Hailey Withers Black Sheep With Heartland In Her Big Heart.

Hailey Whitters, the oldest of six children with hippy-esque names like Tyger, Heavenlei, and River, grew up in the middle of a corn field in Shueyville, Iowa, population 600, listening to Shania and thinking she could be the fourth Dixie Chick. Interestingly, she didn’t “do” music until high school.  One day, she picked up a guitar, started playing, and her life was forever changed.   When her mother drove her to Nashville to take voice lessons at 16, the young Hailey fell in love with the Music City and its history.  At 17, she graduated from high school with a fierce determination to move to Nashville; her Mother pleaded with her to further her education and made her daughter a deal–Hailey could move to Nashville to college.

Several years later, her God-given songwriting talents earned her a publishing deal with Carnival Music, and now, Hailey Whitters is preparing to release her debut album on October 2nd. “It’s a great first album,” she says. “There’s singer-songwriter stuff, rock, and attitude.  I love Americana and respect so many artists; they’re in a higher realm.”  Citing Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin, Jason Isbell, and Ryan Adams as major influences on her music, Hailey finds herself drawn to the lyrics of those saying brave and honest things.  The album is bursting with stories–some written herself, some written by others, all poignantly delivered to the listener with purity and conviction.

The first single from the album and its title track, “Black Sheep,” is full of finger-wagging swagger that would make the likes of Kacey Musgraves proud: “That song just came about so quickly, I wrote it with Adam Wright in an hour and a half.  It’s a quirky, fun song.  I love the line, ‘When I’m gone; you won’t look so white.’  We all have dirt, but some people are afraid to show it, you know? That song owns up to being different and doing your thing,” she says.  While she didn’t write the album’s second track, “City Girl,” Hailey can profess that growing up in the country isn’t glamorous, and she wanted out. “There are people around here who are always bragging about how country they are; the girl in that song is saying, ‘I don’t want to be country, I want to be a city girl,’ and that’s exactly how I felt,” she says, adding, “I like ‘Low All Afternoon.’  It’s not necessarily about me; it’s about a friend and her relationship with this guy.  It just fell out of me; the truth is the easiest thing to write; it’s harder to make something up.  ‘One More Hell’ is autobiographical; my brother died about four years ago in a car accident.  Everyone’s eyes always get wide when I sing, ‘Mama’s not right, Daddy’s still mad/He wants to kick God’s ass/’Cause he says that it ain’t right He took you so fast,’ but my dad said that.  It’s natural to be angry with God when something like that happens. I wrote it the summer after his accident, and still, to this day, it makes me tear up. ‘Get Around’ isn’t autobiographical; I’m not sleeping around town or anything, but I wrote it with a great friend who isn’t scared to write what she feels, and I believe we got the story across.  There are lines in there where people’s eyes get wide too.  Those songs say things that break some ground, I think.”

Hailey confesses she’s not trying to “chase the dream” when she writes music; “I just want to write a good song.  Writing for a living is hard when you’re under that pressure sometimes. I admire people who do their thing, like Patty Griffin.  People don’t ask about her genre; she’s just Patty Griffin.  Another example is Jason Isbell. You say his name and instantly know what his music is.”  With the 10-song storytelling beauty, she will release on October 2nd, she’s definitely on the right track.