 Author: Charles Hacker Hailey Whitters has had a wild time in the past couple years. From being named a member of 2019 CMT Next Women of Country class to ending up touring and collaborating with some of the biggest names in country music, the Iowa born singer reflects on it all. Whitters hails from Sheuyville, Iowa, a town with less than 1000 people. “Where I grew up, there was not a lot of opportunity for music. I picked up a guitar at 14 and just started playing”. In 2015, Whitters released her debut album “Black Sheep”. Whitters released her first major album in February 2020, The Dream. “The creating part was a soul filling, rewarding experience. It allowed me to rediscover my love for country music. We had no way of promoting the record live in 2020 but luckily it was received really well”. To fund the album, Whitters was working in a restaurant until she got a call she had been dreaming of. “I was waiting tables just days before touring with Maren (Morris, on the 2019 Girl: World Tour). I put my two weeks’ notice in on a Tuesday and that Friday I was wearing a sparkly dress and holding my guitar and playing Radio City Music Hall”. Whitters wants aspiring artists to know that they should “not give up in moments where It feels hard, just keep writing and playing”.
In addition to being named a member of 2019 CMT Next Women of Country class, Whitters has been named an Opry NextStage Artist 2021 and the AIMP (Association of Independent Music Publishers) Nashville Rising Artist-Writer of the Year, along with many other award nominations and wins. She has also toured with Little Big Town, Maren Morris, and Luke Combs. “It was wild being out (on the road) with Luke (Combs) and being in stadiums. if that was all it ever comes to, I took it all in”. The recording process for The Dream started in 2018, and actually finished in 2021, once Whitters put out the deluxe version of the album with some new tracks featuring massive collaborations alongside Brent Cobb, Lori McKenna and Hillary Lindsey, Jordan Davis, Little Big Town, and Trisha Yearwood. On the song with Yearwood, “How Far Can It Go?”, Whitters states “I heard the How Far Can It Go mix and reminded me of She’s in Love with the Boy”, Yearwood’s 1991 debut single. Whitters goes on to say that “I remember driving down my hometown roads listening to Trisha and now collaborating with her, this was huge for me. We reached out not knowing if we would even hear back and she said yes!”. You can check out “How Far Can It Go?” here. Whitters is currently on tour with Midland on their Last Resort tour, you can buy tickets here. Whitters does add that she is working on a new record! Check out Hailey Whitters’ website for music, merchandise, and tickets!
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