Caitlyn Smith stopped by The Bobby Bones Show to talk about her new album, working with Miley Cyrus, and how she got a picture taking a shot with George Strait and Vince Vaughn.
Smith released the first part of her album High, last year. And on Friday (April 14) she released the second part of it, High & Low, that features six new songs. Smith is a well-known songwriter who in addition to her own work, has written songs for artists like Miley Cyrus, Meghan Trainor and more. Her songwriting style is extremely honest and vulnerable and at times she feels like her songs might be too specific and honest that they may not resonate with everyone. She’s learned how to dance on the line of not oversharing but still writing it, so it feels like an emotion that everyone has. She has found that people can really relate to those small moments of intimate details in her songwriting. She referenced a line from a song on the second part of her newly released album called “Alaska,” that says, “I’m terrified we’ll end up like my parents together but alone.” She said it was such a vulnerable, scary thing to say out loud, but then she realized she’s not the only one that’s felt that way and others would appreciate knowing they aren’t alone. She always tries to dance in that world of almost uncomfortable but not too much.
Her song “High” was a song she wrote that got passed around for a while before it landed in the hands of Mark Ronson who at the time was producing Cyrus’ album. He played it for Cyrus, and she loved it and added some of her personal details to it to make it her own before she put it on her Plastic Hearts album. Smith has since recorded her songwriter's version of it, which she said once the song is out anyone can record it. When she first wrote it, she heard it having a big gospel sound to it, and Cyrus made it a very different version, which she said was fun to hear. Since then, Smith has been able to work more with Cyrus and has a song she co-wrote with her called “Island” on her latest album, Endless Summer Vacation, and said she is an incredible artist to work with.
Smith’s song “Writing Songs and Raising Babies,” relates to where she is in life right now; balancing being a mom and being an artist. Depending on the day, she feels like she’s got a handle on both, and some days she feels like she’s failing at both. It’s a constant juggle every day to make sure she’s checking off the list of things she needs to do for her job, and when she gets home to make sure she puts her phone down and can really focus on her family and connection time with her kids. She’ll bring her kids on the road with her sometimes if the tour run is long, which she said can be a circus having them out there, but to her it’s worth it.
“Every Girl In This Town” by Trisha Yearwood is a song Smith wrote and sang background vocals on when she was nine-months pregnant! Recording that song was a full circle moment for her. Yearwood was her first concert so when she cut the song and featured in it, she called it the craziest moment of her life. Smith once sang The National Anthem at Green Bay Packers Game for their opening game that season. She said it was a real nerve-wracking moment because it’s a song that you can’t mess up on or you’ll get scrutinized, and she had to time it perfectly for the fly over moment happening. She grew up behind a baseball field and when she was eight years old, she used to run over to the box, and they’d let her sing the anthem. The announcer for those games also announced for the Minnesota Timberwolves and he’d let her sing the anthem at their games too.
Smith shared a picture on Instagram of her taking a shot with Vince Vaughn and George Strait and said it was one of the craziest moments of her life. Over the last couple of years, she’s been able to share the stage with Strait a few times and at his Vegas residency, Vaughn was there because he’s a big Strait fan and she ran into him backstage where they started talking and then people offered them a shot that they all did together!
Smith has a lot to look forward to. She just received her first ACM nomination for New Female Artist of The Year! She is also currently doing a one-women show tour, where it will just be her, her guitar and piano sharing stories. You can go to Caitlynsmith.com for more details.
While in studio she performed her song “Lately” that you can watch here.