It’s been a busy week for back-to-back CCMA Female Artist of the Year and 18x CMA Ontario award-winning country artist Meghan Patrick. She made her Opry debut on Tuesday night and has released the title track to her forthcoming EP ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ today (Friday April 14th). We were thrilled to catch up with her to talk all about it.
Lovely to talk to you today, Meghan, thanks for your time. How was the Opry debut last night? Were you nervous at all? You must be shattered?
It was weird! I feel like I was more nervous about it in the weeks and days leading up to it than on the night itself. I was definitely a little bit anxious but I felt some peace yesterday as the day progressed. I did get a little anxious when myself and my husband (fellow Country artist Mitchell Tenpenny) were driving over. There was a lot of traffic and I was, like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re not gonna make it!’ (laughing) God bless him because he stayed calm whilst I was freaking out a little.
Mitchell was a calming influence, which was great. Having him there was really special too. My girl Lainey Wilson was there too. She was backstage with me, as was my friend, Kacey and some of my family too. I was surrounded by people that love me and believe in me, which was very special.
Which two songs did you play and was that a tough decision to choose?
That was, honestly, one of the hardest parts about this whole process, which two songs to play. We knew, for sure, that we wanted to do the new song, ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ (out today – April 14th) because that is going to be the title track of my EP, which is coming out May 5th.
I went back and forth on the second song a lot. We settled on playing ‘Red Roses and Red Flags’. It’s one of my all-time favourite songs to play live. I was trying to get a standing ovation, right? So I wanted to give them the performance of a lifetime! (laughing) We did get that standing ovation too! (laughing)
You’ve released two great songs already this year in ‘She’s No Good for Me’ and ‘Ours’ with ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt’ to come this Friday. With the new EP on the way, how would you say you’ve grown and evolved as an artist since ‘Grace and Grit’ back in 2016?
Oh man, a lot! (laughing) A lot has changed since ‘Grace and Grit’. ‘She’s No Good For Me’ is a great song for me to start this next chapter of my life and career. There’s been a natural progression and growth over the last few years but especially in the last two years I think. The last 2-3 years were really challenging for me, as they were for lots of people. Covid took us off the road and the shows were gone, there were a lot of changes in my team and at my label in Canada too and then I ended up at a place were I was stuck and not able to release music for a long time as well.
All those factors left me frustrated. I felt like I wasn’t being seen, heard or understood. Warner and I decided to part ways, amicably, which I was very thankful for. We both realised that that relationship had run its course so that was definitely the catalyst for me feeling more empowered and able to move forward in a way that I wanted to be in control of.
That situation left me feeling so angry and so frustrated that I kinda stopped caring about what everyone else thought and I started writing songs in the way that I just wanted to without thinking about anyone else. I also went through a lot of self reflection too: about who I wanted to be as an artist and as a person, and that’s where ‘She’s No Good For Me’ came from. I recognised that there was a version of me that was probably really fun (laughing) but I’d got to a place where being that person wasn’t really good for me anymore. That’s why I wanted to release that song first because it’s a great way to start the new chapter.
Was it hard to hold a mirror up to yourself in that way?
Yes, at first, it was hard but by the time I’d written the song I felt like I was, somewhat, on the other side of the process. It’s sometimes easier being on the outside looking in after the thing has happened, right? When I’m writing songs, sometimes the best time to write about something is when it’s actually happening right now and you are living in it and then sometimes it’s better to write about something when you have gotten past it and you can be a little more objective about what it is you are writing about. That way, you are not so caught up in the emotions of what’s happening. That’s how it was with ‘She’s No Good For Me’.
What can we expect from ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt’ EP on May 5th?
I think it’s a great representation of where I am and where I am going, musically. I also feel like that it’s just kinda the tip of the iceberg as to what I have coming this year! (laughing) I have so much music that I am really proud of and am really excited to get out into the world coming this year! This EP is just the beginning.
I love the songs on this EP and I love the production of it. My producer, Joey Hyde, also did the ‘Heart on my Glass’ record with me and we also brought in my friend Aaron Eshuis on this record too and it was like the perfect mix. I wanted the record to be raw, with no bells and whistles. We talked about wanting it to sound like a great band just went into the studio and played the songs in one go. I didn’t want my vocals tuned or shined up so that the people listening can hear that grit in my voice that you hear when you hear me sing live. We really tried to find a way to channel what my live shows are like.
‘Ours’ feels like a great song to play live, with the chugging guitars. When you write a song do you have half a mind on the live shows or does the song just always come out as it needs to be?
I’m definitely always thinking about how any song would sound live because performing is the thing that I love to do the most. It will depend on what kind of song it is, especially with the more uptempo ones, I’m definitely always thinking how they will sound live.
It definitely feels like something of a re-birth for you this year. You’ve come out of the blocks all guns blazing.
That’s how we wanted to do it! I have felt very stuck and held back these past couple of years so I’m so pleased to finally have the team and the people around me that I have been looking for and that I needed. They have the courage to be able to do this with me – it takes courage to be yourself and it takes courage to forge your own path when other people have different ideas based on what other artists have done, you know?
I don’t care what anyone else did – I’m now doing what I want to do. My manager, Randy, is truly incredible and I feel like I can do anything with her in my corner.
Touching on courage, then. Does it take courage being a Canadian trying to break into the Nashville Country music scene too?
I definitely noticed when I moved to Nashville that there was a weird stigma about Canadian artists yet if you look, historically, some of the biggest Country artists of all time were Canadian. People like Shania Twain and Terri Clark for a start. These are women I really look up to because the beat the odds and made careers for themselves in Canada and in the States as well. It is a challenge and it is harder for Canadians than it is other North American artists but I decided that I just didn’t care! (laughing)
I decided to just figure it out and that I’m gonna make them like me, come what may! (laughing) I’ve been living in Nashville now for 6 years and was coming to town pretty regularly before that too. Last night, at the Opry, showed me that I have a community here now – it meant so much to me and showed me that there are people here who care about me and support the music I am trying to make.
Do you have a favourite collaborator or writer in town that you’d choose to write your next song with?
Oh man, that’s a tough question because I have a number of ‘go-to’ people that I love to write with. I love writing with my producers, Joey Hyde and Aaron Eshuis. I love writing with my friend, Trannie Anderson, who is a co-writer on both ‘She’s No Good For Me’ and ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt’ – I’ve actually got a write with her at the end of this week which I am really excited about.
I need to give a shout to to my friends Jordan Rager and Michael Whitworth who helped make ‘Wild As Me’ a gold record which we were presented with at the Opry. They are like brothers to me, they were literally ‘bridesmen’ at my wedding last year. It’s extra special writing with the people that you love too.
As far as the rest of the year goes , you have new music coming. Could we expect you to be thinking about coming over to the UK and playing some shows too. Mitchell seemed to enjoy C2C this year, how about you come over next year?
I would love to come over. I’ve been wanting to come to the UK for years now – there was some talk about it back in 2020 but then the pandemic happened. Mitchell spent a month in Europe recently and he is so excited for me to see what he saw. He thought it was amazing. I’m just sat here waiting on somebody to book me! (laughing) Give me the opportunity and I’ll be there!
Meghan Patrick’s new song ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ is out now and her EP of the same name is coming on May 5th
