Caylee Hammack has never been one to shy away from life’s messy, emotional truths—and with her latest album ‘Bed of Roses,' she dives deeper than ever before. A rising force in country music known for her raw storytelling and magnetic voice, Hammack has steadily built a reputation as one of the genre’s most compelling emerging artists. On ‘Bed of Roses,' she brings a new level of vulnerability and grit, channeling heartbreak, resilience, and hard-won wisdom into 13 tracks that leave nothing unsaid. Guided by producer John Osborne, the album is a masterclass in restraint and intention, with every note carefully placed to let Hammack’s vocals and lyrics shine.
At its core, ‘Bed of Roses' is a bold and unflinching exploration of womanhood, strength, and survival. Hammack doesn’t just sing about pain—she owns it, wrestles with it, and transforms it into something fiercely empowering. From the fiery defiance in her voice to the emotional weight behind each lyric, this album marks a turning point in her evolution as an artist. Whether she’s confronting love’s betrayals or reclaiming her own worth, Hammack’s authenticity cuts through, offering a fearless and intimate portrait of a woman determined to rise. We interviewed Caylee just before the album came out in March and the focus of that interview was the music – you can read it right here – so as we met up with her at the Royal Albert Hall recently we focused on other aspects of this part of Caylee's career.
It's great to have you back in the UK Caylee – how's the jet lag?
I got here a couple of days ago and it is always day three that it hits me but I feel good so far! I think I'm living off the adrenaline of getting to play the Royal Albert Hall!
What does that mean to you to be playing this august, historical venue?
It means the world to me. It's incredible. I got to sing off the microphone earlier at soundcheck it it felt and sounded so good. I would love to sing more here!! The acoustics have such a natural reverb that I turned a lot of the reverb off on my guitar to balance it out. I'm so excited, living off cloud 9.
There's a Ray Charles interview that he does where he talks about how he was about to play Carnegie Hall and a journalist ask him how nervous he was and he said ‘How can I be nervous? I'm too excited.' And that's kinda how I feel right now.
When you play a venue like this as part of a festival or as support for another artist how do you change your set compared to when you headline your own shows?
Whenever I'm playing infront of Eric Church or Darius Rucker or even someone like Stephen Wilson JR I tend to go more ‘Southern Rock' in my approach. If people are coming to the show they are by-and-large there for the headliner, not the opening act but those that are nice enough to come early and check the support out will get some of my original songs mixed with stuff that will connect with people in that area or even songs that stream well in that area.
I also do a medley of covers sometimes – it's my job as the opening act to make sure people are having a good time and they are ready to party when the headliner shows up! I call it a kind of karaoke session and I play songs that people can sing along too. So tonight, I tailored my show not to fit Eric or Molly Tuttle's fan base but towards my London fan base so I'll doing some David Bowie, some Kate Bush and a little Kylie Minogue – I know she's Australian but I feel like she's an honorary Brit. Getting to play some music from David Bowie and Kate Bush in such a sacred venue makes me so happy.
When we talked last about your new album, ‘Bed of Roses' you hadn't announced the book yet so I thought we could dig into that a little. How does the book sit alongside the album as a companion piece?
It's kind of sister to it. They walk hand in hand with each other but they can also just be accessed by themselves too. Think of them as fraternal twins rather than Siamese ones! (laughing) With the album, I kinda realised once I had done with it that most of the songs on there are sadder songs – yet in this moment of my life I'm actually experiencing really, good, steadfast love with the man that I am dating so after people have listened to the record they might be able to read the book and dive into a more positive aspect of the narrative and smile at the end of it.
If you listen to the album from top to bottom – that's my story. If you listen to it in reverse that is Sam's story, who is the protagonist in the book, ‘Bed of Roses.' I tried to make it a two-in-one experience.
When you are making an album you are the driving creative force but you worked with another author, Carolyn Brown, on the book. How do you work with another person in terms of creative control when you are maybe not used to doing that with your music?
I think that co-writing songs in my musical career has really helped me learn how to navigate that. We talked over email and phone every single day for a while. I created a 20 to 25 page outline of how I wanted everything to go. Carolyn Brown is a huge romance novelist and so I knew that she would be able to guide me in the right direction. She added a couple of clever twists into the story as well.
When I first started conceptualising the book I created an older character called Miss Kathleen and I knew that she was going to be the anchor of the story. When I met Carolyn I knew that away that she was Kathleen and I was Sam. It was so cool to write a book about these two women alongside another person who was extremely similar to a character I had created. It was comforting to me when she said that I should write my next book by myself – I just love her.
Will there be a next book do you think?
Oh there will be…..
In this story or a different story?
I think it could be within this story.
Who are your favourite authors? Which novelists do you love to immerse yourself in?
(laughing) I like some odd authors. I like Charles Bukowski. There's also a woman I found recently called Rachel Cusk that I'm reading a lot of. I love her. David Sedaris is also I favourite of mine too. I love people that tell stories in ways that I just wouldn't think of – John Steinbeck fits into that description as well. I love CS Lewis too.
Sometimes I'm a little reticent to tell people I like Charles Bukowski because he can get a little raunchy at times! (laughing)
Are there are any raunchy scenes in ‘Bed of Roses' and if there are – did writing them make you blush?
OK – Everyone asks me this! (laughing) I did go into a more explicit chapter at one point and then my dad texted me and asked how the book was going! So, I decided that for the first book we would go with the ‘bedroom door closed.' Carolyn taught me that if there is a topless cowboy on the front of a romance novel you will have a sex scene within. If there are flowers on the cover or something other than a naked man then it will be ‘bedroom door closed' kind of scenario where the author lets you imagine what takes place.
I really tried to focus in, with this book, on the good, steady slow-growing of love. I love all romances but I wanted to focus on her growth and intuition and make that just as important as her meeting ‘the guy.' I have planned to get a little steamier in the next one though! (laughing)
Before we finish we need to talk caterpillars. I was intrigued by your recent Instagram post in response to Lauren Alaina's vulnerable one. It was this quote that struck me – ‘In a world and an industry of butterflies, I very much still feel like a caterpillar' before playing a song that you had written about that idea. Can you expand on those thoughts a little more here?
Yes. I wrote this song which isn't out yet but I share it with a lot of my artist and writer friends. We work in what is a ruthless industry. It just is. It will demoralise you, it will break you down and it will tell you that you are not good enough. It's not like words coming out of someone's mouth – it is a feeling you start to get which is a slow encroaching feeling that settles inside you like a heavy weight.
I still feel like I am a caterpillar in an industry that only seems to worship and care for the butterflies. We don't realise how much time and soul it takes for young artists to work in an industry where you don't make even minimum wage sometimes – sometimes you lose thousands of dollars just to be able to come and play in the UK, right? You're desperate to connect so you still do it.
I struggle with the idea of understanding just what success truly is in this industry. I've never thought that I have to play Madison Square Garden or something like that. I just want to be happy and know that my music impacts people and help them. In an industry where numbers are, seemingly, all that matters I live for the moments when people tell me what my songs mean to them and how they have impacted or helped them in their own lives. That makes everyday that I cry myself to sleep worth it. I'm still a caterpillar but every time someone tells me what my songs mean to them I'm getting a little closer to the chrysalis!
Are we going to get a deluxe version of the album this year? Everyone seems to be doing them right now?
You know I don't know if you are going to get a deluxe version of the album, you may well just get a full new EP. I'm really honing in on love songs for the next project, to reflect where I am in my life right now and I'm not sure they would fit within this existing project without changing it too much.
Check out Caylee Hammack's fabulous album and book combo ‘Bed of Roses' at the link here.
