Singer-songwriter, Hailey Whitters, took the stage at Hard Rock Nashville’s Reverb stage as part of Audacy’s continued coverage of CMA Fest 2023 brought to you by Simple Green. The “Everything She Ain’t” artist opened up about festival survival tips, her current single, new music and more.
LISTEN NOW: Hailey Whitters talks with Katie Neal at CMA Fest 2023
After 15 years of hard work and perseverance, Hailey Whitters is finally getting some buzz around her music through Country radio. While It’s been a long road to her current spot of being top 20 with, “Everything She Ain’t,” the 33-year-old says she credits the supportive community around her for getting her through the tough times.
”I’ve been here [Nashville] a long, freakin’ time and I feel like the reason I’m still is here is because of all those people who have supported me and kept me going in those moments of doubt, kept pushing me along,” she told Audacy’s Katie Neal.
One person that tops the list of “Corn Stars” (a name Hailey Whitters’ supporters have given to themselves) is fellow Country singer-songwriter, Lainey Wilson, who surprised the Iowa-native with a unique gift that went a long way.
“Lainey Wilson, she gave me a golden corn cob necklace and that’s my little, like… if I’m ever feeling insecure on a day or just like I’m going to need an extra little boost of bad-assery, I just wear my golden corn cob from Lainey Wilson and it gives me some confidence,” Whitters explained.
Credit the golden corn cob necklace or not, but something is clearly working for Hailey who recently took home the prize for New Female Artist of the Year at the 58th Annual ACM Awards.
“I still just feel on a cloud,” she said of winning the award last month. “It’s something I’ve dreamt of forever, to have been there and gotten to perform and really just be in it, I’m still on that high.”
Whitters is taking all the momentum and rolling right into her next project, which is an album she says can be described as “Everything She Ain’t 2.0.”
“It’s still a lot of that same sound, which I feel like I really have just gotten kind of rooted in my sound and who I am,” she shared. “I feel like it’s that and just bigger and better, yet still the same ol’ me.”
Before the arrival of new music, Whitters has her sights set on a career milestone that she hasn’t gotten to celebrate yet — a #1 on Country radio.
“I’ve been in town [Nashville] for like 15 years and always wanted to be on Country radio,” she said. “I grew up a kid in the cornfields of Iowa just driving around, listening to Country radio and always dreamt of being on it one day. So, to be here… my whole world has changed.”
Hear more from Hailey regarding new music, being on tour with Shania Twain and CMA Fest 2023 by checking out her entire interview with Katie above.
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