Destiny seems to have always steered Becca Bowen towards the bright lights of Nashville. A childhood of pageants and talent shows led to appearing in musicals in New York and in later years Becca won competitions like ‘Miss Bikini Fitness USA’ and the reality TV show ‘For Love or Likes’ on the Outdoor Channel. ‘Like You’ve Never Been Loved’ is Becca’s debut album and it’s clear from the outset that she is a talented vocalist with a rich powerful voice who is capable of writing and singing emotional Country music across both the traditional and slightly more commercial spectrum of the genre.
‘Like You’ve Never Been Loved’ is an engaging and rewarding listen. From the killer melodies of ‘Bad Enough’ to the intriguing, atmospheric drama of ‘Gunshots or Fireworks’, the album fizzles with energy, emotion and the kind of honest truth that Country music is famous for. The Bluesy Lee Brice co-write ‘Boy’ will make you want to slow dance with your loved one, ‘Home’ will bring you all the feels and ‘How It All Went Down’, the big duet with ‘American Idol’ alumni Issac Cole, is as good as, if not better than anything Jason and Carrie could throw together. We were thrilled to talk to Becca all about it.
Hi Becca! Lovely to speak to you, thank you for your time today. Is it fair to say with your history you were always destined for a life in the spotlight? Tell us a bit about your fascinating childhood of pageants, talent shows, hunting and fishing!
Thank y’all for speaking to me too, I appreciate it. Sure, I came from a very southern family and so I started singing at church first and then that escalated into pageants and for my talent I would sing. That opened up so many doors.
I then started singing in talent shows and then from there one weekend I would be doing a pageant or a show dressed up in rhinestones and frills and the next I would be out hunting and fishing with my grandfather! (laughing) I have a very diverse background because of the influences in my life. My mom is a southern belle, you know? Her family were country folk so I think I had the best of both worlds!
Then you ended up in New York performing in musicals?
I was always interested in performing and in show business. There was a group in my hometown called The Cultural Council and they worked with the fine arts and raised money for the arts and that opened up a pathway to Broadway. So that led me to New York and I caught that bug there, the stage, the lights, the people, you know? I was eight years old and in a show in New York! (laughing) That really shaped my journey into what I’m doing now, musically.
That lifestyle comes with a lot of knock-backs and rejections. Competitions, musicals, reality TV etc. Has it made you a resilient person? What did you learn about yourself from entering those competitions?
I learned that I have very thick skin! (laughing) ‘For Love or Likes’ on the Outdoor Channel was a real competition between women designed around hunting and outdoor life challenges to see who was doing it for likes on social media and who was actually capable of completing the challenges properly. I ended up winning the show!
Being a country girl in real life and a girly girl up on stage, covered in rhinestones, you do have to have a thick skin because a lot of people don’t really know how to perceive that and can often be unkind. Guys don’t often take you seriously until you have been out in the woods or out on the lake with them and they can see that I am actually as good at these sports as they are, if not better! (laughing)
It’s fun when people get to know the real me and not just see the Instagram ‘Country Barbie’ persona, you know?
Your Instagram persona is ‘Country Barbie’ – do people see that and perceive you to be an airhead character or do people dig deeper and see the real you underneath? A name like that can work both ways in terms of public perceptions.
That was a nickname given to me when I was younger. I didn’t like it at first because I felt that some people didn’t see the real me and made judgments about my intelligence and thought I was all about looks, you know?
After I did the reality show on the Outdoor Channel that name stuck with me. I could not escape that name then but I learned to really love it because I had so many little girls come up to me and say that whilst they loved Barbie dolls they also loved hunting and fishing and I was a role model to them. That was so awesome. It’s hard to be judged by a nickname but I love showing other women that we don’t have to fit into the boxes society puts us in and that we can be whoever we want to be, so now I’ve just embraced the name.
And not content with doing all that you’ve now turned your sights on Nashville – which must be one of the hardest towns in America to make a living in, right? You’re a glutton for punishment!
(laughing) It really is! Until you go to Nashville you really don’t know how hard it is. You walk into a room in Nashville and there’s a hundred people there and every single one of them could be on ‘American Idol’ or ‘The Voice’! Everybody is so talented in that town and there can’t be a competition – you just have to be you and do you and try to make a difference and an impact.
Talking about ‘doing you’, then, let’s talk about the album. What goals did you have for the project when you were setting out to make it and how do you feel now that release day is here?
When I went in to see my producer, Sal Oliveri, he’s a Grammy nominated producer who has worked with so many people, I said that I was ready to make the album that I had been dreaming about for so long. I wanted the album to tell a story. I wanted to tell a story about the things that I had been through and the places where I had found my strength.
The album starts out with me finding love, the difficulties of it, then losing love and then finding the strength that comes after the loss of a relationship. I wanted it to be something that everyone can relate to, those were my goals. I literally found my own healing as I was recording the album too so I hope I can extend that to others in a similar position.
I wanted to be vulnerable and feel the pain that is in some of these songs. If you can’t feel pain, happiness and the emotions that are in this music as the artist it isn’t going to convey across to your audience so I was really vulnerable in the studio and opened myself up to all the feelings.
Have you got a favourite song on the album that you are particularly proud of?
One of the songs that always speaks to me is ‘Home’. That song was co-written with Rachel Bradshaw (songwriter, TV personality and daughter of NFL legend Terry Bradshaw) and it speaks so much to me. I’ve been there and lived the story of that song, for sure! (laughing)
I’m a big fan of ‘How it Went Down’ and particularly your vocals in that song – it feels like a proper, classic Country music duet.
Oh my gosh! When I recorded that song it was just me and I couldn’t work out what was missing with it and then it came to me that it needed to be a duet with the two people talking to each other through it. I’d known Isaac Cole for a few years so I picked up my phone and asked him to do it and he was there the very next week! When he opened his mouth and started to sing in the studio I was, like, wow! He has such wonderful emotion in his voice and a way of drawing you in.
We sing that song together now a lot and I love to see the reaction of the audience when we start to sing it! It’s very classic Country and it’s so good to listen to.
I always love the fierce Pop/Country vibes of ‘Bad Enough’ too. It’s got an insanely catchy chorus.
Thank you! The first time I heard that one, when it was pitched to me, I wondered whether it was a little too Pop but then when I thought about it I realised it would be good to give people a couple of different things to listen to on the album. I love the song so I’m pleased to hear you liking it as well because it’s a little different for me. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of great writers on this album…………
….Speaking of which, Lee Brice has a credit on this album too doesn’t he?
He does! On the track ‘Boy’. It’s such a wonderful love song. It reminds me a little of a Chris Stapleton song in the way that it is structured. It’s classic Country, that one. As soon as I heard that one I knew that I needed to cut it, I was super-excited to receive it and it’s one of my favourites on the album.
‘Gunshots or Fireworks’ is a great song too. Very moody and atmospheric and it deals with a very relatable subject in a very unique way.
When that song came to me, it spoke to me straight away. What a great way to ask whether you are willing to take a chance in a relationship or not. We’ve all been there, that point where you ask yourself, is this guy going to be gunshots or fireworks? It is a very unique way of approaching that issue, that question of whether this is going to be worth your time or if it’s just going to be a relationship that hurts me, right? The writers captured that very visually in the way they told that story and I wanted it to be on the album so much.
The issue that you have with ‘Like You’ve Never Been Loved’ is that there are so many great songs which tell slightly different stories with slightly different sounds, which one do you choose to push out first that will represent you the best? Or are you going to wait and see what the feedback is on social media?
I think we’ll push out ‘Boy’ first and foremost. It sets the mood for the whole album, the point where the girl falls in love with the guy: the story really begins from there. That song sets the tone for the album and it also gives people the impetus to go find out what happens when the relationship starts to fail and the feelings change! (laughing)
What’s the plan for the rest of the year and into 2023? Your daughters are at the perfect age now to enjoy an international trip over to the UK maybe?
I’ve never been to the UK but it has always been a dream of mine to get over there. I would love to get on a plane right now and come over! I’d love to connect with the Country fans in Europe. For release day on November 4th we’ve got a huge billboard going up on the Nashville sign, which is a big deal to me. We’ve got some performances, live streams and interviews too and then we’ll work on putting a tour together for 2023. It’s so exciting and I can’t wait to get right into it all.
Becca Bowen’s ‘Like You’ve Never Been Loved’ album is out today (November 4th) across all sites and platforms.
