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.
Last year she released her ‘Like You’ve Never Been Loved’ EP which was a fun slice of traditional, 90s and 00s leaning Country. In case you missed it we spoke to her about that EP right here. Well, now she’s back with new EP ‘County Line’ and a fiery, fierce female-first attitude that runs through the songs on this EP like lettering through a stick of rock. If you missed our review of ‘County Line’ you can catch up right now at the link here. We were thrilled to talk to her all about it.
Thank you for your time today, Becca, it’s great to catch up with you again. We last spoke around the release of ‘Like You’ve Never Been Loved.’ Were you pleased with the reception and performance of that project?
Oh God, absolutely! It really helped to establish me as an artist and helped me to get more in tune with my fan base. After achieving that I realised I needed to be a lot more vulnerable and share more of myself with my fans, which is hard to do.
I’ve tried to do that a lot more on ‘County Line,’ be a lot more vulnerable and share my own personal stories. I’m so happy with the way this new project has turned out. It’s me back to my roots with a very strong Country element to it. There’s a little Blues in there too, which for a girl raised on Gospel music makes me feel very happy.
What struck me straight away on first listen to ‘County Line’ is that it’s a really fierce, fiesty and empowered set of songs. Was that your mission statement when you set out to create this project?
Absolutely. When I started writing the songs that would eventually make up this EP I think I was still growing as a person and a writer. Once I went back and listened to the songs as a whole I was surprised at just how far I had come – you can literally hear me growing as a person right from ‘Son of a Gun’ onwards. That idea that I don’t need anyone else to make me happy, that I can find happiness within myself was the overwhelming theme.
Do you feel like you are leaving your ‘Country Barbie’ persona behind now a little bit with ‘County Line’?
I think I’ve stripped away a lot of the glamour that is wrapped up around the persona of ‘Country Barbie.’ The truth is, this is the person I’ve always been. I’ve always been a down-home, country girl who liked to also dress in rhinestones sometimes. I acquired the ‘Country Barbie’ nickname but it sometimes gave people the wrong impression of who I actually am.
I do like the fact that you can be anything you want to be in music these days. I can wear rhinestones if I want. I can get all dressed up but I can also go hunting in the woods and just be a stripped down version of myself in camo and no make up if I want too. This project is more of a stripped down version of me, the real me.
‘Son of a Gun’ was inspired by a really awkward and vulnerable situation – which shows exactly how being vulnerable can create something powerful.
It definitely was! I happened to be singing the national anthem at a big event in South Carolina and I was dating this guy at the time. Low and behold he showed up in the audience with another woman! I could not believe it. I sing and travel so much that he hadn’t realised that was where I was going to be that day! Our eyes locked and you could see the fear in his face.
I was so furious but I managed to get through singing the anthem. The nerve of the man, right? I thought about making a scene then and there but I decided to go home and not even think about it. I texted him and we were done and that’s where ‘Son of a Gun’ came from! If that had never happened………that moment changed my career because it gave me the strength to be more vulnerable in my writing . Things went from there and also bled into ‘If I’m Being Honest’ as well, which was the flip side of the story. That was me after, going out on Broadway, getting drunk and having a whole bunch of fun with my girl friends! I’ve had a terrific reaction to that song online, possibly more than any other song I’ve ever released.
You’ve been teasing online that the video to ‘If I’m Being Honest’ is going to be quite steamy! Tell me more!
It is! I usually don’t show that side of me either! I thought it would be cool to see me really move on from a toxic relationship. I wanted to show all the different sides of how women move on after a break up – the baths, the crying, the drinking, the sad movies and all those different aspects. One of those aspects is meeting the next guy or just even meeting a guy, right? Making out with a stranger in a bar is all part of it sometimes! (laughing) A scorned woman is not someone you want to mess with so this video is all about me having fun in that post-relationship stage. It’ll make some people laugh, honestly.
‘Lie to Me’ is the bluesy song I think you mentioned earlier. That song has got a Broadway (New York) showtune feel to it to me. I could hear it in Chicago or another similar show.
Oh wow. Thank you. That is such a big compliment, for sure. I actually grew up in New York and was in a few Broadway musicals so it does have that kind of theatrical sound to it. It’s another vulnerable song with a powerhouse vocal. I was sitting around thinking that when you finally get through the break up you wanna go out and have some fun. Reality can start to sink in at that point and the crash comes – you have to face the truth and you don’t want to hear about him moving on or being happy with someone else – I would rather someone just lie to me about it and not tell me the truth. That was where this song came from – just tell me what I want to hear!
I get a Jennifer Nettles-esque vibe from your vocals on that song. Was she an influence on you as a singer?
Oh my gosh! I am a huge Sugarland fan so that is an amazing comparison, thank you for that. There’s a vulnerability to that song that really brings out the power in the vocals.
I also get a real 90s Trisha Yearwood vibe from the delightful ‘Onto the Next Ride’ which I think could be my favourite song on the EP.
Thank you. We were hesitant about adding that song onto the EP. That one is an extremely personal and vulnerable song for me. I had a family friend come to me and ask me to write a song for one of her friends who had passed away in a tragic hunting accident. She wanted me to write a song about her life. I’d met her one time and she’d told me that if you wanted to get through anything you just needed to get back up on that horse and ride.
I’d always remembered that and so was honoured to write a song about her and her strength. To honour someone’s legacy……….what’s more powerful than that? We added it to the EP because we thought a lot of people would relate to it – that idea of strength and fighting on, resilience and dusting yourself down. We all need that at some times, right? It fits great right at the end of the EP.
All six songs work really well together on this EP to create an over-arching narrative and theme whilst all doing their own individual little things.
I appreciate you saying that. I like to release a song every January with a little meaning behind it but it’s very cool this year to be able to release a full EP. Once you hear the entire EP you can understand what I’m trying to say – it’s like there’s a hidden message running through the entire collection. ‘Onto the Next Ride,’ which is the closing song on the EP, also brings this chapter of my life to a close. I’m excited to see what the future holds and what is coming next, though!
Do you have a favourite song on the EP? Maybe it’s the one you like to sing the most or the one you are most proud of writing?
I would say it’s ‘Baby, Lie to Me.’ People seem to be loving the power and meaning behind that song when we play it live. I’ve lived that song! (laughing) I don’t wanna know what he’s up to, right? I poured my heart out into that song.
What’s the plan for the rest of the year in terms of getting this music to as many people as you can?
We’re just starting to plan a tour now. I’d love to come over to the UK and play some shows. There’s one more song I left off the EP that I wanted to release in its own right a little later down the line – it’s soooooo good! So spunky, sassy and ‘country-girl’ which will surprise a lot of people so we are going to release that one next. It’s a very Miranda Lambert-esque, ‘Kerosene’ type song which will provoke some conversations, which I always think is a good thing to do with music that you put out.
Everybody is just so amazingly talented these days. Singers, writers – you know? I think it’s important to also add something else in your music to provoke conversations and to make you a little different from everybody else out there on social media.
Check out Becca Bowen’s ‘County Line’ EP in all the usual places. It’s out now.
