KSKE EXCLUSIVE: SWANNIE SITS DOWN WITH HAILEY STEELE

“Diamonds take patience and pressure and time.”

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This isn’t just the tag line in a song from Hailey Steele’s self-titled EP. To her, it’s become a motto – a hopeful thought that carries her through rough days.

“I literally had to be dropped off at my write the day we wrote Diamonds, because my Bug had died. For good. I didn’t know what I was gonna do. And so we just wrote what I was feeling that day. I say what I think and I write my life.”

No stranger to the Nashville struggle, her highs and lows can be heard in her music. Steele’s lyrics touch on being a twenty-something girl who’s not sure how she’s going to pay her rent, wishing that she had things a little more figured out by now. She covers the ups and downs of love, victimizing her heart’s counterpart on “You Made It That Way” (Steele/Terry McBride/Derrick Southerland), but keeps it light and fun with a road trip to Vegas in “Getaway Car” (Steele/Nathan Chapman). Steele also has a unique woman-to-woman perspective that gives a nod to her classic country heroes with songs “Boyfriend” and “High Horse.”

Often compared to the likes of Sheryl Crow and Dolly Parton, this 5-foot-2 Leap Year baby isn’t afraid to say what everybody else is thinking. “Everybody’s wanted something they can’t have. We’ve all been there before. When we wrote “Boyfriend”, (co-written with Raelynn and Nicolle Galyon), we wanted to come across as bold and honest with a touch of grace.” High Horse (co-written with Ben Stennis and Brandon Hood), an ode to Steele’s love of the Wild West, is a song about knocking an ambiguous enemy off of their “Holier Than Thou” throne.

Steele grew up in a one-stoplight town in South Dakota. Although nobody in her immediate family was musical (her parents are both special education teachers), her love of music began early on. If the TV was on in the house, she was standing three feet away from it singing along with the videos on CMT. Her parents started taking her to concerts when she was young, and she grew up loving everything from Patsy Cline to Patty Loveless to The Eagles to Def Leppard.

When she was just 10 years old, Steele opened for Loretta Lynn at a casino in South Dakota, where she befriended a Native American Chief named Dennis Alley. Soon after, Chief Alley began introducing her to all of his musical friends, including BB King, Aaron Neville, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. By the time she was 15, Willie was inviting Hailey to sing onstage with him during his finale. “My experience with Willie will always be so special, but when I look back on it now that I’m older, it seems like it was almost spiritual. He’s a huge part of my story.” Steele’s friendship with Willie and The Chief led her to many unique opportunities, such as performing at Farm Aid and singing a duet with Willie at the historic Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

At age 19, Hailey moved to Nashville and began writing songs. One of her writing relationships led her to become part of the duo The LiNE, produced by Grammy-nominated songwriter Stephony Smith. The pair spent two seasons on a NASCAR tour, received the rare “four chair turn” on Season 2 of The Voice (Team Xtina), and even had the honor of performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As soon as The Voice ended, Hailey decided to split from The LiNE and started to write for her solo project. “Being in a duo was a great experience for me. We made a lot of friends and wrote a lot of songs, but at the end of the day I wanted to get back to what my message was, and why I came to Nashville.”

Not long after, Hailey had found herself surrounded by a community of talented artists, writers, producers, and believers. One of those believers was producer Paul “Relli” Barber. “Relli and I had been talking about making a record for four or five years. Either the timing was never right, or we were too busy, or the money wasn’t there. But he was always extra invested in the music. Over the course of our friendship, I’d sent him almost every song I’d written.”

One of those songs, “Getaway Car,” (co-written with Nathan Chapman) was almost forgotten. “Getaway Car was on hold for another artist who was in pre-production at the time, so I kind of counted it out for myself. Within the hour that I found out they weren’t going to cut it, Relli randomly sent my own demo of Getaway Car to me and said, “Hey, What about this song?” We both took it as a sign, and now that song is the first single.”

Another cut from the EP, “You Made It That Way,” was co-written by Derrick Southerland and Terry McBride. “We had a write scheduled for February 28th, which is usually when I celebrate my birthday on off years. Normally I would take the day off, but I heard somebody say that it was good luck to work on your birthday. When I walked in, the boys were playing the opening riff of what turned out to be one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.”

McBride, a celebrated songwriter and founder of McBride and the Ride says of Hailey, “I’ve worked with a lot of upcoming artists over the last twenty years. Some you remember and some you forget. But some you just know they have what it takes to make it, and Hailey Steele falls into that category. She has the determination and talent to separate her from the rest of the pack, and a voice that leaves an impression on those who get the chance to hear her.”

When it came to the recording process, Relli and Hailey had the opportunity to make the EP in a way that was very unique to Nashville. “We sat in a studio by ourselves for almost six weeks and came up with parts, and played most of it ourselves, ” Relli said. “A lot of the arrangements were already there, and some of the parts were derived from Hailey’s live band show.” Once Relli and Hailey had exhausted all of their musical resources (Steele on acoustics, piano, and background vocals, Relli on acoustics, electrics, piano and drum programming), they called in some of their favorite musicians, including Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin), Adam Ollendorff (Kacey Musgraves), Shaun Balin, Jon Rogerson, and Matt Butler (Sheryl Crow).

Steele says that this EP will give listeners the perfect idea of who she is, because if you know her songs, you know her. “I couldn’t be any happier with how this EP turned out. Every single note on this thing speaks for who I am as an artist. Now I’m ready to get out there and share it with the world.”

Along with the release of her debut EP, Steele will be on tour this fall with singer/songwriter Stephen Kellogg. In 2013, she became the youngest member to be inducted into the South Dakota Country Hall of Fame.
This isn’t just the tag line in a song from Hailey Steele’s self-titled EP. To her, it’s become a motto – a hopeful thought that carries her through rough days.

“I literally had to be dropped off at my write the day we wrote Diamonds, because my Bug had died. For good. I didn’t know what I was gonna do. And so we just wrote what I was feeling that day. I say what I think and I write my life.”

No stranger to the Nashville struggle, her highs and lows can be heard in her music. Steele’s lyrics touch on being a twenty-something girl who’s not sure how she’s going to pay her rent, wishing that she had things a little more figured out by now. She covers the ups and downs of love, victimizing her heart’s counterpart on “You Made It That Way” (Steele/Terry McBride/Derrick Southerland), but keeps it light and fun with a road trip to Vegas in “Getaway Car” (Steele/Nathan Chapman). Steele also has a unique woman-to-woman perspective that gives a nod to her classic country heroes with songs “Boyfriend” and “High Horse.”

Often compared to the likes of Sheryl Crow and Dolly Parton, this 5-foot-2 Leap Year baby isn’t afraid to say what everybody else is thinking. “Everybody’s wanted something they can’t have. We’ve all been there before. When we wrote “Boyfriend”, (co-written with Raelynn and Nicolle Galyon), we wanted to come across as bold and honest with a touch of grace.” High Horse (co-written with Ben Stennis and Brandon Hood), an ode to Steele’s love of the Wild West, is a song about knocking an ambiguous enemy off of their “Holier Than Thou” throne.

Steele grew up in a one-stoplight town in South Dakota. Although nobody in her immediate family was musical (her parents are both special education teachers), her love of music began early on. If the TV was on in the house, she was standing three feet away from it singing along with the videos on CMT. Her parents started taking her to concerts when she was young, and she grew up loving everything from Patsy Cline to Patty Loveless to The Eagles to Def Leppard.

When she was just 10 years old, Steele opened for Loretta Lynn at a casino in South Dakota, where she befriended a Native American Chief named Dennis Alley. Soon after, Chief Alley began introducing her to all of his musical friends, including BB King, Aaron Neville, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson. By the time she was 15, Willie was inviting Hailey to sing onstage with him during his finale. “My experience with Willie will always be so special, but when I look back on it now that I’m older, it seems like it was almost spiritual. He’s a huge part of my story.” Steele’s friendship with Willie and The Chief led her to many unique opportunities, such as performing at Farm Aid and singing a duet with Willie at the historic Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

At age 19, Hailey moved to Nashville and began writing songs. One of her writing relationships led her to become part of the duo The LiNE, produced by Grammy-nominated songwriter Stephony Smith. The pair spent two seasons on a NASCAR tour, received the rare “four chair turn” on Season 2 of The Voice (Team Xtina), and even had the honor of performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. As soon as The Voice ended, Hailey decided to split from The LiNE and started to write for her solo project. “Being in a duo was a great experience for me. We made a lot of friends and wrote a lot of songs, but at the end of the day I wanted to get back to what my message was, and why I came to Nashville.”

Not long after, Hailey had found herself surrounded by a community of talented artists, writers, producers, and believers. One of those believers was producer Paul “Relli” Barber. “Relli and I had been talking about making a record for four or five years. Either the timing was never right, or we were too busy, or the money wasn’t there. But he was always extra invested in the music. Over the course of our friendship, I’d sent him almost every song I’d written.”

One of those songs, “Getaway Car,” (co-written with Nathan Chapman) was almost forgotten. “Getaway Car was on hold for another artist who was in pre-production at the time, so I kind of counted it out for myself. Within the hour that I found out they weren’t going to cut it, Relli randomly sent my own demo of Getaway Car to me and said, “Hey, What about this song?” We both took it as a sign, and now that song is the first single.”

Another cut from the EP, “You Made It That Way,” was co-written by Derrick Southerland and Terry McBride. “We had a write scheduled for February 28th, which is usually when I celebrate my birthday on off years. Normally I would take the day off, but I heard somebody say that it was good luck to work on your birthday. When I walked in, the boys were playing the opening riff of what turned out to be one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.”

McBride, a celebrated songwriter and founder of McBride and the Ride says of Hailey, “I’ve worked with a lot of upcoming artists over the last twenty years. Some you remember and some you forget. But some you just know they have what it takes to make it, and Hailey Steele falls into that category. She has the determination and talent to separate her from the rest of the pack, and a voice that leaves an impression on those who get the chance to hear her.”

When it came to the recording process, Relli and Hailey had the opportunity to make the EP in a way that was very unique to Nashville. “We sat in a studio by ourselves for almost six weeks and came up with parts, and played most of it ourselves, ” Relli said. “A lot of the arrangements were already there, and some of the parts were derived from Hailey’s live band show.” Once Relli and Hailey had exhausted all of their musical resources (Steele on acoustics, piano, and background vocals, Relli on acoustics, electrics, piano and drum programming), they called in some of their favorite musicians, including Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin), Adam Ollendorff (Kacey Musgraves), Shaun Balin, Jon Rogerson, and Matt Butler (Sheryl Crow).

Steele says that this EP will give listeners the perfect idea of who she is, because if you know her songs, you know her. “I couldn’t be any happier with how this EP turned out. Every single note on this thing speaks for who I am as an artist. Now I’m ready to get out there and share it with the world.”

Along with the release of her debut EP, Steele will be on tour this fall with singer/songwriter Stephen Kellogg. In 2013, she became the youngest member to be inducted into the South Dakota Country Hall of Fame.