It may seem hard to believe but it’s a whole decade since Danielle Bradbery won season four of The Voice, aged just 16 years old.
Since then she’s released three albums, collaborated with the likes of Parker McCollum, Thomas Rhett and Jordan Davis, and performed all over the world – most recently as part of Introducing Nashville back in 2019 for Country Music Week. More recently she’s been working on a new approach to her sound, including the sassy ‘Stop Draggin’ Your Boots’ and ‘Special Place’ – co-written by Maren Morris and also the name of her recent US headline tour.
I recently caught up with Danielle to talk about her track ‘Monster’, how she’d found life on the road, working with BRELAND on the reworked version of ‘Happy Song’ and more – including her plans for coming back to the UK…
It’s been two years since you last spoke to us – what’s been happening for you since then?
Yeah, a lot of good things have been happening. I’ve released some new music, working on a lot of new music right now. I’ve been touring. I did my first headline tour, which was super fun. And we keep talking about it, but I’m crossing my fingers to continue it over there. I want to see you guys so bad, I want to go back. But yeah, a lot of good stuff, new music, touring. So it’s been good.
Speaking of the new music, the latest single that you’ve just put out is ‘Monster’. So tell us a bit more about that…
Yeah, so I just released a song, ‘Monster’, which is really heavily based around anxiety and mental health. And I wrote this from a place I needed in my heart. And when I released it, I was like, “I feel like a lot of people can relate, and I want them to relate, I want them to know that they’re not alone”. And any mental health issue that it is, it could be anything, and that being the monster in the song. So I was really excited to release it and know that it’s out and seeing everyone’s stories and listening to it as it means the world and hopefully it means the world to them. So, yeah, it’s been really good.
How have you found the response from fans has been to that song so far?
It’s been really incredible. You expect only a certain amount of things, because you don’t know how people are gonna react and but seeing, you know, what I’m seeing and hearing and reading, it’s been more than I could have imagined. I want this song to be really impactful for everyone, as it was for me in my heart. And so just reading everyone’s stories and how it’s making them feel, and reading everyone’s stories about their mental health journey, and seeing that we are all in this together. So, yeah.
Obviously it’s a very personal song in terms of the subject matter and things. Is that something that’s quite important to you in terms of talking about that in your music and with your fans?
Yeah, for sure. I think it’s super important. I am constantly preaching about vulnerability, honesty, realness, and all of the above. And posting things on social media that also make my fans and everyone that comes to my page feel connected and feel normal. Like the other day, I posted a picture of all my breakouts. I’m like, “This is real life, guys.” Like, I get the most horrible breakouts, and we all do. And so that was kind of, relating to the song, I just wanted to, release something that was super important to me. And I know it’s really important to everyone else. So yeah.
You’ve mentioned being out on the road and I know this is your first headlining tour – how have you found that?
Yeah, it’s been really great. Turnout like I wouldn’t believe – you know, sold out shows, which is something an artist can only hope for. My fans, they showed up singing every word to every song, which was something that really stuck out to me for my tour. I do shows that they sing the songs back here and there, but when it’s your tour, they sing from top to bottom, every word, which was super cool to experience.
Is there anything that from when you’ve been out on tour with other people that you’ve learned that you’ve applied to your own shows?
Yeah, good hospitality. I feel like being thankful for everybody that’s on the road with you, and whoever is opening for me just to make sure they’re good, they’re squared away, their show’s going good. I’ve been on tours where the main headliner just always checks in which meant a lot to me. That was something that I tried to continue over to my tour. And hopefully the openers have felt welcome and have had a good time themselves. So yeah.
Have there been any songs you’ve particularly enjoyed playing live on this tour?
I actually got to play ‘Monster’ before it even came out. And previous to that, I had posted a clip on my Instagram of the chorus of the song. And by the time I was singing it in my show, I’ve noticed fans already knew the words to the chorus. And I was like, “That is such a cool feeling”, to know they have continuously listened to my Instagram posts just to learn the words. That’s dedication. And that means the world, and so I think ‘Monster’ was probably the top song I was really looking forward to singing for my tour.
You also recently did a version of ‘Happy Song’ with BRELAND – tell us about about how that came about and what it was like to work with him…
Yeah, so I got to record a version of Happy Song and I love BRELAND. He is such a good human being and one of my favourite vocalists in town. And, you know, I loved his whole record. And as soon as they said, “it’ll be coming out as a duet”, I’m like, “Heck, yes, I’m so excited”. He’s been everything. He’s been great. And singing that song with him – I got to sing it at his BRELAND and Friends show at the Opry. And I recently appeared at Stagecoach with him to sing the song as well. So it’s been super fun. And to do it with someone that you just love and you love their voice, it makes it even that much more fun. So I’m really happy – no pun intended. I’m really happy that they asked me to do it.
This is quite a big milestone year for you because it’s 10 years since you won ‘The Voice’ and then five years since ‘I Don’t Believe We’ve Met’. How do you feel your approach to your music and particularly your writing has evolved over that time?
Man, it has been a really big journey so far. But you know, I feel like I evolve every month to a year. I am learning so much all the time. And I’m open to that. I’m open to always learning, I don’t shut it off. That would be very selfish of me to just be close minded about everything at this point. But, no matter how many things I’ve done, and it’s been 10 years, it’s been five years since my last record, I will continuously be learning so much about myself, my music and trying new things and all of the above. So we’re evolving constantly, and I’m just so excited for each step. We’re always working on the next step and what the future holds. So it’s been really fun.
Is there anything still left on the bucket list for you – people you’d want to work with, places you want to perform etc?
Yeah, there definitely is. There’s a bunch of artists that I want to sing with. Man, that list goes on, Places I want to perform… I definitely want to come back there. I feel like there’s still so many things that I want to do over in your home. I can’t say specifically because there’s just so so many things going on up here [laughs]
I know you had quite a few cover songs in the tour and on your Instagram as well – so have you got a favourite song you like to cover, and is there someone you’d want to cover one of your songs at some point?
I do have some favourites. In my tour, I covered ‘Baby’ by Justin Bieber, which was super. It was one of those things where I was like, ‘people no matter who it is are going to sing along to this’. It’s so fun. And I went off of his recent live performance of it, just because he’s older and I’m older, and so we really made it super fun and everyone just had so much fun when that song came on. So I think that’s one of my favourites and then, it being Justin Bieber, I mean, I would love to do a duet with him, performances, all all the things. I feel like there’s a lot of a lot of artists.
And recently, actually this was like a check off the bucket list. ‘Special Place’ was covered by Kelly Clarkson. And so that was really, really cool. And I had no idea that was happening. I even messaged my team and was like, “Y’all are you sure y’all had nothing to do with this?” And they’re like, “Oh, she picks the songs that she wants to sing”. So that was that was a bucket list that was definitely ticked off.
What’s the rest of the year looking like for you? I know you’ve had some tour dates with Jordan Davis as well, so is touring your main focus at the moment?
It’s definitely going to be one of the main focuses. We are in and out of the studio recording new music, which has been a big focus, just to hopefully get an album out. So an album, touring. And so a lot of a lot of good and exciting things.
Is it definitely going to be an album? Or maybe an EP, or something else?
We are definitely having conversations about hopefully an album so we’re striving for that. And we’re saying album out loud in hopes that it is that’s what it’s going to be so we’re definitely working towards it.
And lastly – I know you’ve mentioned this already, but have you got plans to come back to the UK soon?
I would absolutely love to. We are definitely talking about it on our end. There’s no specific date yet. But hey, as soon as they tell me we are on our way.
