After a decade long journey marked by resilience and artistic exploration, Annie Bosko is making a triumphant return home. This time, it’s not just a physical return; it’s a return to the heart of country music.
Bosko has found her way back to the record deal she always dreamed of and to the essence of simple country songs that resonate with healing and hope. Her new five-track EP, released last month, is awash with unapologetic twang, clever wordplay, and profound compassion. In a departure from trends and a return to her roots, she declares, “I’m done being afraid to show my country roots. And I’m doing it with a modern twist.”
The EP features Bosko’s first single with Stone Country Records, the sultry ‘Neon Baby,’ which debuted as the third most-added song at country radio. Other tracks include the tongue-in-cheek ‘He Gone,’ co-written by Lainey Wilson, Terri Jo Box, and Trent Tomlinson. The collection also includes reflective moments in songs like the very Trisha Yearwood sounding ‘Sometimes I Forget.’ We were thrilled to catch up with her to talk all about it.
Thank you for your time today, Annie, it’s great to catch up with the person behind what will undoubtedly be seen as one of the strongest Country music EPs of the year!
Thank you too, it’s lovely to talk to you all about it too!
Have you been pleased with the reception to the EP?
The coolest feedback I’m receiving is that feeling that this is something that the format really needs. People seem to be excited about hearing something that sounds and feels like traditional Country music. I was very intentional about wanting the EP to sound ‘Country’ and not shying away from exploring my influences.
Let’s pick up on your influences, then. Who were those people and artists?
I’m a product of my environment and my dad was a farmer so we would drive around in his truck listening to Country music. The first thing her ever played me was Patsy Cline. He really loved the classics, everything from George Strait to Merle Haggard. That was a huge influence on me and then I’m a 90s baby too, so I loved everything from Shania to Tim McGraw to Deana Carter and Garth Brooks.
You grew up in Cailfornia, right?
Yeah, I didn’t move to Nashville until I was 19 years old.
California is not somewhere you automatically associate with Country music. I know there’s the Bakersfield Sound and more modern artists like Jon Pardi but where did your parents get their love of Country from?
My dad’s parents were immigrants. No-one was more proud to be an American than my grandpa. When you come to this country you understand the different freedoms and privileges that you have – his family was from a remote village in Croatia. He had me sing ‘God Bless America’ at his funeral, right? He was so proud and he loved American culture which influenced my dad and he was the one who grew up loving Country music.
At what point in your life did you realise that you wanted to sing for a living?
I think, really, singing has always been part of who I am. My mom said that I was singing in the crib when I was a baby! (laughing) When I was five years old I sang ‘Over the Rainbow’ at my great grandma’s funeral and mom said that the audience were all in tears. That was kinda when I realised that I can sing in front of people and create an emotional reaction.
In my teens I sang at football shows, events and family things and I guess I knew that I had the ability to impact people with my voice at that point. I think making a career out of it was a different beast than just loving to do it. I sang in bands, I wrote songs and I composed jingles for local composers as I grew up which all contributed to me wanting to be a professional.
If I could take you back in time a decade to visit the Annie Bosko who recorded ‘Crooked Halo’ in 2014 and let you give her some advice, what would you say to her?
I would tell her to stop caring about what people think! (laughing) I think that the thing that held me back the most, and it still does sometimes, is that idea about being so concerned with what people are thinking when in actuality no-one is thinking about you at all!
Once I started self-releasing music after ‘Crooked Halo’ it changed things for me and led to other opportunities.
Is that the reason there is a six year gap on Spotify between ‘Crooked Halo’ and your beautiful cover of ‘Desperado’?
Thank you! There were other songs out but we took some down. Once I signed my current record deal we had a new sound and a new vision and some of those other songs weren’t quite right for the new version of me. I still play ‘Crooked Halo’ once in a while.
There are songs that are going to go on this project that I wrote 8 or 10 years ago! You look at Chris Stapleton who is putting out songs on new projects that he wrote 12 years ago………the nice thing about having written so many songs in Nashville over a long period of time is that you have a deep well with which to draw from.
When you moved to Nashville did you suffer from any imposter syndrome because everyone there is so talented or did you take to it like a duck to water?
Oh my god! I just had the stars in my eyes! (laughing) I thought I was going to hit it and be like, ‘Let’s Go!’ every single day. I was so excited and went out every night, went to writer’s rounds every night and sent out demo after demo. I met anyone that would meet me!
There was a part of me that was nervous, for sure, but I was blissfully naive which is different to where I am in life now. I sometimes get more scared now than I did back then. I was so fearless when I first moved here but that was because I didn’t know what I was doing! (laughing)
You released the beautiful song ‘Dandelions’ last year which had a big impact and emotional resonance in the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting in Green Hills. What were your inspirations behind that song?
A year prior to us writing the song my cousin passed away at only 19 years old. I watched how it broke my aunt and uncle’s hearts and impacted the whole family in such a huge way. Losing a child…….you’re not supposed to outlive your children, right? That’s when the idea began to take seed. Then I spent time with a friend who had stage four cancer and had come to Nashville as part of her bucket list. We went to the Bluebird for a private show, she flew on a private plane, which was part of her bucket list too. She was living so fearlessly and being in her presence was such a gift – watching someone with no inhibitions and no fear living knowing that she didn’t have much time left.
I had a writing session set up with Danny Myrick and I told him about the one year anniversary of my cousin’s passing and we ended up writing a different song until we saw the breaking news about the school shooting on TV and we were paralysed. I had friends with kids at that school and to see the community rocked like that………it inspired us to write the song we had started about my cousin a year ago.
As a singer it’s an emotional song to sing. I’ve had to sing it at funerals and you have to kind of try to tune out your emotions in that moment. I ended up singing ‘Dandelions’ at the home of the Scruggs family whose daughter, Hallie, was one of the three children who were killed that day. It was so emotional……the night of her funeral……and I saw them pulling everything together and having resilience and when you see a family showing such strength in such desperate circumstances, then you have to hold everything together as well. Music is a gift to be shared that can also heal, which is really the best thing about it and the power it can have.
You’ve already hinted that the new EP is part of a bigger body of work with more songs coming down the line.
For sure. There will be a full album coming out later in the year.
You’ve been leading the promo for the EP with ‘Neon Baby.’ I saw a video of you singing the song recently on the Jimmy Kimmel show. What was that experience like?
(laughing) You know, I wish I wasn’t so nervous! I couldn’t sleep the night before and looking back I should have just treated it like another show but that’s easier said than done when it’s your first live TV show performance. It’s completely live, you can’t fix anything after, you know? The band was part Nashville and part L.A. so we didn’t leave the rehearsal until about midnight the night before – the show is recorded in the morning – and I probably should have been in bed but you learn these things and I know what I’ll do differently the next time.
It was such a cool thing to do. Their team was amazing. The production was amazing. It was an incredible experience.
The video to ‘Neon Baby’ looks like it was a lot of fun to film. Do you like being infront of the cameras or is that something you have to force yourself to do?
I like it, I’m not gonna lie! (laughing) There are some people who are, like, ‘I just wanna write songs in a room all day,’ but I like it. I grew up in the 90s mesmerised by the Shania Twain videos, right? Her and Faith Hill made great videos – to me, creativity comes in all forms and facets and videos are all part of the package for a music artist.
I even make some of my own outfits. The outfit I wore at my recent show at the Troubadour in L.A. I made with a seamstress from a men’s three piece suit! I like the whole create package of being an artist, from the writing to the recording to the videos to the clothes – I like it all.
My favourite track on the EP is ‘Boots On.’ I love that transition from the verse to the chorus and the big gang vocals. Have you got a favourite song on there or is that like asking someone to choose between their kids?
It depends on the day and my mood, it changes. One day it’ll be ‘Honky Tonk Highway’ and another day it’ll be ‘Neon Baby.’ If I want to go out and party, it’ll be ‘Boots On’ but if I’m waking up in the morning and I need a message to get me through the day my favourite will be ‘Sometimes I Forget.’
There’s a song for every mood you might have on there. ‘He Gone’ will get you through the break up, ‘Neon Baby’ will set the tone for a night in with some wine and candles, right?
How did ‘He Gone’ come your way because, obviously, it’s a Lainey Wilson co-write.
I’ve historically written all my own songs but some of my favourite artists, like Garth Brooks, didn’t write all of their own songs. Look at ‘The House That Built Me’, look at ‘Til You Can’t’, right? Some of these iconic songs weren’t written by the artist that recorded them even though that particular artist, be it Miranda Lambert or Cody Johnson, is a fantastic songwriter in their own right.
For me, it was important on this project to see what else was out there. ‘He Gone’ was one of those and so was ‘Sometimes I Forget.’ I felt like they rounded things out and gave us a flavour that wasn’t currently in the recipe!
We’ve been big fans of Hannah Dasher for a few years now and I noted that she was one of the writers on ‘Sometimes I Forget.’
She said to me that she had forgotten about that song and that it had been sitting around for ten years! People could stop writing in Nashville, right now, and there would be enough songs to serve artists for years and years to come! (laughing)
All that’s missing from this EP, so I guess there might be one coming down the line later, is a big, old-fashioned Country duet!
Oh we got some of those coming, for sure! I’ve got duets with Vince Gill and Dwight Yoakam coming out later this year. We wanted to get these current songs out and get a sense of what defines me as an artist first before introducing these feature songs a little later in the process.
How do you go about securing the services of Vince Gill?
It’s a great story. I was at something of a low point here in Nashville. I had had three record deals fall through and it felt like everything I was doing just wasn’t working. I had to move home for a while and then the pandemic hit and I decided to stay there in California where I could ride horses and get outside in the open air and also not be alone. I had been away from my family for a lot of years too. I figured I would go back to Nashville after the pandemic when I had a gig.
The first gig that I had which brought me back to Nashville saw me bump into Vince Gill and he asked me what I was working on. I told him I was making an album – I was but it was all conceptual in my head! I wasn’t in the studio yet. He said he wanted to sing and play on it and I went, ‘Oh shit, I really do have to go and make an album now!’ (laughing) He is so great, such a talented musician and warm human being.
We can’t wait to see where this next part of your career takes you. Hopefully it will include a visit to Europe at some point too.
I hope so too! What’s interesting is that my streaming numbers on Apple Music are really strong in places like the Netherlands and Ireland – it seems like there’s a fair few fans over the Atlantic who are enjoying the EP right now so I would love to come across and play for them at some point soon.
Check out Annie Bosko’s fabulous new, self-titled EP right now in all the usual places.
