People refer to Nashville as a ten-year town, but for Candi Carpenter her career has been twenty years in the making. Having signed her first record deal, before she reached her teenage years, Candi is now set to release her debut EP this year, produced by Brandi Carlile and will feature as a special guest on Dolly Parton’s ’50 Years at the Opry’ special this Monday April 13 on BBC2 at 9pm.
Settling in to her Nashville home, we spoke to Candi Carpenter over Zoom. She is one of those rare, generous artists who’s sense of self and self-awareness is palpable but is so humble and grounded that she is instantly likeable on a human level. Her star is ascendent and it is both completely deserved and long overdue. The interview is available now on the podcast.
Your story is one of the most interesting stories I’ve heard in the genre. You started off in Michigan in a family band, almost before your story began?
It’s true, so I grew up in Lansing, Michigan, playing every karaoke bar and county fair in the Midwest that my mom and dad could get me into. We also had a family gospel band called ‘Heaven Sent,’ later on my dad decided that we were going to change the name of the band to The Carpenter’s. It was a gospel band and my dad said ‘Jesus is a carpenter, but it’s an apostrophe ‘s – The Carpenter’s – we belong to Jesus.’ Years later, he uploads all of our songs through Tunecore, and people start downloading them and they’re just super angry, ‘What is this, this is not The Carpenters. Beware don’t download this music!’ It’s kind of hilarious, because it was an innocent mistake. We played churches and my dad has a beautiful voice, my mom plays piano and I learned a lot about songwriting and music from my parents and my grandpa.
Yeah, something that I’ve always found so magical about country music, which is something you can hear in your voice is the legacy aspect of it. Unlike any other genre, there is such a respect for the history of country music, which I think is very powerful.
I think you’re right, country music runs in the family sort of. Your mom and dad pass it down to you and that’s how I grew to love the greats like Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline and Dolly and Vince Gill.
Talking again about your crazy story, at 11 you passed a note which managed to actually get you on stage with him.
Thank you for looking that up, that’s really cool. I’m a huge Vince Gill fan, and I still am – what an incomparable vocalist that he is. So when I was 11, my mom took me to see him at the Ingam County Fair and I passed a note up to the stage that said ‘can I yodel for you?’ on the ticket stub and I waved it up in the air at him til he eventually brought me up on stage.
And little did he know that one day that girl would be Candi Carpenter… Since then, you’ve had such a big journey. Everyone talks about Nashville being a ten year town, but for you it’s basically been a twenty year town and you’ve gone through a lot of things, signing a record deal before you even reached your teenage years. Do you think that all the experiences and things that you’ve gone through have shaped you into the artist you are now?
I would absolutely not be the artist that I am without the pain and the heartache and the joys and the good times that brought me here. I actually got to grow up backstage at the Grand Ole Opry when I was a teenager, I toured with the Jack Greene show and played on the road not only with Jack, but Opry legends like Little Jimmy Dickens and Porter Wagoner. I met Dolly for the first time when I was seventeen years old. So July 12, 2019, I made my Grand Ole Opry debut and it came full circle literally. I tattooed it on my arm because I’m really terrible with dates and times (laughs).
Watching the videos of people being asked to be on The Opry gets to me every time and seeing your announcement at Song Suffragettes that you were going to be making your Opry debut was so special. How much did that debut mean to you?
Man, Imogen it was a dream come true, I cried when I found out and the night that we made the announcement that I was making my Grand Ole Opry debut I wore one of the Manuel jackets that I wore when I toured with Jack Greene as a teenager. I really just wanted to feel that I had him there with me every step of the way because it had been his dream to see me play the Grand Ole Opry stage – he passed away several years ago. The night I made my debut, Jack’s son, Jan Green, brought his guitar and sat it out in the circle with me when I sang his hit, ‘There Goes My Everything.’ They put a picture of Jack and I together – I was actually wearing the Manuel I wore when we made the announcement in the photo, that’s why I chose that one. I carried a little picture of him over my heart, it meant more to me to play the Opry that night than I could ever describe, it fulfilled a lifelong dream. It was the reason I moved to Nashville in the first place, I wanted to play the Opry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlgiodzCiWA
There is something about that place that unless you get it, you don’t get it, because that place is magical. This Monday at 9pm in the UK, we’re going to have ‘Dolly’s 50 Years at the Opry’ show on BBC 2, which you were a part of. Again, how much did that night and that song ‘Little Sparrow’ mean to you?
The song and the woman who wrote it mean the world to me. Dolly Parton (sighs), I don’t know who I would be as an artist without Dolly’s influence. She was not only such a huge influence on me growing up, because I was an enormous fan of hers – I wanted to emulate her, I wanted to write like her, to learn to emote a lyric and connect with the audience the way she does. It’s so genuine and so herself. I think the reason people love her is because she’s pure love embodied. She’s one of the most genuine human beings, really more of an angel on earth. The support that she’s shown me over the last several years, for my songwriting and my music have really fuelled the fire and kept me going in times when I’ve faced rejection in other places. I knew Dolly believed in me, and if Dolly Parton believes in you… At the end of the day, no matter what anybody says about me and no matter what happens, I can go to bed knowing that Dolly believes in what I’m doing. I couldn’t believe that I got to be a part of honouring her greatness and her legacy at the Grand Ole Opry, because the Opry has meant so much to me and so has she. I woke up that morning – it was October 12 2019 – when I performed with Dolly at the Opry to a tweet from her saying ‘maybe we can do makeup together or something, getting ready for the show.’ I thought ‘there’s no way she’s going to have time, she’s going to be so busy,’ but she’s true to her word, she did my make up at the Grand Ole Opry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jcwVRepFFg
At that point I’d probably say I’ll keep this makeup on for the rest of my life, I’ll never wash it of…
I didn’t want to, she actually used my friend Jenny’s makeup brush and Jenny put it in a frame. It’s in a shadow box in her living room.
You also released a new single around that time – The Astronaut. In that song you can hear the lyrical influence of Dolly, but the power of your vocal in that song is just insane. How much can you talk about the inspiration behind that song? It’s just stunning.
Well, you know, Dolly has built an iconic career out of being herself, unapologetically and it’s the hardest thing to do. You get so much advice, a lot of it is well-meaning but it can take you off your path. People want to help you ultimately succeed, so they’ll guide you sometimes down an avenue that would have been right for them had they been an artist, but it’s not necessarily the right path for you. Dolly has always encouraged me to really, fearlessly, be me. Growing up the way I did, I wasn’t super popular in school – most of us aren’t. I don’t really know anyone who can seriously look me in the eye and say they were popular in school, I don’t run in those circles I guess. Starting so early as a child in entertainment as well, I got a lot of directions about how to act, what to wear, how to talk, what to say, what to sing about, what to write about. ‘The Astronaut’ was maybe the first time I just said what was on my mind, without worrying. I do think that Dolly helped me find the courage to do that and working with Brandi Carlile. Brandi is another one of those great artists.
Two women who have done exactly what you said – built a career on being so authentically themselves. It is interesting… Obviously you started your career very early and that comes with the great side of knowing the industry through and through but also the negative of knowing how the industry works and finding who you are is almost harder when you have so many more opinions on ‘who you are’ around you.
Yeah, it’s easy to get in your own head. It’s easier to get in your own head than it is to get out of your own way. I’m very fortunate to have mentors who believe in me and see that potential and help me draw it out. I remember texting Brandi a video of a performance of ‘The Astronaut.’ It was the first time that I played the song – it was at Song Suffragettes – and I texted it to her in the middle of the night and she just got back to me and said ‘yep, we’re doing that one.’ That was the song we recorded together.
Was that the one you recorded over the Facebook live portal?
So, the Facebook portal recording with Brandi was for ‘Little Sparrow.’
How crazy was that experience, in terms of recording over such long distance?
Recording the song with Brandi over the Facebook portal, actually felt a lot more natural than I thought it would. It’s a new time, we can find ways to make art and be creative and let technology serve us – it’s pretty cool.
I did really want to talk to you about Song Suffragettes. It’s something that you’ve been a part of since its inception. It’s so sad that the tour has been postponed but we’re looking forward to seeing it in the UK hopefully soon. How much do you think that organisation has given to you as an artist?
When I first came to town, there was more of an air of competitiveness between women in the industry than there is now, I’m happy to say. Now, I think women really just want to build each other up and see each other succeed and when one of us wins we all win. Song Suffragettes introduced me to some of my best friends. I’d been kind of isolated, sort of an introverted extrovert. I think it would surprise people to find out I’m actually kind of shy, because I seem really bubbly. I have this big personality, but honestly it’s probably such a big personality because it is so hard for me to come out of my shell that when I do come out of my shell, I come out. It’s hard to find like-minded people when you’re an artist because you’re at home writing, you’re creating, you’re working on your craft every day and Song Suffragettes connects those dots and goes ‘here’s a friend, here’s somebody just like you.’ I’m really thankful for it.
We’ve talked about this a bit, but now with everything going on, plans are rather up in the air and we don’t know what’s going on. How are you coping and navigating this time and how is Nashville and your whole community holding up?
It was really nice chatting with you, before the interview began about how we’re both doing during this quarantine time. It’s a tough question to answer, I don’t really know how I’m doing is the honest truth. I’m worried about my friends, I know a lot of people who have COVID-19. I’m worried about my mom, just because she’s considered someone who needs to keep working – she works for the State of Michigan. She’s in her sixties and I just love her so much and I want her to be ok. On the positive side of things, I’m thankful to have this time to take care of myself and write for my upcoming album. I think I needed a season of rest, because it’s been ‘go, go, go’ since I was eleven years old.
Particularly the last six months for you… In terms of having that reflection moment, there is something nice about that for a little bit of time.
My life changed pretty suddenly, with the opportunities with the Grand Ole Opry, performing with Dolly and Dierks Bentley and Emmylou Harris and Chris Jansen and Toby Keith and some of my favourite artists. It was zero to sixty. Actually, the 50th Anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry with Dolly Parton is going to share April 13th on BBC.
We’re so excited to see it and see you making your guest appearance.
It was a really magical night and I’m happy I get to relive it again. I’m glad there is video proof that it happened because if I called my family and went ‘you guys, I just played the Grand Ole Opry with Dolly.’ They’d probably say ‘yeah, ok.’
It’s going to be televised, the UK will have proof too if they need it…
It really happened!
With this whole time, no one knows what will happen next, but is your plan at the moment just to hunker down and work on the album. Can we expect any new music from you soon?
Yes! So ‘Little Sparrow’ and ‘The Astronaut’ are both out on all the streaming platforms right now. Then right before quarantine started, Brandi and I just finished my debut EP, my debut record. It will be out later this year hopefully, that’s the plan. Right now I’m still booked for Americana Festival this year and I know I’m coming over to the UK in August as well. I’ve never got to travel to the UK, it’s been a lifelong dream, so I really can’t wait. I’ve been a little bit bummed that it’s been pushed back because I want to see your faces. We’ve finished the process of recording and I really couldn’t be more proud of the project. I’m really ready to share it with the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57lbFFfFhY4
Are you grateful almost that everything has happened when it did?
You know what, I am. I’m very thankful that I went on the exact ride that I was lucky enough to go on and that it led me to here. I really am proud of the songs, they say exactly what I would want them to say if I was introducing myself to someone. I think it represents my weird sense of humour, my struggles and my love of life, in spite of everything I’ve gone through and my desire to keep healing, because it’s a process it doesn’t happen overnight.
Final Few
Wine or whiskey?
You know, it kind of really depends on the day, I love both pretty equally. I’ll say whiskey.
If you had a biopic film of your life, what would be the opening song?
You know, it’s surprising to people but I think that my favourite song is probably ‘Feel’ by Post Malone. I really understand that mood for some reason, in darker times that was my story – except from the cars and clothes, I’ve been driving the same Mazda for the last ten years. There’s no ‘cars’ here, one singular SUV.
Would you rather give up songwriting or performing?
You know what, I consider songwriting just as important to my existence as breathing, but I got into this business because I love performing and connecting with other people and if I could only perform other people’s songs and inspire hope in others, I would pick performing.
What is the weirdest thing you’ve done in isolation?
Asking me what the most normal thing I’ve done is like asking someone else what the weirdest thing they’ve done… I’m so strange. Ok, I’ve got this thing called a Forever Lazy, it’s pants. I’ve worn that to walk around my neighbourhood a couple of times, I’m not proud of that. I’m not proud of it at all. A lot of time and energy goes into hair and makeup for a female artist. It’s been really nice not having to do any of that, you know?
Favourite gig you’ve ever played?
I think we both know it was the Grand Ole Opry with Dolly…
What are you listening to right now?
You know what, I’m a huge John Prine fan and I’m so saddened by his passing that I’ve just been listening to his entire catalogue.
Complete the sentence…
Music is… everything.
Country music is… everything.
Candi Carpenter is… doing her best.
Tune into Dolly Parton’s ’50 Years at the Opry’ this Monday at 9pm to see Candi’s performance of ‘Little Sparrow.’
