If the not-quite-fitting-the-mold country charms of Kacey Musgraves' Pageant Material were high school sweethearts with the Midwest-championing of John Mellencamp's early 1980s heartland rock, their songwriting child would be Hailey Whitters' new album, Raised. The record serves as the rising country singer-songwriter's attempt to tell the story of where she came from — rural Iowa, Shueyville to be precise — and is loaded with golden-hued odes to the nostalgic times she had growing up there ("Big Family," "Beer Tastes Better," "In a Field Somewhere," etc.).
"I worried when I was writing this record, is this gonna be too niche, too specific to the Midwest?" says Whitters. "But I think that it's been really cool to see it resonate with people from all over the country. The scenery is obviously a little more cornfields and chert rock than they are red and cowboy hats, but I feel like it can resonate far and wide."
Led by the county fair sweetness inherent in Whitters' voice, most of the record carries a bright and happy feel, like catchy, clap-filled single "Everything She Ain't," but Whitters also feels comfortable when descending into darker heartbreak territory ("The Neon"). As a co-producer on her albums, Whitters has found a relatively stripped-down country production style that works for her.
"I like things to sound very authentic and natural and real and less computerized and tuned to perfection," says Whitters. "I like it a little more raw. Just the sounds: having fiddle, having banjo, having really organic production, that is important to me."
That authenticity carries Whitters through some songs like the awww shucks Americana of "Middle of America" and the wistful "Boys Back Home," tunes that could easily be eye-rolling cliche fests in the hands of lesser modern country songwriters.
"I think [it's] just trying to stay as true as possible and as representative as possible. Like these are real people in real life, where I come from," says Whitters. "So trying to keep it as true and authentic to that without making it seem just kind of like, you know, cheesy... making it seem not like it's satire, ya know?"
While Whitters seems to be on the precipice of a breakout moment, she's hardly a musical newbie. She's long been a songwriter helping to pen songs for country stars like Alan Jackson and Little Big Town, and even co-writing the Grammy-nominated "A Beautiful Noise" for Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile. She put out her first solo album, Black Sheep, in 2015, but really started finding her voice with the release of her sophomore LP, The Dream. Unfortunately, that album dropped in late February 2020... and... well... turns out a global pandemic can really throw a wrench in a burgeoning career. Still, The Dream managed to find an audience in spite of Whitters being cooped up and unable to hit the road to share the music with her fans.
"It was really scary. It felt like I was finally getting my break, I had all this momentum, all this attention coming from dropping the first half of the record, and I had tours lined up; the whole rest of the year was pretty stacked for me. And so it felt like after 13 years, I was finally getting a break, and then the pandemic hit and everything shut down," says Whitters.
"I owe so much credit to the fans, especially during 2020," continues Whitters. "To see them finding ways to still discover my record as an independent artist who had no radio play. And I've been very fortunate with a lot of the artists in the genre, and the community who put me on their tours without having a radio single. That's kind of crazy, and not how things used to be done not that long ago."
While Whitters' music speaks for itself, it's still uncertain if she'll find a massive country audience because of the way modern country radio treats its female performers. For a long time country was the genre that placed women songwriters with strong voices at the forefront (Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Shania Twain), but over the past two decades country radio largely abandoned women. A 2019 study by Jada E. Watson found that female artists made up only 10 percent of country radio airplay. It's gotten so bad that Kacey Musgraves received essentially zero country radio play for Golden Hour... which won the Grammy for Album of the Year. (For more on the topic, read Nashville journalist Marissa R. Moss' new book, Her Country.)
In spite of the built-in sexism of her industry and the lack of airplay The Dream received, Whitters keeps a positive attitude about Raised's chances to break through the gatekeepers bulwarks. After The Dream started getting noticed in 2020, Whitters' Pigasus Records signed a partnership agreement with Big Loud, the publishing/management company and record label that has helped turn acts like Florida Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen into modern country megastars.
"This [is] my first go at radio. I've never had the opportunity before," says Whitters. "So I don't know if I can necessarily speak to the whole 'not getting airplay' [thing].
"I started out so independent, The Dream was a totally independent record. I put it out on my own record label. So I'm very, very used to and very familiar with the DIY route."
Whitters essentially embarks on a mini Inland Northwest barnstorming tour over the next couple weeks. While her headlining show at Lucky You (July 27) should be the proverbial cream of the Oreo, it's bookended by a gig opening for Jon Pardi at Northern Quest Casino (July 24) and a stop at the Gorge for the sold-out Watershed Festival (July 29-31). While the rowdy spirit of short festival sets can be a blast, Whitters feels like the club nights really let her dig into her artistry.
"We can do more songs off the record, maybe more album cuts. And then I also love to really just share some of the stories behind the songs on a longer set. There's still a lot of really great energy, but I think it's a little more catered to the songwriting than maybe a 30-minute quick festival slot."
While she may be a hyper-busy road warrior scrapping for country stardom this summer, getting to take the stage and play all the tunes of Raised means Whitters is spiritually never that far from the Midwestern cornfields of home. ♦
Jon Pardi, Lainey Wilson, Hailey Whitters • Sun, July 24 at 7 • $59-$109 • Northern Quest Casino & Resort • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • northernquest.com • 509-481-2800
Hailey Whitters, Kendell Marvel • Wed, July 27 at 8 pm • $15 • 21+ • Lucky You Lounge • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • luckyyoulounge.com • 509-474-0511
