Raised in Huntington Beach, California, Faith Hopkins may have grown up closer to surfboards than steel guitars, but country music has always been her true north. Drawn to the genre’s storytelling and emotional honesty, she followed that pull all the way to Nashville, where a formative trip with her mother inspired her to attend Belmont University and pursue songwriting full-time. Influenced by artists like Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves and Sabrina Carpenter, Hopkins blends pop-infused melodies with country lyricism, crafting songs that feel both soulful and grounded. Now signed to Dallas Davidson’s Play It Again Music, she’s quickly establishing herself as one of Nashville’s most promising new voices.
Her debut EP, ‘Love and Insanity,' (our review here) marks a striking arrival — a six-song exploration of love, heartbreak and self-discovery told through sharp lyrics and a voice that’s both delicate and commanding. From the introspective title track to the fiery closer ‘Let Him Have It,' Hopkins proves her range as both a writer and performer, pairing California cool with Nashville storytelling. Honest, melodic and deeply human, ‘Love and Insanity' is the sound of an artist finding her footing and stepping boldly into her own lane. We caught up Faith recently to talk all about it.
Lovely to talk to you today, Faith, congratulations on the EP release!
Likewise and thank you very much, I feel like it's been a long time coming but I'm so excited!
I know you did a show at Whiskey Jam the night before the EP release…
I am celebrated out! (laughing) The show was so fun and we all had such a great time. My family was in town for it so that was really fun. They flew in from California for 48 hours and that was so great to have them involved.
You grew up in California in Huntingdon Beach, surrounded by surf and sunshine. That's not exactly a Country music stronghold so what first drew you to that style of music?
I grew up in a Christian household so I grew up listening to Christian and Country music – basically, anything clean! (laughing) I loved Tim McGraw and Faith Hill – her song ‘Fireflies' was the song that I would go to sleep listening to each night!
In high school I was in the Academy of Performing Arts which they called APA and I was known as the ‘Country singer' in the group because that was all I knew! I loved the storytelling and how grounded the music was. Women in Country music are my inspirations because they are so easy to look up to.
I can hear influences on the EP from Trisha Yearwood and Faith Hill all the way through to Kacey, Taylor and Megan Moroney.
That's very kind of you to say. That was the goal, they are all my girls! (laughing)
Was there any one female inspiration above all the others that you admire?
I love Sabrina Carpenter right now. She has inspired me a lot. I love her bravery because I'm not like her – I love her wit but I'm not as dirty as she is! (laughing) I respect it – girl you do you! I look up to her and what she's doing which has inspired me a lot to be a bit more outspoken and fearless in what I want to say.
Kacey Musgraves, Kelsea Ballerini – those girls kinda do the same thing I just think Sabrina took it ten steps further!
‘Get Away With Murder' is a little Sabrina-adjacent, maybe?
Yeah! I think so too. That song was definitely inspired a lot by ‘Short n Sweet.' That was the goal. My mindset in my music was to reflect the good upbringing that I had and the joy that I have in my life – I love sad songs and particularly an artist like Sahsa Sloan, she's another artist I look up to – but for me, as an artist, I want to write music that leaves people feeling really good, with an occasional sad song or two thrown in along the way!
It was a trip to Nashville with your mom that made you fall in love with the city and the music even more. What do you remember about that trip and how it shaped your decision to pursue this career?
I have three brothers. The eldest went to San Diego State and I really wanted to go there. I didn't get into anywhere in California! My ACT scores would not allow me to get in anywhere in California despite me taking every single practice test there was – it must have been a God thing.
My college councillor was like, ‘Have you heard of Belmont in Nashville? You sing, right?' We looked into it and my mom was, like, ‘It'll be a girls trip and we'll have so much fun!' We were at the Listening Room one night with some VIP tickets that the concierge at the Omni had somehow managed to give us and we were sitting next to Dan + Shay and Carly Pearce and it was such a cool night.
Seth Ennis was playing that night and he played a song called ‘Call Your Mama' and I was sobbing and telling my mom ‘I'm coming here!' (Laughing) I didn't know how to tell stories in songs like all these wonderful writers but I knew that I wanted to learn how to do it!
What's it like now, in 2025, being an aspiring songwriter and performer in Nashville trying to establish themselves? Is it hard to cut through all the noise that there is in town?
You know what? I'd say yes and no. Nashville is a particularly welcoming city, everyone is so kind here. I've had a really great experience here and I think if you are genuine and a good person here people are willing to help you and give you their time and advice. I feel like I am blessed to call this town my home.
‘Love and Insanity' is a very personal collection of songs. What do they represent to you at this stage of your career right now?
Oh my gosh. I think they represent a fresh start. I've written and released songs before but this collection feels like it's really me and who I want to be. I'm so excited by seeing my personality all over these songs. Some of them aren't about me, they are stories I've heard from other people and then some of them are about me – it's all my personality and a good representation of who I am.
It can be easy to get overwhelmed by how difficult it is to navigate who you are and what you want to say and this EP is a really good start for me.
There are so many zingers and sharp lines across the EP. I absolutely love ‘I was an open book and you were illiterate.' I also love ‘When he comes home tonight, the door ain't all that's off the hinges.' Even something simple like ‘You break it, you buy it' is super impactful. Have you got a favourite line, bridge, chorus that you wrote that you really love?
First of all, thank you for saying that and listening to the songs. Honest to god, ‘Dodged a Bullet' has been my favourite song for a while now. It was ‘Open Book' but that's been out for a minute. ‘If I dodged a bullet, why is there a hole in my heart.' I love that line. The hook of that song is so good – it can be a song about friendship too – we wrote it about a boy but I've experienced that same emotions with friends.
You can interpret a lot of the songs in the way that you want to and that's one of the things that I love about music in general.
I love ‘You Break it, You Buy It' too. We're gonna do an alternate version of that song that will be a little more stripped down and heartfelt. I think one has some great energy in it but a re-imagined version could be really cool to put out there and see if people react to it.
When you write a song are you melody driven? Do the lyrics come first? Do you start with a title?
It kinda depends on the song but, for me, mainly, it's usually title or idea. I often work off a title and go from there. The group of friends I've been working with are fantastic at supporting me on that and the songs have been coming really easily.
When you moved to Nashville to go to Belmont did you have to learn how to co-write because I can imagine it wasn't something you necessarily did before hand?
Yes! I went to Belmont and I probably didn't start co-writing till I was a sophomore. I spent my freshman year writing by myself. It was really cool but also really scary to have to open up to somebody else in that way! I had to adjust to it at first but it's now second nature to me to the point where I wake up, look at my calendar and see it's a writing day and think, ‘Well, what can we talk about today!' (laughing)
I'm always fascinated as to why one of the streaming platforms haven't made a teen drama set at Belmont University because it must be quite an unusual place full of creatives and emotions! Is it competitive when you are there or are most people supportive and encouraging?
I think there is both. I was reflecting on this just the other day, actually. I was at school with Dasha and she was a friend of mine – she's killing it right now and I'm super proud of her in an absolutely non-competitive way.
When you're in college you are younger and you are figuring out who you are, it's a very pivotal time in anyone's life. You need to give grace to that age because lots of people are very insecure when they are younger and I think when people aren't supportive it's a reflection of that insecurity and a little jealousy sometimes. I was jealous of some people's confidence and skill level and then I realised it was my own insecurities at play and nothing really to do with them – it wasn't meanness it was people figuring out how to be an adult.
For the most part it was super fun – house parties night after night going to listen to other people's music! Everyone was experimenting with who they were going to become and it was such a fun time, I wouldn't change it for the world. It's not your basic college experience I can tell you! (laughing)
If you could sit down and with anyone that you haven't worked with yet to write the first song for your next project, who would you choose and why?
Oh my gosh, what a question. I mean, Sasha Sloan is the first person that comes to mind. With her, I love how intentional every lyric is and just her passion. I've admired her for a long time now – we're trying to figure out a write with her right now so that should be really exciting to do!
Now that ‘Love and Insanity' is out in the world – have you started work on your next project? How many other songs have you got tucked away? Is your phone full of titles that are waiting to be written? What does the next year look like for you?
I have a good amount that I am pretty excited about. I'm not sure if we are going to do another EP or just roll out some singles for a while…… but I definitely have a theme for an album and I love the direction that my new sound is going in. It's similar to where ‘Love and Insanity' was and is, still, obviously me but it's there a little more fun than some of the sad girl songs on ‘Love and Insanity.'
Is your ultimate goal record deals and big tours? Is it writing for other artists? Is it being able to write and release music whenever you feel like it? Where do you see yourself in the short and medium term next few years?
I think that I want to keep creating music that I am proud. I want it to be authentically me and to stay true to myself. I would love to write for other artists – up to now I've just been focused on getting songs for me that I'm excited about but when the time comes, I'd love to write for other people.
I'd love to play more shows and open up for more and more artists in the short term. I've been in writing land for a long time now and it's been awesome but I'm excited to start getting out there in front of people and start playing for them out on tour and creating a fan base.
Check out Faith Hopkins' fabulous EP ‘Love and Insanity' – out now in all the usual places.
