Speaker 1: Carola. She's a queen of talking. He was, so she's
Speaker 1: on the yes, actually got the snoop on the on side.
Speaker 1: No one can do within clie my Carola, Carola. No
Speaker 1: one can do win quiet like Carol Carola. Hey, y'all,
Speaker 1: welcome to Hyper Caroline Hobby. I am your host, Caroline Hobby.
Speaker 1: I know music, I know people, and I know the
Speaker 1: questions do you want to ask? So let's get hyper
Speaker 1: heads up. These are adults having adult conversations, so there
Speaker 1: could be adult content. I have the beautiful, talented, lovely
Speaker 1: Megan Lindsay joining me this episode. We talk all about
Speaker 1: her career in music and her life she believes in.
Speaker 1: She came in freaking first place on can You Duet
Speaker 1: with her former partner from Steel Magnolia on CMT. That's
Speaker 1: how she kicked off her career in country music. She
Speaker 1: got second place on the Voice. Blake Shelton was her
Speaker 1: team captain. She is crushing it. Just releasing new music
Speaker 1: that is so good, a new music video with a
Speaker 1: very famous celebrity cameo. So you guys get excited and
Speaker 1: welcome Megan Lindsay. Okay, Megan Lindsay and the busy you've
Speaker 1: got some pink in your hair right now? I do.
Speaker 1: I am purple. I don't know. I keep color under
Speaker 1: my um my sink at home, just like color and
Speaker 1: like what do you call it? Um? I can't think
Speaker 1: my brain. Um what's it called? Hair dye? No color
Speaker 1: and color? And to keep toner's under my sink. So
Speaker 1: then I just put it in my conditioner and then
Speaker 1: whatever it turns out, I just go with it. So
Speaker 1: you have really really blonde hears it hard to keep
Speaker 1: that up? How often do you have to do it?
Speaker 1: Like every four weeks? It's awesome. It's your signature to
Speaker 1: love it. I love it. I can't. Like I've tried
Speaker 1: to go dark. It doesn't work. You're you're too bright
Speaker 1: to be dark. Not that dark isn't beautiful, because beautiful
Speaker 1: dark is beautiful, but you it works some people. But
Speaker 1: this works for you because not everyone can do platinum. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess. Yeah, Okay, So I want to start off
Speaker 1: with a few questions and then just tell me what
Speaker 1: the first thing that comes to mind. Okay, if you
Speaker 1: could come back as any artist in their heyday, any
Speaker 1: time period, he would have been why oh man? Um,
Speaker 1: probably Dolly does every girl say this. I bet every
Speaker 1: girl no, haven't. This is only the second time I've
Speaker 1: asked this question. That's you and Frankie Vaaler Okay, cool,
Speaker 1: So he would probably wouldn't say, Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: think she just had such She had the career that
Speaker 1: I dream of having. Okay, tell me why, because I
Speaker 1: think she got to kind of really just ride that
Speaker 1: line of the doing country music and doing pop music
Speaker 1: and movies at movies and actors, like, she just did everything,
Speaker 1: and she was such a smart businesswoman and um, she
Speaker 1: just really knew what she wanted and she went for it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that's rad. It's totally rad. I love that. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: because I think you should do acting. I'm working on that. Actually,
Speaker 1: you are details that I can give you a few details.
Speaker 1: What are they? Because you're music video exs and friends? Wow? Hot,
Speaker 1: hot hot, And I mean I feel like that's some
Speaker 1: acting in there. We'll get to your cameo guests. It
Speaker 1: was a bachelor, get to that later, But tell me
Speaker 1: about the acting. It's fun. You know. I got offered
Speaker 1: a part on Broadway and I started, um, did you
Speaker 1: take it? Well, it's a long sworded tail, It's it's
Speaker 1: we've moved on to another another thing. But um, I
Speaker 1: started taking acting lessons like about a year ago and
Speaker 1: with this coaching Bridget Burger, who actually ended up directing
Speaker 1: my music video. But um, yeah, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: like it. I really like it. I never thought about
Speaker 1: doing it, and a bunch of people have always said, hey,
Speaker 1: you should probably do some acting, and I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, but but I like it. I enjoy it.
Speaker 1: So we'll see what happens. But I've got a few
Speaker 1: few things cooking, some irons in the fire. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: I can see you having a career like Dolly. Seriously. Well,
Speaker 1: I hope. So I'm working on it. I'm not getting
Speaker 1: any younger. Yeah, but you know, I really don't think
Speaker 1: that matters. I don't either. Everyone always put this pressure
Speaker 1: on age, and I used to think age was everything
Speaker 1: when I first moved to town. I really don't believe that.
Speaker 1: I believe your destiny is your destiny, and as long
Speaker 1: as you keep doing it, it will happen how it's
Speaker 1: supposed to. I think, So do you I do? I
Speaker 1: really do, I really do. I got um. You know,
Speaker 1: we all have our moments, I think, especially as women
Speaker 1: in this town where you're like, oh god, I'm thirty
Speaker 1: and I'm thirty one. Oh God, put so much pressure
Speaker 1: on you though, But I yeah, I think that I'm
Speaker 1: only getting better, and I agree. I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: kind of at my best at this point. So and
Speaker 1: everything mentally, physically, the whole thing, like you are just
Speaker 1: radiating like you you and another thing. I'm just some
Speaker 1: of the things I want to talk about. You have
Speaker 1: been speaking your mind, like how you feel from your heart,
Speaker 1: and I feel like a lot of people don't do that.
Speaker 1: And you said, you said that. We are at a party,
Speaker 1: and you finally like, I don't what did you say exactly?
Speaker 1: It's like, how did you get to this place? I
Speaker 1: think it just comes from well a growing up and
Speaker 1: figure out who you are and what you believe and
Speaker 1: what you want and what you don't like, and you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot that goes into it. But I think
Speaker 1: ultimately for me, it's like being an independent artist, like
Speaker 1: I don't have anybody to answer to. I don't have
Speaker 1: anything to lose, you know, And I think of liberating.
Speaker 1: It's very liberating and it's very um I think when
Speaker 1: you start to do that and you start to see
Speaker 1: the effects of that of just being like completely authentic
Speaker 1: and saying exactly what you want to say and just
Speaker 1: being really honest. I think that you realize, oh, this
Speaker 1: really resonates with people totally, and people are really into this.
Speaker 1: So it's like then it's like almost like affirmation, like Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm doing the right thing, Like I need to stay
Speaker 1: on this track because this is what's real. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: it almost takes it falling apart and having to get
Speaker 1: to that place where you are on your own because
Speaker 1: you've had record deals, you've had hit singles, you've obviously
Speaker 1: you were runner up on the Voice you won Can
Speaker 1: you do it with your former duet partner back? And
Speaker 1: Still Magnoia is so much stuff, but like and you've
Speaker 1: always had a huge team of people probably telling you
Speaker 1: how you need to be presented right right. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was like that, I think up until like when Still
Speaker 1: Magnoia broke up, and um we actually continued to tour
Speaker 1: after we left the record label for a couple of years,
Speaker 1: but it was, um yeah, I was liberating not having
Speaker 1: all of that and just all of those you know
Speaker 1: demands and the you know telling me how to brush
Speaker 1: my teeth, like what you know, whatever it was, it
Speaker 1: was like it's like, oh wow, I can actually like
Speaker 1: just be me. And so I think that being me
Speaker 1: it really happened when I finally completely broke off from
Speaker 1: the band and started doing my own thing. It really
Speaker 1: allowed me to just, I don't know, just to be
Speaker 1: able to explore and figure it out and like be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is who I am. Because you have a monster voice.
Speaker 1: Your voice is huge. It is like it's so soulful,
Speaker 1: and then this range and rasp that is out of
Speaker 1: this world. Like seriously, it is so soulful. How how
Speaker 1: has this journey led you to your sound? Like, what
Speaker 1: would you say being you is officially now that you've
Speaker 1: had all of this exploration. Um, that's a good question.
Speaker 1: Uh you know what. I think that a lot of
Speaker 1: it is just has come with writing writing songs and
Speaker 1: so just feeling like I can write about the things
Speaker 1: I'm I'm passionate about and the things I want to
Speaker 1: write about, and then and then just in the studio
Speaker 1: just be able to let go and just really sing
Speaker 1: because I feel like when you're in a duet, you're
Speaker 1: always a duo. You're always you know, trying to accommodate
Speaker 1: the other person and you're trying not to. I'm the
Speaker 1: type of person that I'm always very careful, like I
Speaker 1: don't want to overstep somebody, or I always want people
Speaker 1: to feel like they're important, and like I just kind
Speaker 1: of I'm like that in every situation in life, and
Speaker 1: so when it comes to singing with another person, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't want to be too much. I don't want
Speaker 1: to be to this or to that. And it's like
Speaker 1: when you finally just don't care and you're like, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna be me. I'm just gonna let it out.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, right then you know, then it's like, wow, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is how I'm supposed to be singing. This is
Speaker 1: like this is my voice. Yeah, and so I got
Speaker 1: It's just been I don't know, it's been a journey
Speaker 1: like figuring that out. But I feel like I'm finally, like,
Speaker 1: especially with this new single and the new record that's
Speaker 1: coming out, it's like, Okay, figure this is me, you know,
Speaker 1: like a film. So um, good about it. So I
Speaker 1: love that. Thanks. So you're from New Orleans? Did that
Speaker 1: play into your who you are as an artist? For sure? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think, Um, For me, it was like I grew
Speaker 1: up in bands, singing in bands, running bands from the
Speaker 1: time I was like fourteen, and so, um, I was
Speaker 1: always playing with guys that were like in their fifties
Speaker 1: who have been playing in New Orleans for years. And
Speaker 1: so I feel like I learned a lot through that.
Speaker 1: And um, I played, you know, I played everything from
Speaker 1: church to the bars at that age, and so that's
Speaker 1: an education when you're fourteen, it is New Orleans to
Speaker 1: learn a lot. I mean a lot, I'm sure, And
Speaker 1: there's a lot, you know. It's it's interesting growing up
Speaker 1: in a place that's so multicultural and there's just so
Speaker 1: much um there's so much music, and it's just so
Speaker 1: different from anything else in the world. And so I
Speaker 1: think I learned a lot about singing from you know,
Speaker 1: just soulful singing. Really And you said, like your inspirations
Speaker 1: are Ritha Whitney the soul, Yeah, I think with some
Speaker 1: dolly Yeah. I think it's a matter of like I
Speaker 1: was always attracted to big voices obviously, and I was
Speaker 1: voice or did you develop it? Um? I think I
Speaker 1: think I was born with a lot of it. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think it's obviously developed over time. But you know,
Speaker 1: I used to screech up in my room. She's trying
Speaker 1: to hit notes. Yeah. My mom was like, um, okay,
Speaker 1: that's good. So you would literally like practice hitting those
Speaker 1: insane notes oh every day. Yeah. I'd come home and
Speaker 1: from school and it's like the first thing I would
Speaker 1: do really go up in my room and just sing
Speaker 1: for like two hours or something. It was just all
Speaker 1: I wanted to do. Ever, But I, um my mom
Speaker 1: bought me a karaoke machine and I was like ten,
Speaker 1: And I think that that like really set it off.
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, cool, because I didn't. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't play an instrument. And I think a lot
Speaker 1: of that probably has to do with growing up, Like
Speaker 1: I just never had a good lesson and I was
Speaker 1: just I was just frustrated with it. And I was like,
Speaker 1: I just don't think this is for me. I just
Speaker 1: wanted to sing. Your instrument was your voice? Right? Yeah? Totally? Okay.
Speaker 1: So you grew up in New Orleans. What was your upbringing? Like, Like,
Speaker 1: was music a big part of your family? Are you
Speaker 1: the only one that sings? Um? You know, my mom
Speaker 1: sang when she was a kid, and like her and
Speaker 1: her sister kind of had a duo and they did
Speaker 1: more like gospel type music. She grew up in Kentucky.
Speaker 1: My grandmother sang. My grandma was like kind of a
Speaker 1: soul gospel singer. Um. So it kind of runs in
Speaker 1: the family and pursued it. Nobody really pursued it. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a thing where my mom was like, oh,
Speaker 1: you want to sing, cool, let's do it, you know,
Speaker 1: and my parents were really supportive, and so that was nice.
Speaker 1: Do you have I do? I have a brother and
Speaker 1: two sisters. Nice? Where are they? My brothers in New
Speaker 1: Orleans and my two sisters are in Lafitte, just like
Speaker 1: the Bayou. Nice. Everybody's down in the byre cajun all
Speaker 1: over your blood. Yeah, you know what, It's funny because
Speaker 1: it's uh, my parents both moved there from other places,
Speaker 1: so I feel like it's just by association kind of
Speaker 1: picked up some of that stuff. And do they sing?
Speaker 1: Are they You're the only one? Um? No, they don't sing? Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of like the lone wolf here, I guess.
Speaker 1: So you were playing shows doing all this. You even
Speaker 1: opened for Lake Shelton, which I think is funny when
Speaker 1: you're like four to yeah, when I was a kid.
Speaker 1: That is really funny, your whole voice experience, which I
Speaker 1: want to get to after we talk about can you
Speaker 1: do it? It's crazy to me though, because Blake recognized
Speaker 1: you when you auditioned for the voice, Like he turned around.
Speaker 1: He's like, oh my god, I know you. Isn't that funny? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's a real um yeah, and like I knew,
Speaker 1: I knew he would recognize me when he turned around.
Speaker 1: I was so nervous. I mean, I was like, I
Speaker 1: think when you do something like that, it's nerve racking
Speaker 1: under what Yeah, well the pressure of like what if
Speaker 1: a chair doesn't turn around? That was terrifying. But all
Speaker 1: of them turned around, but Blake, which he ended up
Speaker 1: stealing you later, Yeah, which is the best. It's so funny. Man,
Speaker 1: I just was terrified. So I don't know, I don't
Speaker 1: really remember how I was feeling other than scared to death.
Speaker 1: But I think it's worse when you've had a career
Speaker 1: because you're like, yeah, it is, and it's and it's
Speaker 1: also like you you feel like, oh god, people know
Speaker 1: who I am and you've already had success, so it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know how you know how this play is out too,
Speaker 1: So I'm like, I honestly felt in that moment, like,
Speaker 1: if I don't get a chair, my career is over.
Speaker 1: You don't even though it's probably you know, you can't
Speaker 1: think like that, and I know it's not true. It's
Speaker 1: just that's all I could think in that moment. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: they're not turning around because it took them forever to
Speaker 1: turn around. They didn't turn around to very the worst
Speaker 1: nerve racking. I think they do this on purpose. I
Speaker 1: don't know that drama. It's just well, I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: they're gonna turn around your voice. You can't not turn
Speaker 1: around for your voice. Well, but I feel like there's
Speaker 1: so many good singers on there that don't get a chair.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, what if I'm not what they're looking
Speaker 1: for today? You know, I don't know. You just never know.
Speaker 1: It's all subjective. So I was scared, but I was
Speaker 1: glad they turned around. And it's kind of cool because
Speaker 1: you started off your career with can you do it?
Speaker 1: But you're in a duet do it? So you had
Speaker 1: like the support of someone else, right? Was that? Did
Speaker 1: that make that competition easier to go through? Because you
Speaker 1: had someone to lean on, Josh, who you met singing
Speaker 1: karaoke in Nashville, which is awesome, so funny. Um, those
Speaker 1: stories really do happen like it were funny. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: it's like I grew well, it's like my mother bought
Speaker 1: me a karaoke machine, which is kind of what started
Speaker 1: this whole thing. And then it's like and then I
Speaker 1: was in bands, and I moved to Nashville and I'm
Speaker 1: like back to singing karaoke again as a job. You
Speaker 1: know what money you finding your duo partner, right, which
Speaker 1: leads to a record. It's just you know, like you
Speaker 1: can't you can't go through life like being like, oh
Speaker 1: this is how I'm going to do it, because it's
Speaker 1: always so messed up. Yeah it's crazy. So um but yeah,
Speaker 1: so we did. We ended up. Um we got together
Speaker 1: and um we decided to audition for the show called
Speaker 1: Canny Duet which is on CMT, and um, we were like,
Speaker 1: the thing was, we had just gotten back from London
Speaker 1: record Like, we went to London and recorded and we
Speaker 1: were like an indie rock band is what we considered ourselves.
Speaker 1: So we were like we're indie rock duo, right, and
Speaker 1: then we get this London. How London we had a manager.
Speaker 1: This is we have a crazy story, but I don't know.
Speaker 1: We met this guy who was a manager. It was
Speaker 1: from London, and um, he was like, I'm going to
Speaker 1: send you over there to do some recording. You know.
Speaker 1: This guy was me a favor and we went. We
Speaker 1: actually went to London with five dollars to our name,
Speaker 1: which is insane when you go international travel, Like I
Speaker 1: want to go with more than five dollars cash in
Speaker 1: your pocket. Um, But we were like, you know, twenty
Speaker 1: and didn't care. So we went over there and we
Speaker 1: recorded with this guy, Fraser T. Smith, who actually has
Speaker 1: won like Grammys for like the adult record and stuff
Speaker 1: since then, which is hilarious. Um. So we recorded a
Speaker 1: couple of sides with him and and just that was
Speaker 1: kind of what we thought are thing was. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: when we got back, it just didn't. It wasn't a
Speaker 1: good situation with the manager, and so we parted ways.
Speaker 1: And I mean literally, Josh was back to Valley parking cars.
Speaker 1: I was back to the karaoke bar and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I mean I just remember being so depressed and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know what I'm doing. I've been
Speaker 1: here for five years. I got you know, it's like
Speaker 1: what am I doing with my life? And then, um,
Speaker 1: we got this call about the show and they're like
Speaker 1: doing an audition, and we're like, well, it's country, but
Speaker 1: we could probably put some fiddle on our songs, you
Speaker 1: know whatever. Like we're like at this point, we're just
Speaker 1: you know, heating our apartment with our oven, you know.
Speaker 1: So we're like a desperate and we're like, okay, we'll
Speaker 1: do it, you know. And we got on and we
Speaker 1: ended up winning the whole thing, winning the whole thing, right,
Speaker 1: the whole thing. How on earth did that feel? It
Speaker 1: was crazy? You know, that's a big deal, going from
Speaker 1: seeing karaoke, just having a dream and knowing what you're
Speaker 1: capable of actually materializing it on a TV show, landing
Speaker 1: a major label, big machine, huge record label. How does
Speaker 1: that feel when your dreams are starting to come true?
Speaker 1: Oh my god. It was surreal at the time, you know.
Speaker 1: And I I'm always like, you know, I'm a firm
Speaker 1: believer in affirmations and writing things down and really visualizing things.
Speaker 1: And I mean, I remember that year I crossed off
Speaker 1: everything on my list. So you had been making listens.
Speaker 1: Then oh yeah, absolutely, yeah that was and that was
Speaker 1: and that's the only thing that got me through, you know,
Speaker 1: heating my apartment with my oven. So you really were,
Speaker 1: absolutely yeah we were when no, it's not. We were
Speaker 1: broke as a joke. Man. We couldn't get our we
Speaker 1: couldn't get our gas turned on, and so we were like, well,
Speaker 1: I guess we'll just open the oven heat it up
Speaker 1: for a while, you know, I mean ridiculous like us
Speaker 1: and our two dogs and and this little tiny apartment. Um,
Speaker 1: but it was, you know, you do what you gotta do.
Speaker 1: What are you glad for those memories? Though? Absolutely? Now
Speaker 1: I think that it's trying to Tyler about this the
Speaker 1: other day because I'm like, here's your boyfriend and producer. Right, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're making great music. Thank you love it. But we
Speaker 1: were talking about that, you know. I think that it's
Speaker 1: almost I feel like when you come from nothing and
Speaker 1: you have to make something, it's like you have more
Speaker 1: drive and more purpose. So it actually probably made made
Speaker 1: me a better artist, for sure, I believe. So you win,
Speaker 1: can you do it? Yes? So we win and you
Speaker 1: get a record? And how is Naomi Jedd? Because she
Speaker 1: was one of the god. Well, she's become like a
Speaker 1: like a fairy. I call her my fairy godmother because
Speaker 1: we still were still very much in touch and I
Speaker 1: just adore that woman. So she's been really a guiding
Speaker 1: light in my life. Honestly, Yeah, what has she how?
Speaker 1: So I feel like, well even with the voice, Like
Speaker 1: when I went over to her place right before I
Speaker 1: got the call to go on the voice and right
Speaker 1: after I guess I got the call to go on
Speaker 1: the voice, and she was like, well, you need to
Speaker 1: go see this guy Ron Browning, his vocal coach. She's like,
Speaker 1: I think he's really gonna help you. And she's like,
Speaker 1: and I want to get you into therapy. And she's
Speaker 1: just like thinking of all these things that she thought
Speaker 1: I needed and she want to get you ready. She
Speaker 1: wanted to get me ready like mentally and vocally and everything.
Speaker 1: And so she was like and you know, and she
Speaker 1: knows my in my situation with you know, being a
Speaker 1: starving artist, and so she's like, let me pay for
Speaker 1: your lessons, let me pay for therapy. So she's just
Speaker 1: like and taking me shopping. I mean, she's just been
Speaker 1: an amazing mentor. Yeah, because she didn't have to do that, Like, No,
Speaker 1: she's just like an incredible human. She really is. She
Speaker 1: really cares and I think she really wants to um
Speaker 1: wants to help, and she likes to pour into young people.
Speaker 1: So she's a she's a good human. That's amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So what another gift to have gotten from? Can you
Speaker 1: do it? Right? I know? Well even during the show,
Speaker 1: I mean, she would like I would get these like
Speaker 1: a surprise gifts backstage and they'd be like, it's from
Speaker 1: someone anonymous, and the producers are like super annoyed because
Speaker 1: she's not supposed to be bringing gifts to contestants when
Speaker 1: you're competing. So she had her favorite, I mean I
Speaker 1: think so, but she did it with a few different people.
Speaker 1: But I was like, oh my gosh. I would just
Speaker 1: get like, you know, like random like a dress in
Speaker 1: my dressing room and I'm like, who's this from? And
Speaker 1: it would be like, you know, like I think I know,
Speaker 1: but I love that just the sweetheart. So you win
Speaker 1: that show, you go straight into having a major label
Speaker 1: record deal, and then you release a song and it
Speaker 1: goes to what like top five, top four, yet number three,
Speaker 1: number three on the chart your first debut single, and
Speaker 1: is the highest starting debut single from a male female
Speaker 1: duet and like, is it of all times? I think yeah,
Speaker 1: I think at the time, I don't know if anybody's
Speaker 1: done it since, but yeah, aren't even any male female
Speaker 1: duets right now, I don't think so was se it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: but not really. Yeah, it's crazy. So you'll have have
Speaker 1: at one point probably still the highest charting debut single
Speaker 1: from male single single male female duo of all times.
Speaker 1: Yea that what? So you go from singing karaoke to
Speaker 1: London to think your life is over to winning a
Speaker 1: show and now having like one of the highest breaking
Speaker 1: history and country music. Yeah, in a year, um yeah
Speaker 1: or less than a year. It was like, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was like nine months. So I mean that made you
Speaker 1: feel good. Yeah, we felt you know what it was?
Speaker 1: It was. So It's so funny because I feel like
Speaker 1: we felt like such underdogs coming in and just like
Speaker 1: we worked because we had worked so hard. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've been in town for so long. We're like, it's
Speaker 1: whatever gonna happen, and then you know, and then to
Speaker 1: finally see some something's happening. Yeah, I felt like we
Speaker 1: just I don't know, we were kind of beside ourselves.
Speaker 1: Really we were working so hard at that time. I
Speaker 1: think we couldn't really appreciate it because when that happens,
Speaker 1: it's like a rocket. Oh yeah. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: it's just so much work and radio tour is so grueling,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's like we'd be out on the
Speaker 1: road for forty some days at a time and then
Speaker 1: we'd come home for a day and we'd sleep and
Speaker 1: we'd go back out, and so we were just like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, it just didn't feel it almost didn't
Speaker 1: feel real because it was like we were so sleep deprived.
Speaker 1: It was like, oh, we are a dream. You know,
Speaker 1: We're constantly walking in a dream, you know. So, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't it was. It was crazy, and you'll had
Speaker 1: a couple of more radio singles and another top ten,
Speaker 1: right or top fifteen, yeah something, and then like the
Speaker 1: top twenty. So yeah, it was that's where you dressed
Speaker 1: as Sandy Sandy from Greece, oh yeah, yeah. And last
Speaker 1: night again. I love that video. I love that song.
Speaker 1: We wrote that song, um like years and years before
Speaker 1: when we were trying to do the the the thing
Speaker 1: with the with the Andy rock things. A lot of
Speaker 1: those songs were songs that we had. So it's like,
Speaker 1: I think we wrote all but three songs on our record.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Yeah, that was kind of cool that they
Speaker 1: let us do that. I love that. Okay, So you
Speaker 1: have some success, you're breaking records and country music, and then,
Speaker 1: like every great story, there's always the highs and then
Speaker 1: why is it right when the high happens? I feel
Speaker 1: like there's always a wave and it hits a little
Speaker 1: bit of a rough patch, it always comes back up.
Speaker 1: But so you were on this high and then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you guys kind of break up and
Speaker 1: things sort of start falling apart, Like what happened there?
Speaker 1: And how did you deal with that? The transition? It
Speaker 1: was really hard, you know because Josh and I were
Speaker 1: a couple obviously through all this. You're a couple musically
Speaker 1: and personally. Yeah, yeah, we were. We were together, so,
Speaker 1: um it was hard because we've been together for like
Speaker 1: almost six years and then we were, you know, doing
Speaker 1: this thing together and he had obviously his problems and
Speaker 1: his demons, and I was just trying to hold the
Speaker 1: ship together. So it was a lot, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: it ended up we were supposed to go on the
Speaker 1: rebotour and Yeah. We were going out with Reba at
Speaker 1: the end of into two thousand eleven and Um Josh
Speaker 1: ended up going to rehab like a week before we
Speaker 1: were supposed to head out, and so UM, you know,
Speaker 1: the label like came to me and they're like, do
Speaker 1: you still want to do the tour. They're like, you're
Speaker 1: still contracted, you know, we need you to go out,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, okay, well, I guess I'm doing this
Speaker 1: by myself. I went out solo on the Reba tour.
Speaker 1: I did. I called my friend James Otto to come
Speaker 1: sing a couple of songs with me in the set
Speaker 1: because I felt we felt you know, we all talked
Speaker 1: about it with management in the label and we were like,
Speaker 1: we should do something else just for the fans of
Speaker 1: that is like you have to think fast on what
Speaker 1: you're gonna do. It was like a couple of days
Speaker 1: I put it together. Basically, UM went in and rehearsed
Speaker 1: with the band the song solo, which I hadn't sang
Speaker 1: by myself in a long time, especially duet songs. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like it's kind of crazy and so and then
Speaker 1: James came in and he sang UM keep On Loving
Speaker 1: you with Me, which was our hit, and um, he
Speaker 1: did a couple of his own songs that I sang
Speaker 1: on with him on and then um, yeah, so we
Speaker 1: just I went from you know, completely devastated and heartbroken
Speaker 1: to you having to go straight back out on the
Speaker 1: road because she didn't have much time to think about it.
Speaker 1: It was nice I didn't, and I think it's better that.
Speaker 1: I think it is better that way. It is. It is.
Speaker 1: It's so hard, man. Sometimes you just don't know. I
Speaker 1: think you don't know how strong you are until you
Speaker 1: have to go through something like that and then you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I can do anything. Did that kind of feel fearless? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think so. I think of your own strength personally,
Speaker 1: like now you couldn't have Josh to rely on like
Speaker 1: all you Yeah, it was, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: at that time, it was almost a little bit. Um,
Speaker 1: I was a lot of a relief because I knew
Speaker 1: exactly where he was. Yeah, like, okay, I know exactly
Speaker 1: where you are, I know exactly what you're doing. I
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about you, and I can just
Speaker 1: do my thing and be me. And so that was
Speaker 1: like my first taste of that and did you were
Speaker 1: fine with it? Like, did you like it? I was?
Speaker 1: I was fine with it. I was also you know, going, yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. I was. I was crying myself to sleep
Speaker 1: every night after the show. It's very much that, you know,
Speaker 1: I felt like a real still Magnoia enough lived right
Speaker 1: into it. I'm like, okay, you know, I do believe
Speaker 1: people live into their names. I do too. I did too.
Speaker 1: I'm like, why did I do this to myself? I
Speaker 1: don't even think about that. Yeah, I mean because it's
Speaker 1: like you're just you're just trying to hold it all
Speaker 1: together in front of everybody. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: you know, I had been doing that for years with
Speaker 1: with the duo, so I felt, you know, it wasn't
Speaker 1: anything new for me. Really. It finally just broke down. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it kind of imploded. Really. So after that was that
Speaker 1: when you're like, Okay, I am gonna go solo. I was.
Speaker 1: And there was a six month period where we just
Speaker 1: kind of didn't do anything, and um, you know, after
Speaker 1: about six months, we were like and we got out
Speaker 1: of our record deal, which was you know, a whole
Speaker 1: process and which it's like those are that's always crazy
Speaker 1: because you know you've wanted this record though forever, and
Speaker 1: then they can get messy when stuff starts changing and
Speaker 1: people are in it does. And we came off a
Speaker 1: TV show, which is a really hard deal to get
Speaker 1: out of. Um, so it was a lot, you know,
Speaker 1: trying to get through that. And finally we got on
Speaker 1: the other side of that. We were you know, after
Speaker 1: paying attorneys and everything, We're like, we really need to
Speaker 1: go back on the road together and makes some money.
Speaker 1: So we started touring again and we toured for about
Speaker 1: a year and a half together after we left the labels. So, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: which was really hard because we weren't together personally and
Speaker 1: we started dating other people. Oh gosh, maybe this is torture.
Speaker 1: I know. I don't know why I did this to myself.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, were you dying? Yeah, a little, I
Speaker 1: mean a little, And no, because I think at that
Speaker 1: point it was like it played out for so long
Speaker 1: that we were both so over it. Maybe it was
Speaker 1: kind of nice to have the comfort of the friendship
Speaker 1: to kind of wean yourself off of it. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think so, I think so. And and it, um, you know,
Speaker 1: we were we were cool, you know, we were cool
Speaker 1: with each other. You know, I started dating Tyler, he
Speaker 1: started dating this other girl, and so they would come
Speaker 1: out of the road sometimes. I mean we were total weirdos.
Speaker 1: I'm like, are we like living a country music song
Speaker 1: or what weird? Like you said you love the stories
Speaker 1: of country music. I do you have lived into everything
Speaker 1: you've loved about country music? You've actually lived it though, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've lived it the pain of it. Yeah, man, you
Speaker 1: are Dolly. I'm crazy. No, you're Dolly. Yeah, I'm trying
Speaker 1: to be well, you're you're living the life. Wait, hold
Speaker 1: on one second, funny, Yeah, so you are actually living
Speaker 1: your life like Dolly. Yeah, right, that you said you
Speaker 1: wanted it, and look at your life. I mean, you've
Speaker 1: not been on TV, you've had hit songs, You've gone
Speaker 1: from a duo which she had like a trio one point,
Speaker 1: and like you've changed your career, but you've always stayed
Speaker 1: in it. And then so after this, okay, so you
Speaker 1: kind of you're dating other people, living on the same bus,
Speaker 1: doing the career, coming out of the record, major transition.
Speaker 1: I mean, can you even process what's happening? No? I
Speaker 1: think you just kind of you take it day by
Speaker 1: day and you just have to live in the moment,
Speaker 1: you know, and just do what you have to do.
Speaker 1: Did you learn how to live in the moment really
Speaker 1: in that time period? I think so I did, and
Speaker 1: I didn't. I feel like, um, I learned more about
Speaker 1: that through the voice process. Actually that's kind of when
Speaker 1: I really started to catch onto that whole thing. But um,
Speaker 1: maybe I knew more than I thought I knew. I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, you just kind of just kind
Speaker 1: of go with it. I was kind of going with
Speaker 1: the flow at that time. I feel like you have
Speaker 1: a way about you to always be chill with stuff,
Speaker 1: Like you have a way like I lose my mind
Speaker 1: and like I sometimes like freak out, and like I
Speaker 1: might even like react to intensely. I feel like you
Speaker 1: can even if you're freaking out in your head, Like
Speaker 1: you have a cool vibe about you all the time,
Speaker 1: Like you keep your cool. I try. How do you
Speaker 1: do that? I don't know. I do think that it's
Speaker 1: it's It's served me for sure. Yeah, because going through
Speaker 1: everything I've been through, I think it would have been
Speaker 1: really hard if I wasn't that way. Um, But I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, and I did. I've definitely had
Speaker 1: to take a lot on because of that, because it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: she's the one that keeps it together, you can handle it.
Speaker 1: She's the one that can handle it. She has to
Speaker 1: be the one, you know, And so that's hard. It's
Speaker 1: a lot of weight to carry. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, if that's my gift and
Speaker 1: that's what I'm supposed to be doing, then you know,
Speaker 1: you just accept it. I don't know. So what happened
Speaker 1: after you toured for a couple of years with Stillmagnoia
Speaker 1: and now you just hit a point where you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we've we've run this course. Yeah, I think two thirteen,
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, I'm ready. I'm just like,
Speaker 1: I want to make my own record. I wanna just
Speaker 1: see if I can because it's really it was a
Speaker 1: real risk for me, you know, because I knew. I
Speaker 1: knew there was security in the stealma Agnoia brand and
Speaker 1: what we had built, and I knew that I could
Speaker 1: tour on that name, and you didn't starting over really
Speaker 1: starting over. Yeah, it's it's really starting over. And I
Speaker 1: was terrified and I was like, God, what if I
Speaker 1: can't pay my rent? What if? You know? Um, it
Speaker 1: was a big leap of faith for sure. But I know,
Speaker 1: you know, I've also always been in blue. We're in
Speaker 1: like things. Great things don't happen unless you take risk.
Speaker 1: And so I was like, screw it, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna go out in there and try to do
Speaker 1: this thing on my own. And so UM Tyler and
Speaker 1: I went in the studio and we um recorded the
Speaker 1: CP and UM I started booking dates by myself, which
Speaker 1: was kind of terrifying. And you were so in date
Speaker 1: showed up and date showed up. Yeah. I think that
Speaker 1: when you are fearless and you let things go and
Speaker 1: you just kind of um, you have to let God work,
Speaker 1: and so you do. You do have to be willing.
Speaker 1: I have gotten to this point in my life too
Speaker 1: where I almost feel like I want to scream it
Speaker 1: from the rooftops. You have like it's not called a
Speaker 1: leap of faith for nothing, Like you literally have to
Speaker 1: dive into the black unknown, yeah, and pray to God
Speaker 1: that you land on something right. No, it's and it's
Speaker 1: terrifying because the reality is at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: like we don't have control of any We really don't.
Speaker 1: You can stay in your safe little world, but you
Speaker 1: will never reap what was really meant for you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree. I then that's that's where I was. I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, I'm either gonna like I'm
Speaker 1: not happy. Yeah, so what is the point? Totally? You
Speaker 1: can pay your bills and not be happy, or you
Speaker 1: can try something and see how it goes, you know.
Speaker 1: And I truly believe that when you let go, and really,
Speaker 1: I know this sounds cheesy, but let god, I agree,
Speaker 1: it's it's a real thing, you know. And I think
Speaker 1: he will start to work on your behalf when you're
Speaker 1: when you let him. Okay, So dates started showing up,
Speaker 1: you started playing on your own solo, you made your
Speaker 1: own solo EP. Yeah, and this is when did you
Speaker 1: start coming into who you were as an artist? Like, really,
Speaker 1: it was the tip of the iceberg, I think, you know.
Speaker 1: I know. Of course, as it was happening, I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: I totally know who I am now, you know. I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: I've got this all figured out. This is my sound.
Speaker 1: And it's like and then I'm looking back and I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is not my sound. But it was a start,
Speaker 1: you know, And I think we all start somewhere and
Speaker 1: you just keep keep growing. Um, but it you know,
Speaker 1: it was a start and it got me um kind of.
Speaker 1: It was a boost of confidence to realize, like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I can do this, you know, and do it well
Speaker 1: you know you can't. Like it was well received. It
Speaker 1: was a great like great project. Like it was really
Speaker 1: when it came out, when you came out doing your
Speaker 1: solo stuff, I was like, all right, then this is great. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just you know, and we and we were doing
Speaker 1: it all independently. That was the other thing. And it's like,
Speaker 1: which is also terrifying, Um, well, isn't it, Especially when
Speaker 1: you come from a big major label team with all
Speaker 1: the money, all stuff and then like it's just back
Speaker 1: to you. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. It's there's so much
Speaker 1: goodness that comes with it, though, I think just as
Speaker 1: far as um for me, it was like it was
Speaker 1: very liberating because I was like, I'm just gonna do
Speaker 1: what I want to do. I'm gonna wear what I
Speaker 1: want to wear, i gonna make the record I want
Speaker 1: to make. I'm gonna just be completely me, you know,
Speaker 1: And that was that was kind of the thing. And
Speaker 1: so even if I don't know what that is yet, Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I'm just putting it out there, and so and
Speaker 1: so we did, and and it was a great start,
Speaker 1: I think. And your style, speaking of where what you
Speaker 1: want to wear, You've always had such a style, thank you.
Speaker 1: Like I love it. It's like crop tops, tight, like
Speaker 1: spandex pants, but colorful, like your body is so beautiful,
Speaker 1: and like, I just love the way you dress it.
Speaker 1: I really do. Like you've always had your own style,
Speaker 1: and I think of you. I definitely associate you with
Speaker 1: clothes too, because it's so much of who you are.
Speaker 1: I love clothes. I love anything that has to do
Speaker 1: with clothes or makeup or hair or fashion expression. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do. I think it's I think it's important well.
Speaker 1: And plus I feel like it's so much of who
Speaker 1: you are as an artist. It's like you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's you know, this is who I am. Here, that's
Speaker 1: the first thing people see about you. So so then
Speaker 1: you do this and now here you go on the voice?
Speaker 1: Does the voice come next? Is that what happens next? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that happens next. It was about a year before the
Speaker 1: voice called UM, but I into two thousand and fourteen,
Speaker 1: I um I got a call from a friend who
Speaker 1: was working with um Audrey Morrisey, who's the executive producer
Speaker 1: of the Voice, and he was like, I was just
Speaker 1: playing like one of your songs in my office. He's
Speaker 1: like an Audrey human. And she asked me if you
Speaker 1: were somebody I was sending her to audition, and he
Speaker 1: was like, are you interested in doing something like this?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, I didn't even think I qualified. I'm like, well,
Speaker 1: I've had a career, you know. Do I even qualify
Speaker 1: for something like that? You know? And I was actually
Speaker 1: in line um at Panera Bread and I was like,
Speaker 1: let me call you back. I want to think about this.
Speaker 1: And I went to check out in my total was
Speaker 1: eleven eleven, which is tattooed on the back of my neck,
Speaker 1: which is the thing. So you felt like it was
Speaker 1: like a little sign saying, well, anytime I have ever
Speaker 1: seen that, it's always like, and I've seen it for
Speaker 1: years now, it's like, I feel like that means I'm
Speaker 1: on the right track. Full body chills. I love that.
Speaker 1: That's your sign, that's my sign. So you didn't even
Speaker 1: have to think about it. No, I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to go. What a relief to have gotten that
Speaker 1: sign that and how great that you're open to looking
Speaker 1: for him. Yeah. I think that that was like the
Speaker 1: defining moment. I was like I ended up calling the
Speaker 1: casting people back and I'm like, yeah, I'll come out,
Speaker 1: I'll do it. And so they were like, well, we
Speaker 1: need you you know this date, and I'm like, of
Speaker 1: this month, next week, and they're like, why is it
Speaker 1: always so fast that stuff? It's like, can you tell
Speaker 1: me by tomorrow? I'm great, we haven't you gonna fight
Speaker 1: the in two days? Yeah? They're like next week, We're
Speaker 1: flying into Los Angeles and so I packed my bag
Speaker 1: and I'm like because I was at this point where
Speaker 1: I'm like, what do I have to lose? What else
Speaker 1: is next? I don't know. I'm just touring and putting
Speaker 1: on this record and stuff on my own, and I
Speaker 1: don't know what the next step is totally, so obviously
Speaker 1: this is God and like, here's the next step. Freaking
Speaker 1: love that. That's exactly what happened with me with Amazing Race,
Speaker 1: dealing Angels in it, and we got a call to
Speaker 1: do Amazing Race, and at that point I thought my
Speaker 1: life was over, like I had no idea what to do,
Speaker 1: and then it just appears. Yeah, it's amazing so you's
Speaker 1: got crazy voice and you freaking get three chairs that
Speaker 1: turn around Christina Farrell and at him an all yep.
Speaker 1: Is he as amazing as he seems? Yeah, he just
Speaker 1: radiates like his higher He's like on another level than
Speaker 1: normal people. I don't know. I will say that when
Speaker 1: we're talking earlier about living in the moment, like working
Speaker 1: with him really elevated me to that. Tell me what
Speaker 1: he taught you. It wasn't wasn't even anything he said.
Speaker 1: It was just being around him, how he did his life. Well,
Speaker 1: just seeing how he interacts with people, Like he's never
Speaker 1: anywhere else. If you're talking to him, you have his
Speaker 1: undivided attention. He's never looking at his phone, he's never
Speaker 1: looking off into space, he's never worried about what's happening next.
Speaker 1: He's always right here. Really. Yeah, it's incredible. It's kind
Speaker 1: of intense actually, like he's with you, Oh he's with you.
Speaker 1: Does he want to know about you? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: he cares a lot. I think that he is um
Speaker 1: just one present all the time, which I don't know
Speaker 1: how you get to that point, but i'd like to,
Speaker 1: you know, I know that he brought in line Richie
Speaker 1: to work with us one week and I was still
Speaker 1: on his team at that time, and so I got
Speaker 1: to work with Lionel Richie and the same thing. Really yeah,
Speaker 1: they're almost the same person. It's really weird, really yeah.
Speaker 1: And it's very intense to work with two people like
Speaker 1: that at one time because I was like, oh God,
Speaker 1: I think they can see into my soul like they
Speaker 1: see they see me. I'm like, they're judging me totally
Speaker 1: right now. They can see it all totally. That's how
Speaker 1: you feel. And I was like, Okay, I've got to
Speaker 1: get to that level because that is the difference between
Speaker 1: I think being ultimately like really successful and staying in
Speaker 1: this like mundane place because I feel like people who
Speaker 1: are really that's a big revelation right there. Yeah it is.
Speaker 1: And it was like a huge moment for me because
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, people who are really successful know how
Speaker 1: to live in the moment, and they know how to
Speaker 1: make people feel really important, and they know how to
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's a very selfless way
Speaker 1: to love. And even though they're a superstar and everyone's like, oh,
Speaker 1: well there are superstar, it's easy for them. They have
Speaker 1: all this money and fame, no way like being a superstar.
Speaker 1: I think it's actually to get be a superstar and
Speaker 1: have that awareness that is almost like a divine state
Speaker 1: of being. Yeah, yeah it is, I think So I
Speaker 1: think that. Um well, plus it's just I mean, being
Speaker 1: a superstar is just so much. I don't know how
Speaker 1: they do everything they do, Like their schedules are insane.
Speaker 1: So to be that and that's the thing. You can
Speaker 1: let it. You can let it ruin you and you
Speaker 1: can let it make you crazy, or you can learn
Speaker 1: to live in that place where you're just in the
Speaker 1: moment all the time and then actually maybe you just
Speaker 1: see like God and you see the truth all the time.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's what it is. I don't know, but I
Speaker 1: would like to figure out how to get there. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you're saying that's when you really learned that skill
Speaker 1: because you saw you witness that. Yeah, I just I
Speaker 1: think just being around it was like it was like, okay,
Speaker 1: this is another level of like living. I don't you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know. To experience that, Yeah, it was crazy,
Speaker 1: especially like to experience it with Brill and then for
Speaker 1: Lionel Richard to come in and be the same way.
Speaker 1: It was like a total revelation. I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: it was like another double weaving again. Yeah, like exactly,
Speaker 1: it's like everything's happening in twos here, but it's um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I learned a lot. So then you ended up getting
Speaker 1: stolen by Blake? So how is that because you go
Speaker 1: from Pharrell who's his own amazing thing to Blake, who
Speaker 1: is his own amazing thing in a different way. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think the thing that the common thing about I mean,
Speaker 1: I feel like anybody all the I mean everybody that
Speaker 1: I've dealt with, I guess that's really successful is like
Speaker 1: the way they give back to other people. I Mean
Speaker 1: I feel like with Blake, it's like he's always like
Speaker 1: he's just such a caring, kind human and like he
Speaker 1: really cares about other people. And so I found that
Speaker 1: really interesting, like especially with I guess with artists, probably
Speaker 1: more so, because do you think you attract more of
Speaker 1: what you are? So maybe that's why these people are
Speaker 1: so loved And obviously they have the talent, but like
Speaker 1: they're pouring that out too. Yeah I think so. Um,
Speaker 1: you know Blake was I just adore him amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: He's larious, charming, he's a good person, he cares adorable
Speaker 1: and sassy. Yeah, he's very sassy. I love that about him.
Speaker 1: He didn't care, No, he really doesn't. And that's that.
Speaker 1: And that's another common thing, like they just when you
Speaker 1: get to the point where you don't care. I think
Speaker 1: it's like, I mean, obviously they care, but it's like
Speaker 1: they just they're just authentically themselves. Do you think it's
Speaker 1: because they've had so much success, so much failure by
Speaker 1: the terms of failure, you like, once you get to
Speaker 1: that point, like you know, the wave is the wave, Like,
Speaker 1: do you think they just learned how to write it?
Speaker 1: I think I think so. Yeah. I think you probably
Speaker 1: get to a point where you're just like, you know
Speaker 1: what you have. You realize you have no control, so
Speaker 1: you're like, I'm just gonna be me and do my thing,
Speaker 1: you know, so you can control. Yeah, okay, So then
Speaker 1: you get on Blake's team. Did you love working with Blake?
Speaker 1: I loved working with Blake. He was very cool and
Speaker 1: that he really he knew me, so he knew like,
Speaker 1: I know what you're capable, but I was capable of yeah,
Speaker 1: and he trusted me, Like I was like, I want
Speaker 1: to do a Beatles song this week. He's like Okay,
Speaker 1: let's do it. I want to do my original song
Speaker 1: and the finale He's like, I'll go to bat for
Speaker 1: you for that, you know. And I got to do
Speaker 1: those things because he really, I think, believed in me
Speaker 1: and wanted to help me, you know, achieve that on
Speaker 1: the show. So dang, that's cool. That's really cool show.
Speaker 1: It's a cool show. The voice is cool. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: got to do I mean, and it doesn't always work.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it works out for everybody like
Speaker 1: it worked out for me. But I was very blessed
Speaker 1: in the way that I got to really sing the
Speaker 1: songs I wanted to sing. And I would come in
Speaker 1: you know, Tyler, and Tyler would come over to the
Speaker 1: hotel when she wasn't supposed to um, and we would
Speaker 1: work on arrangements. So I would come in with an
Speaker 1: arrangement and a you know, a chords and you know,
Speaker 1: everything charted out for the band, and it just, um,
Speaker 1: I think they appreciated it. You know, they had a
Speaker 1: lot to do, and so they were like, oh ship
Speaker 1: she brought you know, um, it's ready, it's ready, she
Speaker 1: brought an arrangement, it's ready to do. So we would
Speaker 1: go I'd go in and be like I want to
Speaker 1: do it this way right, that you knew how you
Speaker 1: wanted to do it and you could take it so
Speaker 1: seriously because you know, I feel like maybe that's the
Speaker 1: experience that you had really could pay off in this
Speaker 1: moment because you knew what needed to be done and
Speaker 1: how to do it, because a lot of people who
Speaker 1: are talented but haven't had the experience wouldn't know that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I was. I was ready. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was my time for sure, Like I think it was
Speaker 1: meant to be that I was on at that point
Speaker 1: because it was like, Okay, I know, I know who
Speaker 1: I am, I know what I want, and it was
Speaker 1: an opportunity for me to really show America like Okay,
Speaker 1: this is me. Now, this is like me minus still
Speaker 1: Magnoia like on my own just like here I am.
Speaker 1: I'm going to cry. I literally, it's so powerful, Like
Speaker 1: it's so crazy, And I love how like connected and
Speaker 1: aware you are to it all too, you know, and
Speaker 1: like your whole journey it all makes sense, isn It
Speaker 1: weird how it all makes sense, Like when you look
Speaker 1: back on it, it starts to make sense, Like obviously
Speaker 1: we have a long journey ahead, but it kind of
Speaker 1: gets to that place where like, Okay, I get why
Speaker 1: this ship show happened, or like why this great thing happened,
Speaker 1: and then this didn't and then pieces well, it makes
Speaker 1: it all really brings you to a point where it
Speaker 1: makes you mean, it makes you who you are and
Speaker 1: you have learned. So like I feel like even this
Speaker 1: year especially has been such a learning year for me.
Speaker 1: Like I feel like last year was such a year
Speaker 1: of just like reaping, you know, and like Okay, this
Speaker 1: is awesome. Like I'm on the voice and my EP
Speaker 1: came out and it did really well, and like I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, this is awesome. And then this this
Speaker 1: past year has just kind of been harder. This has
Speaker 1: been has been a hard year. I think that a
Speaker 1: lot of hard year. It has been a hard year.
Speaker 1: I have felt it. Like a lot of people that
Speaker 1: I know, it's been a like I don't know, like
Speaker 1: a building year or like just a year. It's been
Speaker 1: for me, it's definitely been a learning year. I don't
Speaker 1: know how to explain it. It's like I've been what
Speaker 1: have you learned? This year? Um? You know what? I
Speaker 1: did a lot of stuff with um flood relief from
Speaker 1: my hometown. Um, because I'm from Louisiana and there was
Speaker 1: this terrible flood that just happened. It was like awful
Speaker 1: and people everyone lost their homes and it was just devastating.
Speaker 1: And so I put together, um a drive, I got
Speaker 1: a U haul. I was like, I don't know, it's
Speaker 1: just funny. I don't know. I just like, I don't
Speaker 1: know how I'm gonna do this, but I'm gonna do it,
Speaker 1: and I want to help. So I was like, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna start just do it, you know, And that
Speaker 1: was kind of I think that that was a moment
Speaker 1: this year where God was like, Okay, when I tell
Speaker 1: you to do something, you just do it, and you
Speaker 1: don't have to know how you're gonna do it. It's
Speaker 1: just gonna it's gonna work itself out and you have
Speaker 1: to trust me. And so I was like, okay, cool.
Speaker 1: So I got this U haul and I started making
Speaker 1: phone calls and I started gathering and it was like
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I had this full U haul
Speaker 1: and I'm driving it down Louisiana and then I'm like
Speaker 1: where am I going to distribute? And then this high
Speaker 1: school comes along. It's like my high school that I
Speaker 1: went to, and so we set everything up, we gave
Speaker 1: this stuff out. Then I'm like, oh I started this
Speaker 1: go fund me while I earned ten thousand dollars, I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: well now I have ten thousand dollars to spend. And
Speaker 1: so I flew down Louisiana again. I got another U haul.
Speaker 1: I went and I bought all of these things. I
Speaker 1: brought them to these people and individually, it's like I
Speaker 1: and honestly, I just met people a along the way
Speaker 1: that helped me. They appeared and they just appeared. I
Speaker 1: mean I literally met a woman in a parking lot
Speaker 1: who was um part of a motorcycle group. And then
Speaker 1: I ended up meeting all these like, um, these these
Speaker 1: what do you call them, my bikers, that's the word. Um.
Speaker 1: So I met all these bikers and they're like they
Speaker 1: had all lost their homes and their businesses, but they
Speaker 1: were like, well we have a parking lot. They're like, well,
Speaker 1: I hope you set up tomorrow morning, and they were
Speaker 1: like we know everybody, like we'll get people here because
Speaker 1: a lot of people just couldn't get out of their
Speaker 1: house to come get stuff. Um. So it was like
Speaker 1: I think that that was one of the biggest learning
Speaker 1: um events I guess in my life this year because
Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, it made me realize like one
Speaker 1: person can really do a lot if you really Yeah,
Speaker 1: you have to allow it to happen and allow you
Speaker 1: allow yourself to be used. And so I don't know
Speaker 1: that was It takes a lot of effort too. It's
Speaker 1: a lot of work. I was dead, I mean, I
Speaker 1: was so tired by the end of it, except we
Speaker 1: weren't sleeping and we drove. I mean I drove that
Speaker 1: you haul all the way myself, you know, and um,
Speaker 1: not crazy that you even thought to do that, because
Speaker 1: so many people just see it on the news and
Speaker 1: they don't even think about helping, even if they're from
Speaker 1: the place. You know. Yeah, I think for me, it's
Speaker 1: just and that's part of the learning too. It's like
Speaker 1: I realized, like, Okay, yeah, I like to do music.
Speaker 1: It's awesome. I love to perform. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, like, what is the point in all this?
Speaker 1: And so for me it's like, Okay, I have a name.
Speaker 1: At this point, I've built up to having a name
Speaker 1: to be able to call, you know, the Greater Good
Speaker 1: dot org and get them to donate seven million pounds
Speaker 1: of dog food or whatever it is, seven thousand pounds
Speaker 1: sorry um or whatever it is. You know, it's like
Speaker 1: I can do that because of who I am, and
Speaker 1: so doors are open to me, and so why not
Speaker 1: use it for good? Well that's I think that's the
Speaker 1: whole point. Yeah, get that point. Yeah, well, and I
Speaker 1: think that that's why. It's like, that's what I've learned
Speaker 1: more than anything in the last couple of years. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I have to use this now because otherwise I'm just
Speaker 1: it's going to wait east totally. You know. Gosh, Megan,
Speaker 1: that's awesome. I mean, you are reaching for all status.
Speaker 1: I'm trying. I'm trying to get there. We're just trying
Speaker 1: to keep up. I love that. And so then so
Speaker 1: this year has been okay reverse Actually, how do you
Speaker 1: know the difference between wanting to do something like because
Speaker 1: I have really been trying to tune in with my
Speaker 1: gut and my calling and like answering the calls that
Speaker 1: I do feel like are meant for me, as opposed
Speaker 1: to to seeing something and feeling it but really not
Speaker 1: feeling like that's the road I'm supposed to take. You know,
Speaker 1: because we're not all supposed to do the same things,
Speaker 1: but we are. How do you know when it is
Speaker 1: the call you're supposed to answer from your higher source?
Speaker 1: Oh god, how do you What are your checkpoints that
Speaker 1: you check within yourself? Like, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: it's all gut like, but you know, sometimes you get
Speaker 1: a gut feeling, but then there's like resistance. There's like resistance,
Speaker 1: and then sometimes it's like yeah, but there's like this
Speaker 1: whole butt category. Yeah, And at other times it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be freaking hard, but yeah, you know, like
Speaker 1: do you you know what I'm talking about? Is this
Speaker 1: like this makes sense? No, it totally makes sense. I think.
Speaker 1: I don't you know, I don't know. I don't know
Speaker 1: the complete answer. I know that when I think something
Speaker 1: is wrong, it almost always is. And when I go
Speaker 1: against what I know is right and I do something
Speaker 1: anyways because I'm like, oh why not, let's try it
Speaker 1: for a few months or whatever it is, it always
Speaker 1: ends up. I knew, you knew. I knew. So now
Speaker 1: you don't even have to like try it anymore. That
Speaker 1: happening again, you know? Or um, yeah, this flood relief
Speaker 1: stuff is terrifying to me. And I don't you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm going to do it, but
Speaker 1: I just know I need to do it. Like you
Speaker 1: just felt it, Yeah, I just felt it. I was like,
Speaker 1: I know God's gonna open the doors and I know
Speaker 1: it's going to work out because it's it's just what
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to do. It is all over you. This
Speaker 1: is ann I think it comes with with um just
Speaker 1: living and just doing things and you know, learning. I
Speaker 1: don't know, how do you stay connected to your higher
Speaker 1: thing whatever that is? Oh man, Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: think it's a lot about I think you have to
Speaker 1: live in a constant state of prayer. I know that
Speaker 1: sounds strange, but I think, not no, forgive me for
Speaker 1: my sins. And it's not that it's not that it's
Speaker 1: a very it's very much like an every day seven
Speaker 1: constant communication. And I think that that is the thing
Speaker 1: that like learning to to be like for all and
Speaker 1: living in the moment, that's what he's doing constantly. He's living,
Speaker 1: He's living in that space. And so I think when
Speaker 1: you're connected like that all the time, you know, and
Speaker 1: and it's hard, it's not easy to be connected all
Speaker 1: the time, things happen and you get disappointed, and you
Speaker 1: know it's it's like you and you know, I struggle
Speaker 1: with depression. So I go into these holds where I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh god, you know, of the bottoms falling out, the
Speaker 1: bottom is falling out. I mean, no, nothing's perfect for sure.
Speaker 1: God I can do that too and be like, oh god,
Speaker 1: I'm terrible. I have no talent. It's all sucking, like,
Speaker 1: like what am I doing my life thover? Why am
Speaker 1: I chick trying to do this at my age or whatever?
Speaker 1: But it's you know, and that's all just those are
Speaker 1: all lies, you know. I think you have to just
Speaker 1: eventually you get back up and you get back you know,
Speaker 1: you're never too far off course. I think you just
Speaker 1: have to learn to get back into it and be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: today's the new day. Ah, Megan, I freaking love it.
Speaker 1: I love you. I knew you were like this, but
Speaker 1: I didn't know you were like this like all the way.
Speaker 1: I really didn't. This is amazing. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know how to be any other way anymore, because
Speaker 1: I'm just tired of I don't want to live a lie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't want to pretend to be something i'm not.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be dishonest about how I feel
Speaker 1: about something because it's just it doesn't serve anybody, it
Speaker 1: doesn't do any good. Do you think the thirties are
Speaker 1: for that too? Like, yeah, that's why. It's like, because
Speaker 1: I feel like the music business is so like everybody's
Speaker 1: always like, oh, you're a woman, or you're you tell
Speaker 1: everybody your twenty nine or whatever. You know. It's like,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's this like stigma with being thirty
Speaker 1: and being a woman that it's bad right there is.
Speaker 1: I mean totally, it's crazy told if you haven't made
Speaker 1: an in the industry by the time you're thirty, might
Speaker 1: as well hanging up. Yeah, that is just not true.
Speaker 1: It's not true. And it's God has plans that nobody
Speaker 1: can define. Yeah, I think so. And I think that
Speaker 1: getting into my thirties and being it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: and I finally actually voted this year, and I haven't
Speaker 1: voted ever since I was eighteen. But I told my
Speaker 1: mom the other day, and I know that sounds terrible,
Speaker 1: but I told my mom. I was like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm glad I waited because it's I'm finally to a
Speaker 1: point in my life where I'm like, I know exactly
Speaker 1: how I feel about things, I know exactly what I want,
Speaker 1: what I don't want. Like I just was like, you
Speaker 1: know what, it was a good time for me to
Speaker 1: do that, and so I don't know, I feel like
Speaker 1: that with everything in life right now. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I think that's what the thirties are for. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: you're just walking into your own your authenticity. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: feels good. It does. So what are you looking forward to?
Speaker 1: I'm hoping it's going to be easier. But your video
Speaker 1: really fast and Friends came out only Mushrooms. You are
Speaker 1: a bomb shell bombshell. The song is so infectious. I
Speaker 1: couldn't get enough of it, and you have a celebrity cameo.
Speaker 1: So tell me about how that came about. Um, Well,
Speaker 1: we had the song and um, I actually wrote it
Speaker 1: with Tyler Tyler, my boyfriend Tyler, he's amazing, and my
Speaker 1: best friend Julie more of a We wrote the song
Speaker 1: and we were like, Okay, this really feels like a single,
Speaker 1: and so, um we finished the song and I was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I really want to make a video for the song.
Speaker 1: The video is awesome. It's so funny. Man. I So
Speaker 1: I'm going to my friend's wedding, Jeremy Gavin. Jeremy does
Speaker 1: all my photography, and um, I meet this guy on
Speaker 1: the way up to the wedding, this guy Zach, and um,
Speaker 1: he's like we we we kind of start talking and
Speaker 1: I get up there and they're kind of wanting me
Speaker 1: to sing for their wedding, and so I sing, and
Speaker 1: then Zack's like, we have to make a video. And
Speaker 1: Zach is working on he did Drunk History on Comedy Central.
Speaker 1: He's working on Still the King and you know, on CMT.
Speaker 1: And so he's like, he's like, this is what I do.
Speaker 1: You know, of course, someone because you're you're walking in
Speaker 1: such an unsuch your path now, well yeah, show up.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing. I didn't know how I was
Speaker 1: going to make this video because I'm like, I don't
Speaker 1: have fifty dollars right now, you know, and and and
Speaker 1: we always do, you know, we get creative because we
Speaker 1: have to. When you're independent and you don't have a budget,
Speaker 1: you have to be creative. So I meet this guy
Speaker 1: and he's friends with my friend Bridget, who's my you know,
Speaker 1: acting coach and so Um, We're like, well, let's just
Speaker 1: do it, you know, Bridget. So Bridget and zach Um
Speaker 1: directed and then they called Um. Bridget called some people
Speaker 1: from the Nashville Show who were camera operators, so they
Speaker 1: came um and donated their time and yeah, it just
Speaker 1: kind of all worked itself out. And how did he
Speaker 1: get in here? So funny. I was sitting there and
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, I know nothing about The Bachelor. He
Speaker 1: was like the Latin lover. Oh my god. I didn't
Speaker 1: know anything about The Bachelor. I don't even like I
Speaker 1: just started watching it this past year. Me too with
Speaker 1: The Bachelor. Actually think it was The Bachelor before that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, but I watched I watched that one and
Speaker 1: Jojo There's only I watched Ben. Okay, Like, so I
Speaker 1: didn't know anything, but I knew the name one Pablo,
Speaker 1: and I knew his reputation. So I was like, I
Speaker 1: really want kind of a jerky guy to play the
Speaker 1: role of my lover in this video. And I tell
Speaker 1: my friend Michelle, I'm like, what about Wan Pablo? And
Speaker 1: she knows a lot of people because she worked at
Speaker 1: the news for ten years, and so she's like, I
Speaker 1: know his manager let me reach out, and so she
Speaker 1: just reached out and he we got on a skype
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, this guy seems really nice. Actually, shoot, um,
Speaker 1: they can't help with that. All the ladies love them right,
Speaker 1: and not his fault. It's totally not his fault. And
Speaker 1: I didn't watch, so I don't know how it was
Speaker 1: edited or anything like that, but I was like, always
Speaker 1: so nice and he wanted to do it and so
Speaker 1: he um, he came to town and played my played
Speaker 1: my love interest in the video. It was awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he did a great job. He did a great job.
Speaker 1: He was great and we went to we actually went
Speaker 1: to the c m A Awards together that kind of
Speaker 1: promote this, promote the video and so um it was cool.
Speaker 1: Where was that room where you had like different color
Speaker 1: outfits at the same outfit but they're different color and
Speaker 1: you're like on the ground, it's the coolest room ever.
Speaker 1: Where are you filming that? Um? My friend Jeremy who
Speaker 1: does all my photography too, he um, he created it.
Speaker 1: It was just like literally two panels and you know
Speaker 1: what it was. It looks like it's padded, but it's actually, um,
Speaker 1: one of those down comforters. We clipped it. He's genius.
Speaker 1: And then I got I was on his page and
Speaker 1: I saw where he had done a photoshoot in the
Speaker 1: pad a room. I'm like, how did you do that?
Speaker 1: Can you do that for me? He was like, I
Speaker 1: still love the set figured out. He's like, I'll have
Speaker 1: to just clip those things on instud. I'm like, okay, glad,
Speaker 1: you're so creative. It costs nothing to do it. It
Speaker 1: looks so expensive. That video to me, looks so expensive.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Yeah, I mean literally so well done. It's crazy.
Speaker 1: It's crazy how like, you know, we managed to get
Speaker 1: all these people to kind of come together to make
Speaker 1: it happen. And you know, it is hard. It is hard,
Speaker 1: I will say, because I you know, I'm spending my
Speaker 1: own money on everything right now. So I'm kind of
Speaker 1: in this place where it's like, Okay, I'm making money,
Speaker 1: but then I'm spending all of it. I know, it's
Speaker 1: kind of terrifying. It's terrifying. Yeah, I'm still you just
Speaker 1: you have to invest in yourself, and so that's what
Speaker 1: I've been doing. But I'm also you know, self managing
Speaker 1: putting this I released through tune Core. You know, independently,
Speaker 1: and I have a we're a team of three people,
Speaker 1: you know, just my best friend Julie and my friend Michelle,
Speaker 1: and then you know, obviously Tyler helps me a lot,
Speaker 1: my friend Christie helps a lot. But it's literally like
Speaker 1: just everybody's just pouring into this thing, and none of
Speaker 1: this is really making any money yet. So I love it.
Speaker 1: I feel like that some stuff really takes off. I
Speaker 1: really do. I do too, I think so, So tell
Speaker 1: me what you're looking forward to and where can we
Speaker 1: find your new stuff? Is up? It's all over you know,
Speaker 1: anywhere you can get digital music, itube, and then the
Speaker 1: YouTube is um got the video and then there's an
Speaker 1: acoustic video I just put out of this song as well.
Speaker 1: So um, there's a lot of stuff online. I'm really
Speaker 1: excited I'm putting out. I'm gonna put out a new
Speaker 1: record in the new year, so I'm thinking February and March,
Speaker 1: trying to figure out when we can get it done. Um.
Speaker 1: I just started a Patreon page. So Patreon is awesome.
Speaker 1: It's a place where your fans can go. It's almost
Speaker 1: like an exclusive club online, and so they can kind
Speaker 1: of go and follow your journey and they can um
Speaker 1: pledge towards your your journey, towards your record or whatever
Speaker 1: it is. And so people can do a dollar a
Speaker 1: month or they can do two dollars a month or
Speaker 1: ten or twenty or whatever, and each thing has like
Speaker 1: a different you know, like I'll do um, you know,
Speaker 1: signed us, send out signed eight by tens I post
Speaker 1: you know, exclusive content, that kind of thing. That's awesome.
Speaker 1: So it's cool. It's kind of a cool, like a
Speaker 1: secret backstage fan wait for them to be involved. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they can kind of you know, I'll do a
Speaker 1: thing where I'll have them vote on the next single
Speaker 1: like things like that. So it's kind of a cool.
Speaker 1: Like it's almost like its own private Facebook page, I guess. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: um I started that to kind of help with the
Speaker 1: new record and then, um, yeah, I just signed a
Speaker 1: deal with Nutri System. What by the way, you have
Speaker 1: thirty pounds I have since March? Yeah, holy cow, always
Speaker 1: been stunning, but you are like amazing, like so spelt
Speaker 1: like a vision hasn't been hard. It's really hard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's hard to lose weight, but I do think that that,
Speaker 1: you know, definitely Nutri System helped boost that and helped
Speaker 1: me get on the right track and then um, you know,
Speaker 1: just keeping it off is the thing so amazing, But
Speaker 1: myself is different now. So what you have done with
Speaker 1: your life, the whole journey, it's amazing. Thank you. So
Speaker 1: I want to wrap with leave your light after all
Speaker 1: of this that you've been through and all of like
Speaker 1: the beautiful journey. What is your inspiration that you've gathered,
Speaker 1: just gathered from people and that you want to share, Like,
Speaker 1: what's your light that you want to spread? Oh man? Um,
Speaker 1: I think ultimately it's really about giving back. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know what else to say
Speaker 1: other than I do think, like I think we do
Speaker 1: all this and we're like people get especially in the
Speaker 1: music business, we get so self involved and we get
Speaker 1: so much like oh me me me, I I and
Speaker 1: it's like this video and this thing, and it's like
Speaker 1: you're so consumed with this the business part of the
Speaker 1: music business. And I think really to just keep your
Speaker 1: eyes open to other people and what's going on around you,
Speaker 1: and um, just to to pour into other people and
Speaker 1: give back. I mean, I think that that's when I'm
Speaker 1: when I'm the happiest, you know, I think doing just
Speaker 1: doing this flood relief stuff this past year and doing
Speaker 1: this stuff I do with with the dogs. I do
Speaker 1: a lot of rescue dog stuff. I love dogs so much.
Speaker 1: Um And I do stuff with Biggle Freedom Project, and
Speaker 1: I think that that is our purpose, you know, And
Speaker 1: I think that that, um this that this past year,
Speaker 1: the last two years has really really taught me that.
Speaker 1: So I don't know. I love that It's worth You're
Speaker 1: the best, You're the beg. She's I hope you loved
Speaker 1: hearing from Megan. She's amazing. You'll be sure to get
Speaker 1: her new music. It is off the chain. Next week.
Speaker 1: I have one of my favorite singers ever. It's actually
Speaker 1: amazing that I got to interview her because I was
Speaker 1: such a fan, Jamie O'Neill. There is no Arizon. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's not how she does it all, but you know
Speaker 1: that song Holy Cow. She's joining me next week, so
Speaker 1: y'all get excited and make sure you subscribe on iTunes
Speaker 1: to hyper Carolin Hobby. See you next week. M