she was 45.
02:25So they were kind of older when I was born.
02:27Yeah.
02:28But God, they just loved music
02:30and they had a piano out there and my grandma could sing.
02:34She was just an incredible singer
02:35and she sang the best harmony.
02:37And yeah, they, my mom worked
02:41and that my grandma would pick me up.
02:43She would drive 30, 45 minutes every day.
02:45And so my mom always said I didn't ever sleep in my crib
02:49for, I mean, first two years of my life
02:52cause she just sat there and sang to me.
02:54But so it really, it's just been a thing my whole life.
02:56And I don't know, I have always wanted to do it.
03:00I don't remember a day not thinking
03:03about wanting to do this.
03:05Wow.
03:05I didn't know how it was gonna happen.
03:07I just always, I mean, my whole life,
03:09you can ask any anybody from back home,
03:13when people ask me, what do you wanna do?
03:15Or what's your plan?
03:16I was like, I'm gonna do music.
03:17Yeah.
03:18So at what point did you, you were like,
03:19okay, this is what I'm gonna do.
03:21This is how I'm gonna do it
03:22and decided to move to Nashville.
03:24I don't think I ever knew how I was gonna do it.
03:26I think it was really just one step at a time.
03:30I went to Auburn for two years
03:33after I graduated from high school
03:35and I was playing, I found a band
03:38the like a month after I graduated
03:41and we just started playing together
03:43and I was playing a lot of like acoustic gigs.
03:47Me and my drummer, he had a cajon,
03:49I had a band back in Alabama and yeah,
03:52I mean, played everywhere all the time.
03:54And then in college, I started to play all the college bars
03:58and four hour cover gigs
04:01and kind of transitioned from playing
04:03just the restaurants to those
04:05and which is a different thing, obviously.
04:07And I always say, I know we're on air,
04:09so I'm not gonna cuss, but use your imagination here.
04:13But I say, if I can get these people
04:17who don't give a crap about me to sing along,
04:21then I feel like one day when they do,
04:23it's gonna be a little bit easier
04:24and this year is the first time in my life
04:26that that's really started to happen.
04:29But yeah, so after college, well, two years into college,
04:35I was dating a guy at the time
04:37and there's a guy named Trey Lewis, you know,
04:40did him, right?
04:42So yeah, so I lived with him first.
04:45I just moved out away from him.
04:48So I moved in a house with my boyfriend
04:49who's doing music, his manager, and then Trey.
04:53And yeah, we just, they all moved to Nashville
04:57and I was like, I'm not staying here.
04:59I'm not staying here.
05:00So I dropped out.
05:02I said, hey, dad, I'm gonna drop out of college
05:06and move into a house with my boyfriend
05:07four and a half hours away to pursue this dream.
05:10How did that go?
05:12You know, it's, me and him are close,
05:14but my whole family, like it's just,
05:17they've all just known and they believed in me
05:19and this is something I've wanted my whole entire life,
05:23very aggressively.
05:26And I've worked for it, you know,
05:29I feel like the second I graduated high school,
05:32I mean, even in high school, I was playing weddings
05:34and I was bringing my guitar.
05:36I started to teach myself at 14.
05:40My grandpa passed away when I was 13
05:42and I picked up his guitar about a year later.
05:45My dad got it restrung for me
05:47and I started teaching myself and yeah.
05:49So I've just been so dedicated to this dream
05:53and I don't know.
05:55And it's funny because I didn't never,
05:59when people were like, you know,
06:00did you think it was gonna work out?
06:02It's like a yes and no answer, you know,
06:04not no in the way where it's like,
06:06no, I don't think it's gonna work out more.
06:07It's just like, it's a crazy thing to pursue.
06:09It's wild to move to this town
06:11where there are so many people and so many talented people
06:15and it's a tough industry to make it into,
06:17you know, and especially, but I just,
06:20I knew that, I knew from a young age
06:23that if I did not pursue this job,
06:25I would regret it the rest of my life.
06:26Yeah, I have chills for you.
06:29That's amazing.
06:30So then you move here,
06:31you've had a record deal since 2023, right?
06:35How did that like all come together?
06:36Cause I know that's another thing,
06:37like everybody like that takes a lot of time sometimes.
06:41Well, when I moved here, I was 20
06:43and I was playing so many gigs
06:46and I wasn't really writing a bunch.
06:47I've always written melodies.
06:49I've always sang, you know, and I kind of wrote songs
06:51like I would write a whole song with the melody,
06:52but lyrics were something, you know, like I would try,
06:56but I just, it never, it was like a strong suit of mine.
06:59So that's why I moved here
07:00and I was really patient with wanting to learn.
07:03You know, my mom would always say, this is your college.
07:06This is your schooling to move there.
07:09And I wasn't in this massive hurry to move here
07:12and then just watch it explode.
07:13You know, I really wanted to learn.
07:15And like I said, I want to do this rest of my life.
07:17So there's so many things to learn
07:20and being here just around people
07:23that are doing it every single day.
07:24That works so hard.
07:25This town, people all are just workaholics here.
07:29It never stops, but it definitely puts a fire
07:34under your butt, you know,
07:36when you're watching all these people work so hard
07:38and you're like, oh my God,
07:39I need to be doing the same thing.
07:40And so I think that's one where people ask me
07:42what's the benefit of moving here?
07:43I think, you know, here or LA or Texas,
07:48or, you know, just in a space
07:49where you're surrounded by people
07:51that are wanting to do the same thing as you.
07:55I think it's so interesting that you say
07:56that like you weren't in a hurry
07:58for things to happen overnight.
07:59Cause I feel like so many people are,
08:01especially with like the speed that that can happen now.
08:03Like if you post a TikTok video in 24 hours,
08:05your whole life can change.
08:07But I think that like you putting in the work
08:09and like, there's something about like,
08:11people want to help someone who just wants to learn
08:13more than they want to help someone
08:14who just wants to be famous.
08:15You know what I mean?
08:16Yeah, the fame thing's weird.
08:18Yeah.
08:19It's weird.
08:19It's very weird.
08:20How are you handling that?
08:21Because I feel like it's really been thrown in your face
08:23like the last few months.
08:27I feel like, you know, I can get along with anybody.
08:30I can talk to anybody and it's just weird.
08:35It's weird.
08:36I feel like people do expect you to like be
08:40or act a certain way all the time, you know?
08:43And it's like, I'm just a human being.
08:45No one's in the same mood all the time.
08:47All the time, you know?
08:48And it is, it's weird when people,
08:50like when you're getting your nails done
08:52and somebody starts crying in the seat next to you
08:54because they're like, you're sitting there,
08:56you know, they're like, what?
08:57Yeah.
08:58Me?
08:59Like it doesn't register in my brain at all.
09:02It's, it does and it doesn't, you know,
09:04like when I'm playing the shows,
09:07I just finished up my first headlining tour
09:08and oh my God, man, it was the coolest thing.
09:12The band that I have now, my guitar player,
09:14he's played for Scott Stout.
09:16I hired him.
09:18He left Scott.
09:19Well, he did both for a second
09:21because financially he needed to,
09:22but I'll never forget.
09:24I got my first tour with Randy Houser.
09:29Didn't have a record deal yet.
09:29I just had a publishing deal.
09:30This was in like 2022 thing.
09:34So like barely getting out of COVID,
09:35like I remember we're still wearing masks and stuff
09:36at some of the venues,
09:39but I was like, hey man,
09:42I had a guitar player lined up
09:43and he got a promotion in his job
09:45and had to leave.
09:46We played one whiskey jam together.
09:47And this guy had,
09:49Trey Lewis has his MD, his name's Ben as well.
09:53And he just kept talking about this one guy.
09:55He's like, you got to reach out to this guitar player.
09:56You got to reach out to him.
09:57So I reached out to him.
09:59I was like, hey man, it's 150 bucks a show.
10:02We're getting in a van.
10:03It's going to be long drives.
10:04It's going to be exhausting.
10:05It's not going to,
10:06we're the ears to everything.
10:08Like we, it was just, you know,
10:09I'm running finances from a region account myself,
10:13you know, where it is literally,
10:14we're just figuring it out as when,
10:16when I said yes to tour,
10:17I didn't have a band put together here in Nashville.
10:21And he just, he was like, okay.
10:23Wow.
10:24He left a, you know,
10:25PJs and a bus and security to,
10:30to be with me and to,
10:34to, to follow this.
10:35And same thing with my bass player, you know,
10:38he came on around in June.
10:39His name is Rod Jackson.
10:41And then my drummer, Howard Nunley,
10:43came on around in August.
10:45So really all that first year,
10:46I started to like tour as an artist.
10:48Yeah.
10:49Not just cover gig stuff,
10:50but actual, you know, playing music that I wrote.
10:54And so for us to play this headlining tour
10:58and have had all the shows
11:00that we've gone through throughout the years
11:01where it's like, it's going to be worth it.
11:02It's going to be worth it.
11:03The drives, the, the, the everything, you know,
11:06it's exhausting and it's hard.
11:07And it's just a lot of years of like,
11:10it's going to be worth it.
11:11It's going to be worth it.
11:12And we reached the point with this headlining tour
11:15where it was like, wow,
11:16like this is what we've been working so hard for.
11:19Cause you can imagine what it would be like
11:20for people to sing your songs back.
11:22And trust me, I have a lot throughout my life,
11:25what it would be like to sing to a crowd of people
11:28and not just singing my words back,
11:29but actually experiencing it for the first time
11:31and seeing the impact that songs that I wrote
11:34because I needed to,
11:36not because I was trying to have a viral moment
11:39or to impress radio or to impress songwriters
11:44or even my parents, it was, you know,
11:46songs that I had to write
11:47because that's how I get through things in my life.
11:50And I'm really, I use this as an outlet
11:52and I put everything into that.
11:53So to watch people sing those words,
11:57it means something to them in the same way,
12:00and I'm doing the meet and greets before
12:02when people were coming up
12:03and just telling me the stories
12:04that I have attached to these songs.
12:06And having a song like, You Look Like You Love Me,
12:11this song, what it's doing is insane.
12:13It's insane.
12:14It's really insane.
12:15And it feels weird to say that,
12:17like I'm like, it feels boastful almost,
12:20but it's-
12:21No, but it's insane.
12:22It's insane.
12:23And so it is a little nerve wracking
12:26when all the shows are sold out
12:28and you're like, all right,
12:29do they know the other words to other songs?
12:32And they do.
12:33And it's not just songs in this record.
12:34There's people there that have been listening.
12:36I put out this song called If You Have To in 2021,
12:41and that song,
12:44I wouldn't have been able to be on that tour with Randy.
12:48Well, I mean, I would have,
12:49but I would have been in a lot of debt
12:51and it would have been really hard.
12:52So having fans that have supported me there
12:56from that song,
12:57I mean, I sound like a completely different person
12:58in that recording now,
13:00and there's still people out there that listen to it
13:02and have their stories attached to it.
13:05And it's just cool when you're writing a song
13:07and you're like,
13:08I wonder if they're gonna get what I'm trying to say
13:10when I'm writing this line
13:11or the idea behind this song.
13:14And when people come up to me and they're like,
13:16this song meant this to me because of this,
13:19I'm like, that's exactly what I wanted.
13:21And that's just, it's so cool.
13:22It's so cool.
13:23All right, let's talk about the single.
13:26So the first time I heard this,
13:27I remember being like,
13:28this is so different.
13:29It's so cool.
13:30It's so catchy.
13:32Like it, like I just,
13:33it's one of those things
13:34like you're immediately singing it
13:35the second that like I get out of the car
13:37and it's just like still playing in my head.
13:39And I remember thinking when I heard it,
13:41like, oh, this is so,
13:42like what's gonna happen with this song.
13:45And so I'm curious from you,
13:47like when you were recording this,
13:50like talking to the label,
13:51like was there pushback?
13:52Like, was everybody like,
13:53this is never gonna work
13:55if there's like the talking
13:55and the verses is so different
13:57from what's out there?
13:58Or did everybody like kind of get it?
14:01Well, both really.
14:03At first, you know,
14:05I wrote the song with Aaron at first
14:06and we didn't write it as a duet.
14:08We wrote it as a song
14:09for just me to play around the bonfire
14:11at writer's rounds,
14:11you know, to make everyone giggle.
14:13And I grew up on all that country music,
14:15like Chris Christopherson,
14:16Johnny Cash, George Jones,
14:18you know, Johnny Lee.
14:21There are so many that have that,
14:22David Alenco, that talking,
14:25storytelling aspect.
14:26And I grew up listening to that with my dad.
14:29I mean, the backseat of his truck,
14:30it's a lot of that.
14:31So, and Aaron right here,
14:33he has a couple other songs
14:34that are like that.
14:35And I've always like,
14:36just love how he wrote them that way.
14:38So I was like,
14:40let's write it like this.
14:41And we did.
14:42And I didn't,
14:44I thought it was gonna stay in my phone.
14:45I mean, I didn't think
14:46that people were gonna get,
14:48I'm drunk and I'm ready.
14:50You know, I was like,
14:50it's kind of a risque song a little bit.
14:53And then Maya Hansen,
14:56she signed me to my publishing deal at Sony.
14:59And after we wrote the song,
15:00she just loved it.
15:01She tried to get me to put it out on my EP
15:03for Excuse the Mess.
15:05Really?
15:05And she's like,
15:06let me put in the Dropbox.
15:07I was like, no,
15:08don't put it in the Dropbox
15:09for everyone to listen to.
15:10That's not the song.
15:12I didn't think,
15:12I love the song,
15:13but I just didn't ever imagine it coming out
15:15just because it is,
15:16you know, it's a little bit of a risk.
15:18Yeah, you're kind of like,
15:19why would I even like,
15:19why even go through the process
15:20of everyone being like,
15:22I just didn't think people were going to like it.
15:24I like it,
15:25but not everything I like,
15:26everyone likes,
15:27you know, that's one thing I've learned.
15:30And she put it in the Dropbox
15:33without asking me for,
15:34when we were picking songs for the record,
15:36and it was the last one on there.
15:38And it,
15:39just this silly little work tape of us giggling
15:42in the room.
15:43We wrote the song almost two years ago.
15:45And everyone,
15:47like so many people on my team called me,
15:49my agent called me,
15:50and he was like,
15:51what's this,
15:51you look like you love me song.
15:52I was like,
15:53you like that song?
15:54He's like,
15:55I love that song.
15:56And so we cut it
15:57and still wasn't a duet.
15:58I mean,
15:59the second verse was shorter
16:01and that's what I do live.
16:02I do the verse that I originally wrote with it.
16:05And then right after we cut it,
16:06Riley asked us on tour.
16:08And so I was riding around,
16:09listening to the cut
16:10and I've known Riley for a while,
16:11you know,
16:12and we're friends.
16:13We grew up on all the same kind of music
16:14and we're both from Alabama.
16:15And when you're from wherever you are from,
16:18if you're from the same state as somebody else,
16:21you just kind of get things.
16:22You get it.
16:23You know what I mean?
16:23You're on the same level in a way.
16:25And so I just asked him,
16:28I was like,
16:29what,
16:29what does your opinion be
16:30on writing a second verse for this song?
16:32And then I put it out on my album.
16:34And I mean,
16:35we didn't,
16:36we debated on it,
16:37not being a single,
16:37we debated on so many different things.
16:39There were people on my team
16:41that are like,
16:42that were pretty hard pressed on me.
16:43They wanted me to sing the verses.
16:45And I said,
16:46I won't put it out.
16:46I will take it off the record
16:48and not do it at all.
16:48If you try to make me sing the verses.
16:51That's the point of the song.
16:52It would be a completely different song.
16:53I'm either going to not do it
16:54or I'm going to do it the way I want to do it.
16:56And that is one thing I will say
16:58with my team at Columbia
16:59and my management
17:00and really everyone,
17:01they just trust me.
17:02They do.
17:03I have so much creative freedom.
17:04I mean,
17:05everything is out of our brains
17:08and they don't really give me a lot of pushback,
17:10but I do.
17:11Everyone was a little like,
17:12what is going to happen with this song?
17:13And even Riley and I,
17:15we listened to it a lot on the tour
17:17and we would play it in the green room.
17:19And after the shows,
17:21we would play it for whoever was hanging out
17:22and people loved it.
17:23And I think that started making us like,
17:24okay, maybe,
17:26maybe this song might do something.
17:28And then it got to time
17:30to where we're teasing.
17:32And we still didn't know
17:33that if it was going to be a single,
17:35I was just starting to tease stuff for the record.
17:37And I put up the one TikTok of me
17:39singing the first verse and chorus.
17:42I think it was just maybe the first verse
17:43or just the talking part.
17:44And it went insane.
17:46Yeah.
17:47I remember this.
17:48Cause I remember like,
17:49just the buzz around like,
17:50oh my God,
17:51they're going to release it.
17:52Yeah.
17:53We were on the West coast
17:53and before the show,
17:54I was in my outfit
17:55and I just did a little TikTok to it.
17:57And so we were pushing it just me for a second.
18:00And then we did Red Rocks
18:04and that's where we got a lot of the footage
18:05that we released to announce Riley being on it.
18:09But what really announced him being on it was,
18:11it was,
18:12it was funny as I wanted to do the song with him
18:13because I thought we would do it on tour the whole time.
18:16But we never did it,
18:17you know,
18:18on tour the whole time.
18:19Except for,
18:20which in everything worked out exactly
18:21how it was supposed to.
18:23So,
18:24but the last night of tour,
18:26he,
18:27he,
18:28he asked me to do dreams a couple of times randomly.
18:29He would like,
18:30get me to play it with his band
18:31and then he'd walk off stage
18:32and get a drink or go pee or something,
18:34you know,
18:35but,
18:36so he's like,
18:37you want to do that other song?
18:38You know,
18:39whisper to me after we did the cover we'd been doing,
18:40which was in color,
18:41Jamie Johnson.
18:42And I was thinking dreams.
18:43So he takes the guitar off,
18:45he puts it on me
18:45and I'm like getting the capo ready to go play dreams.
18:48And he's like,
18:48we haven't done this song live yet.
18:50The band didn't know,
18:51I didn't know,
18:52no one knew.
18:53He just was like,
18:54and that's very Riley.
18:55Like he's just very sporadic,
18:55like whatever.
18:56He just,
18:57you know,
18:58you got to be ready at all times for anything.
19:01And I was like,
19:02oh my God,
19:03he's talking about,
19:03you look like you love me.
19:04And so we played it that night together.
19:08And yeah,
19:09the band kind of just followed along.
19:11What month was this?
19:11That this would happen this year?
19:12I think that would have been in June.
19:16Early June?
19:18That's the thing about like,
19:19you guys went in the CMA award.
19:21Like I just feel like most of the time,
19:22like it never is a song that like just came out.
19:25You know what I mean?
19:26Like usually it's something with a little more like miles
19:27on it at this point.
19:28But like,
19:29I just,
19:30when I saw that,
19:31I was like,
19:32I just think that shows like how powerful this song is.
19:33I saw this the other day,
19:34but I was at a casino in Fort Lauderdale,
19:37Florida at like 1am walking back to my room
19:40and at the bar in the middle of the casino,
19:42these people were like raging.
19:45And the song that was playing was,
19:46you look like you love me.
19:48I haven't seen that.
19:49I don't ever hear it out.
19:49I wish I would have taken a video of it,
19:54but it just made me so happy.
19:55Cause I was like,
19:56what a cool moment for country music.
19:57A, that like a song like this is doing really well.
19:59I feel like,
20:00you know,
20:01we take a lot of heat in country because it's everything,
20:03but country.
20:03And I think that this song is just like as country as it
20:05gets and it's different from everything else.
20:08But like people were just scream singing it.
20:11And I was like,
20:12holy.
20:13And it's not like it was in a honky tonk.
20:14It was in a casino in Fort Lauderdale.
20:16And I think too,
20:17just what I love about this song and what I do think people
20:20love about it is it is just,
20:22it's just a fun song and that's the space I want to be as an
20:26artist.
20:27You know,
20:27there's there's so many things going on in the world at all
20:30times.
20:31And I think for me personally,
20:33like I just want to be a place for,
20:37for you to be able to sing a song like that and not be like,
20:39Oh, what do you think about singing a song like that?
20:41You know,
20:42like,
20:43or,
20:43or there are deeper songs,
20:44but it's just a place to,
20:46to not think about everything else to kind of deep dive off
20:49into like what I'm trying to,
20:51what I'm singing and what we're doing and dancing and
20:53watching people sing this song at the shows.
20:56And they're all just hanging on each other.
20:58It's really like,
20:58and they're,
20:59you know,
21:00they're saying it to me,
21:01but they're saying it to each other too.
21:02And that's,
21:03what's so cool.
21:03And you can tell that there has like been some memories
21:05made already with this song.
21:06And it's just,
21:07it's so cool.
21:08I mean,
21:09it's like,
21:11it's hard to explain.
21:12It's really awesome.
21:12I'm really happy for you.
21:14Like,
21:15I think that this is like,
21:15I think this will go down as like even bigger than we know
21:19it is right now.
21:20It feels as big as it,
21:21you know what I mean?
21:22Objectively,
21:23it's very hard to see something happening for yourself like
21:27this and,
21:29and look at it like how,
21:30you know,
21:31when I see like Megan Moroney,
21:32when I was watching all that happened for her,
21:33it's so easy for me to see like,
21:35wow,
21:36like she's crushing it.
21:36She's doing insane things,
21:38but I bet for her,
21:39you know,
21:39it's a little like what me,
21:41you know?
21:41So I feel like that's kind of how I feel where it's,
21:44it's like you spent so long trying to convince everybody
21:47that you're going to do this,
21:49that now like people are like,
21:51you know,
21:52you're going to do this.
21:52Like they're convincing me.
21:53And so it's,
21:54it's crazy.
21:55It's,
21:56it's nuts.
21:57I just think there'll be a moment.
21:57Like I remember someone said to me once they were like,
21:58you know,
21:59Hardee's one beer doesn't exist without Eric Church's two
22:02pink wines.
22:03And to me,
22:04like in 10 years,
22:05there will be someone who like,
22:06it'll be like this song doesn't exist without Ella Langley
22:09and Riley green on you look like you love me.
22:10Like,
22:11I just think it's going to,
22:12it's going to change things.
22:13Aaron,
22:14the other writer was already saying that he's had some,
22:16some rights set up and they're like,
22:17you know,
22:18we're looking for a talking song.
22:19I mean,
22:20it's like next thing you know,
22:21there's a meeting,
22:21like no singing on the radio.
22:22Yeah.
22:23Yeah.
22:24Yeah.
22:25It'll be real interesting to see what happens,
22:26but no,
22:26it's,
22:27it's so great.
22:28And I'm really excited for you.
22:292025,
22:30the tour's already sold out.
22:31Like that feels great.
22:31One day,
22:32one day.
22:33Oh,
22:34that's nuts.
22:35That's what I'm saying.
22:36Objectively.
22:36It's so hard to look at that and be like,
22:37for me,
22:38for me,
22:39who's paying y'all to do this?
22:40Taylor Swift.
22:41I watched her do an interview once.
22:42And it was a couple of years ago.
22:44And she said,
22:45I could be on the front row of an award show and be nominated
22:49for the most awards that night and still not feel like the
22:52coolest person in the room.
22:54And I was like,
22:54Oh God,
22:55I feel like I relate to that because it's like,
22:57I didn't,
22:58when I thought about doing this my whole life,
23:00I didn't think about what it would be like to,
23:03to walk somewhere and somebody knows who you are and to just
23:06the kind of the pressure that having fans puts on you a
23:09little bit and like putting your life out for everyone to
23:12see.
23:13And I do think there are things that I keep to myself and I
23:15always will because.
23:16Keep doing that.
23:17Well,
23:18you know,
23:19it's just,
23:19I think people put a lot of expectations on,
23:22I guess you could say celebrities or people in the public
23:26eye on what they should be doing,
23:28saying,
23:29thinking,
23:30you know,
23:31and it's at the end of the day,
23:32like I keep saying,
23:32I'm just a human being and I have never done this before.
23:36Yep.
23:37You know,
23:38it's a curse for me.
23:39And,
23:40and I mean,
23:41everyone that's doing anything,
23:42you know?
23:43So I think the,
23:43the,
23:44the grace that comes with that is very limited sometimes
23:47with people in the public eye.
23:50Well,
23:50and I have felt for you because I feel like every interview
23:53or something about this song with you or Riley,
23:55like everybody's like,
23:56Oh,
23:57are you guys?
23:58Yeah.
23:59And I'm like,
24:00they're like trying to,
24:00we're going to give you a different answer,
24:01you know?
24:02I know,
24:03but I also feel like whether you are or you aren't like,
24:05whatever,
24:05like it's so invasive.
24:07It is.
24:09I've seen that.
24:10And I've just been like,
24:10I hate that part of it for you.
24:11Like from a distance,
24:12it feels a little like,
24:13it doesn't suck just because it's very,
24:16it's normal.
24:17It's it's,
24:18that is,
24:19that is,
24:20that is a little bit of the lure.
24:21That is the,
24:22when somebody is having a hard day,
24:23then,
24:24you know,
24:25going in and like searching of me and Riley are dating is
24:27like,
24:28it takes an hour of them through tick tock,
24:30you know what I mean?
24:31And that was like something for them to like deep dive off
24:33into.
24:34Sure.
24:35Like,
24:35and that's just kind of how like I look at it to get
24:36through.
24:37Yes.
24:38Like it was definitely good.
24:39Right.
24:40And I think that,
24:41you know,
24:42I honestly,
24:42I just thought it was going to go the complete opposite way.
24:44I was worried about putting out a song with him in the
24:47first place,
24:47just because,
24:48you know,
24:49I mean,
24:50it's Riley green.
24:51Like,
24:52that's all I really have to say.
24:52And you know,
24:53I like,
24:54and,
24:55you know,
24:56playing shows the,
24:57this past year with him first of three,
24:59you know,
25:00there's a lot of people that didn't know who I was.
25:01And,
25:02and so some of the girls in the front where we're like,
25:05just like so annoyed at me.
25:08I'm like,
25:08well,
25:09like I'm just up here trying to sing my songs.
25:11And again,
25:12this is my song.
25:13Yeah.
25:14I'm just up here trying to sing my songs,
25:15but they're like,
25:15like before the song even came out,
25:16you know what I mean?
25:17So I was like a little worried.
25:18That was like,
25:19Oh my God,
25:20are all these girls are about to attack me.
25:21And cause I'm putting out a song with Riley,
25:22but it went such the opposite way.
25:25And I was like,
25:26the girls have my back.
25:26Wow.
25:27The girls have your back.
25:28And you're also like giving everyone confidence to walk up
25:31to a man in a bar.
25:32I know.
25:33And what's,
25:34what's cool is they're like,
25:35they they're like,
25:37I do feel like the fans,
25:39it's funny because the interviewers,
25:40a lot of the time are the ones that are trying to get us out
25:42and get it out of us.
25:43But like a lot of the fans were like,
25:44yes,
25:45yes,
25:46whatever happens.
25:47Yes.
25:48You know?
25:49Yeah.
25:50We just love the song.
25:50Yeah.
25:51Which is what it's all about.
25:52But you know,
25:53we're both from Alabama.
25:54I think there were,
25:55we,
25:55we all knew.
25:56I mean,
25:57I did it's on Co Wetzel.
25:58People thought the same thing.
25:59Yeah.
26:00I did it's on Cameron Marlow.
26:00That people thought the same thing.
26:01He's engaged,
26:02you know?
26:03People are crazy,
26:05but you just keep doing what you're doing.
26:07I really,
26:08I'm so glad that I got this time with you.
26:09Like,
26:10I just,
26:11I feel like you are,
26:11you're doing all the right things for all the right reasons
26:13and keep doing that.
26:14And great things are going to keep happening for you,
26:16girl.
26:17Thank you so much.
26:18It's so nice to talk to you.
26:18Thank you for having me.
26:19Of course.