We recently caught up with Pop Country Nashville recording artist, Kaitie Wade. Recently releasing her debut EP Starts With A Song, she’s gotten attention from radio stations, as well as a following on social media.
Where are you from?
A town about 45 minutes south of Seattle, Washington called Lake Tapps
What genre is your music?
Pop Country with a hint of classic rock
What are your influences?
I grew up in church so that was the only music I was exposed to basically all through elementary. I joined worship team at age 14 and the rest was history. My mom loved Shania Twain – my dad loved (and still LOVES) Bon Jovi. So I would say all of those played a part in my sound. But aside from childhood I freaking LOVE Miranda Lambert, Maren Morris, and Lady Antebellum.
Favorite Nashville Venue?
My favorite Nashville venue I have ever played is a toss up between Margaritaville and The Goat in Mt. Juliet. Both are so different but SO fun to interact with the audience! My DREAM venue in Nashville is the Grand Ole Opry though…
What was the inspiration behind your debut EP Starts With a Song?
So the thing about Starts With a Song is that every song on the EP tells a different story. Every lyric is carefully placed in the song to kind of expose who I am and tell my life story basically. My goal of this record was for fans to hear it and be like “wow, I feel like we’re friends now!”. “Just Makes Sense” tells the story of my (now) fiance and I’s long yet humorous past and how in the end you always will end up where you are meant to be. “Starts With a Song” is one of my favorites on this album because of the message I am conveying – everything in that song is the cold hard truth. People will try to make you compromise, and there are a lot of snakes in this industry – but I ain’t falling for all that. I am gonna get to the top with good old fashioned hard work and determination!
There are songs like “Don’t Wanna Miss” that are super uptempo and you can just jam out to them There are also intimate deep songs like “Diamonds” a song that I truly felt so vulnerable in writing – was questioning if I should add it to the EP and I realized the story I tell in that song is a HUGE part of my life and I also believed that I could truly inspire others through it as well.
Why did you decide to not include “Tail Lights” on your EP?
The way I look at it, Tail Lights was certainly a huge part of my life and if it wasn’t for that HORRIBLE and sudden break up three years ago, I may have never started writing music. But, all that being said, I feel that since then I have been through so much and grown tremendously as an artist (Sound AND writing style) and as a person – It is almost like I kind of evolved into an entirely new me in the past few years, and I kind of love that. So I wanted to showcase who I am NOW, not who I WAS.
Do you have a team to help you? Do you do everything yourself?
For the most part, I do everything my self. I am my own team. I am my own booking agent. I am my own website designer, social media manager, general manager, financial manager, agent, writer, scheduling assistant, and opportunity maker. I hire the bands, I slave away waiting tables to make enough money to run this whole career alone. BUT, I intern at Kore PR , an entertainment public relations firm on Music Row, and they are freaking amazing. They have taught, and helped me with SO much in the past year like booking some radio interviews, getting my songs into the right hands, etc. So I am VERY grateful for them.
Have you gotten a lot of attention from releasing your single, “Don’t Wanna Miss”?
I have, and I could not be happier with how this is going. The SAME week that “Don’t Wanna Miss” was released, I heard it on the radio for the first time (Thank you to Renegade Radio Nashville for being the first to spin it!). It was an AMAZING feeling. But THEN, I had random radio stations in Canada and North Scotland and France all also spinning the song. It is quickly becoming a world wide thing and I am STOKED to see where it goes. I also have scored TV show appearances with Nashville Entertainment Weekly and Indie Music Channel.
What is “Don’t Wanna Miss” about?
The inspiration behind “Don’t Wanna Miss” was derived from my favorite place in the WORLD – Watershed Festival at The Gorge, Washington state. It is this huge 3 day country music festival/camping experience/tail gate and it truly feels like a dream when you are there. The whole premise of the song is – when you are given an opportunity to just be in the moment and throw all your worries aside for a few days, DO it! because the last thing you want is to look back and wish you did.The chorus came to me in the middle of finals week in my last semester of college. I was sitting in a Walmart parking lot and it just HIT ME. And I was like , “wait…I need to write this song this second.” I sat in that parking lot for FIVE hours writing the chorus, and I don’t regret any part of those five hours other than letting my frozen burritos melt in the back seat (haha!) I wrote the verses with my buddy Dylan Ander over Skype!
If you could choose any country superstar, who would you sing a duet with?
Oh my goodness. SHANIA. and Dierks Bentley (I love his voice and I always thought we would sound great together!)
Do you have any other talents besides singing and playing guitar?
I am really talented at losing my belongings (haha!) No, but I am really good at a Shakira impression – Would love to do it for you in person sometime.
What is the next step for you?
Right now I am trying to raise the funds to embark on a national radio tour so I can grab ahold of this opportunity and run with it! Aside from that, I am going to keep writing, keep practicing, keep booking gigs, and keep the hustle alive!
