Story Behind the Song: Hailey Whitters, ‘Ten Year Town’
Hailey Whitters' breakout tune, "Ten Year Town," got her name out to a whole new fan base, even helping land her an opening spot on tour with Maren Morris. However, when she wrote the song, Whitters wasn't sure that a successful career in country music would ever happen for her.
Read on to learn the story behind "Ten Year Town," as told by the artist herself.
I wrote that song two years ago with Brandy Clark, and it was our first time writing together. I'd had that idea for a while, and I'd thrown it out to a few people, and they were like, "I already have a song about that, but you should still write it though."
So I think the stars just kind of aligned that day, and Brandy was, like, just who I was supposed to write it with. Brandy's an artist who, she's been here for a while, too, and faced a lot of similar struggles. So we just hung out for hours and got started on that song, shooting s--t about the industry and just life. And then we actually got together a month or two later to finish it, and it just felt so natural. She would spit out a line and I followed up, or vice versa. It just felt very easy.
I was so surprised [by the response]. I was so surprised! It was scary, too, because it was the first time I'd been releasing music since 2015. And I did this record with my boyfriend [Jake Gear], and this is the first song on my record. So we obviously knew it was very special to me and very special to my personal journey and my professional journey. We didn't have a manager or a label or anything, so we literally just posted it on Instagram that morning. And then we went kayaking. And when we came back, I was like, "What just happened?!"
We went kayaking and had no service ... kayaking in the marsh or whatever, and then we get back to service and I turn on my phone, and it was like, "Boom." I was blown away. I thought that maybe there would be some people in town that I had put my resume with, but to see all these artists and people -- like, I've had people come up to me that are florists. And they're like, "I know I'm not in the music industry, but this feels relevant to my life."
It takes forever. It's kind of the song for the dreamer.
Modern Country Music's Female Trailblazers