The C2C Sit Down with Karley Scott Collins
As has become tradition, the main stage at C2C: Country to Country in London will open up with the Introducing Nashville round presented by the Country Music Association which this year will feature Karley Scott Collins, Lauren Watkins and Conner Smith.
Karley Scott Collins hails from Lake City, Florida (which is about sixty miles west of Jacksonville in the north of the state) and first found her way to Nashville in 2019 after signing a publishing deal. Since then, she got herself a record deal with Sony Music Nashville, put out her first EP “Hands on the Wheel” last year, has been out on the road with Larry Fleet and Willie Nelson before recently been named as a member of this year’s CMT Next Women of Country class.
Karley Scott Collins hails from Lake City, Florida (which is about sixty miles west of Jacksonville in the north of the state) and first found her way to Nashville in 2019 after signing a publishing deal. Since then, she got herself a record deal with Sony Music Nashville, put out her first EP “Hands on the Wheel” last year, has been out on the road with Larry Fleet and Willie Nelson before recently been named as a member of this year’s CMT Next Women of Country class.
Ahead of the trip to Europe, Jamie spent some time with Karley over Zoom to talk about her new single “Marlboro Reds” and look ahead to her first shows overseas.
Hey Karley, thanks for taking the time to chat this morning.
“No, thank you, I’m excited to talk to you all and come see you.”
I’m really excited too and I’m actually going to see you before the rest of the guys you are talking to because I get to see you in Berlin too and it’s my first time heading over there.
“That’s awesome, I can’t wait to see you there and it will be my first time in Europe at all. I’m just going to be over the moon the whole time, I’m so excited.”
Looking at your schedule it is going to be quite a tight trip starting in Rotterdam, then Berlin, couple of Scandinavian shows and the three UK dates for the festival back to back. Are you hoping to get some time to be a tourist in there too or is this pretty much a business trip on this first time in Europe?
“Well, I think I may have an hour or two on some of the days to see some stuff and I hope that I do because all of these places are places that I have dreamt of going my whole life but a lot of the days I have interviews, soundcheck, shows and all that stuff. Hopefully I’ll get a little time but not a lot, actually I think I will have the most time in London because I have one day there which is like a travel day and I get there at like 1pm so will have the rest of the day to see some stuff there.”
In terms of coming to play over here, I’m guessing you have spoken to some people that have been over here before so, what are you expectations for the shows and the audiences on this side of the pond?
“I have a lot of friends and people like my agent that have been over there, everyone when I talk to them are saying how you are going to love the crowds there. They say that people aren’t on their phones, the pay attention, they listen to every word, they pay attention to the lyrics and they are super excited to be there, which is really cool because I’m super excited to be there. It will be really nice to experience that and see how different it feels.”
When you are playing the shows, it will be you, Lauren (Watkins) and Conner (Smith) where it is the three of you on stage together where in both London and Rotterdam, that opens the whole arena portion of the festival. You guys are the first thing on the main stage, how does that feel for the idea of a writers round opening a festival to twenty thousand people?
“You know, I’m just excited. It will be the most people I have ever played for actually, when I look at pictures of the venue it’s just people everywhere and when I show my friends they are like are you nervous? It’s so weird because I would rather play for twenty thousand people than five in a heartbeat.”
As I mentioned, the round is Conner Smith and Lauren Watkins on there with you. I know from when I spoke to Conner that he isn’t with you girls in Rotterdam but is with you for the other six shows but have you spent any time around him and Lauren or played any shows with them before?
“I haven’t met Conner yet but Lauren and I are both part of this years class of CMT’s Next Women of Country so I got to meet her a little bit and spend a little time with her then. It was our first time meeting and I think she’s great so I’m really excited to hear her sing some more. I will probably know all the words to every one of their songs by the time that we’re done ha ha.”
Hey Karley, thanks for taking the time to chat this morning.
“No, thank you, I’m excited to talk to you all and come see you.”
I’m really excited too and I’m actually going to see you before the rest of the guys you are talking to because I get to see you in Berlin too and it’s my first time heading over there.
“That’s awesome, I can’t wait to see you there and it will be my first time in Europe at all. I’m just going to be over the moon the whole time, I’m so excited.”
Looking at your schedule it is going to be quite a tight trip starting in Rotterdam, then Berlin, couple of Scandinavian shows and the three UK dates for the festival back to back. Are you hoping to get some time to be a tourist in there too or is this pretty much a business trip on this first time in Europe?
“Well, I think I may have an hour or two on some of the days to see some stuff and I hope that I do because all of these places are places that I have dreamt of going my whole life but a lot of the days I have interviews, soundcheck, shows and all that stuff. Hopefully I’ll get a little time but not a lot, actually I think I will have the most time in London because I have one day there which is like a travel day and I get there at like 1pm so will have the rest of the day to see some stuff there.”
In terms of coming to play over here, I’m guessing you have spoken to some people that have been over here before so, what are you expectations for the shows and the audiences on this side of the pond?
“I have a lot of friends and people like my agent that have been over there, everyone when I talk to them are saying how you are going to love the crowds there. They say that people aren’t on their phones, the pay attention, they listen to every word, they pay attention to the lyrics and they are super excited to be there, which is really cool because I’m super excited to be there. It will be really nice to experience that and see how different it feels.”
When you are playing the shows, it will be you, Lauren (Watkins) and Conner (Smith) where it is the three of you on stage together where in both London and Rotterdam, that opens the whole arena portion of the festival. You guys are the first thing on the main stage, how does that feel for the idea of a writers round opening a festival to twenty thousand people?
“You know, I’m just excited. It will be the most people I have ever played for actually, when I look at pictures of the venue it’s just people everywhere and when I show my friends they are like are you nervous? It’s so weird because I would rather play for twenty thousand people than five in a heartbeat.”
As I mentioned, the round is Conner Smith and Lauren Watkins on there with you. I know from when I spoke to Conner that he isn’t with you girls in Rotterdam but is with you for the other six shows but have you spent any time around him and Lauren or played any shows with them before?
“I haven’t met Conner yet but Lauren and I are both part of this years class of CMT’s Next Women of Country so I got to meet her a little bit and spend a little time with her then. It was our first time meeting and I think she’s great so I’m really excited to hear her sing some more. I will probably know all the words to every one of their songs by the time that we’re done ha ha.”
You mention the Next Women of Country programme and how you and Lauren are both part of this years class, where there are some very familiar names to fans over here in there too like Tigirlily Gold who played at C2C last year for the first time and our very own Twinnie in there too representing us Brits. It’s obviously a great programme and for you as a female artist that is a fairly new female artist, how important is it to have people like Leslie Fram in your corner and giving you an opportunity and a platform?
“Leslie is one of the kindest people that I’ve ever met in my life. She has been so good to me, she has been a person that I can go to for advice and she has been a huge champion of not only me but a countless number of women behind me. In a world where sometimes, things can be a little bit more difficult just because you are a girl, it’s nice to have someone like her that is there to support everyone. Not only that, but I think CMT put a lot of thought into the people that they choose to be a part of it so, having their and her vote of confidence in that they believe in me really means a lot.”
I saw that you have a Next Women show at City Winery before you head out here and I know that another organisation that are involved with the show too are Song Suffragettes who again do great things to promote opportunities for female artists. Mr (Todd) Cassetty is a great guy who does wonderful things, it’s a shame he isn’t able to head over for the festival this time but I suppose it does help my liver out a little bit ha ha. Shows like that must be nice to do and just be around lots of other girls where you can share your stories together.
“Yeah, it’s great and going to be a lot of fun. I have a lot of fun in writers rounds which is part of the reason that I’m really excited for what we’re doing at C2C so, I am really looking forward to this. A lot of my co-writes and things are with guys, I work with men a lot more than I work with women so having the Next Women of Country and Song Suffragettes, where I get to hang around some other girls is a lot of fun.”
You brought up co-writing and that is something that was quite new to you when you first headed to Nashville because your musical background was quite different wasn’t it?
“I grew up in a really small town in Florida so really, even if I had wanted to co-write growing up and I can’t say I even knew that existed, I really wouldn’t have had an option. I was definitely raised on a lot of rock music but I think that now has influenced my version of country music. I grew up just writing songs by myself and didn’t know any other way to do it.”
I see that rock influence in your vocal style and also with your merch. I think those “Hands on the Wheel” t-shirts look so cool and is probably the best artist merch I have seen in ages, it has a proper old school band shirt feel and I love it. Normally I look at merch and think to myself I don’t think I would wear that but yours would hang perfect along with my Springsteen, AC/DC, Kiss and Ramones tees!
“Thank you, I appreciate it. I feel the same way and cool merch is really important to me. One of the things I collect are vintage rock tees and I actually painted that design myself, I have the painting hanging in my apartment.”
“Leslie is one of the kindest people that I’ve ever met in my life. She has been so good to me, she has been a person that I can go to for advice and she has been a huge champion of not only me but a countless number of women behind me. In a world where sometimes, things can be a little bit more difficult just because you are a girl, it’s nice to have someone like her that is there to support everyone. Not only that, but I think CMT put a lot of thought into the people that they choose to be a part of it so, having their and her vote of confidence in that they believe in me really means a lot.”
I saw that you have a Next Women show at City Winery before you head out here and I know that another organisation that are involved with the show too are Song Suffragettes who again do great things to promote opportunities for female artists. Mr (Todd) Cassetty is a great guy who does wonderful things, it’s a shame he isn’t able to head over for the festival this time but I suppose it does help my liver out a little bit ha ha. Shows like that must be nice to do and just be around lots of other girls where you can share your stories together.
“Yeah, it’s great and going to be a lot of fun. I have a lot of fun in writers rounds which is part of the reason that I’m really excited for what we’re doing at C2C so, I am really looking forward to this. A lot of my co-writes and things are with guys, I work with men a lot more than I work with women so having the Next Women of Country and Song Suffragettes, where I get to hang around some other girls is a lot of fun.”
You brought up co-writing and that is something that was quite new to you when you first headed to Nashville because your musical background was quite different wasn’t it?
“I grew up in a really small town in Florida so really, even if I had wanted to co-write growing up and I can’t say I even knew that existed, I really wouldn’t have had an option. I was definitely raised on a lot of rock music but I think that now has influenced my version of country music. I grew up just writing songs by myself and didn’t know any other way to do it.”
I see that rock influence in your vocal style and also with your merch. I think those “Hands on the Wheel” t-shirts look so cool and is probably the best artist merch I have seen in ages, it has a proper old school band shirt feel and I love it. Normally I look at merch and think to myself I don’t think I would wear that but yours would hang perfect along with my Springsteen, AC/DC, Kiss and Ramones tees!
“Thank you, I appreciate it. I feel the same way and cool merch is really important to me. One of the things I collect are vintage rock tees and I actually painted that design myself, I have the painting hanging in my apartment.”
We’ll move on to talk about music, you put a five EP out last year and we have two more that have come out since, so looking ahead through the rest of 2024, what have we got planned? Could we possibly be building towards a full length Karley Scott Collins album at some point?
“I am not at liberty to answer that question at the moment ha ha. I will say though that this week I have been in the studio like ten or eleven hours a day, all week so, I am working on new music as we speak.”
Okay, let’s get into the new song that we can talk about then. I think when I first heard “Marlboro Reds” I thought it had a great sound but also was a really cool idea for a song and how you have written it. When a lot of people are telling their grandparents story, they typically end up being a ballad or very reflective but I really like how it is up-tempo as it comes from really good memories that are fun and tempo reflects it. Also, for me, I remember sitting down with my nan when she would be sat puffing away on a cigarette and talking about her life so, I think it’s really cool.
“Thank you, I really appreciate that. It’s been something that has been really cool about that one is that there have been a lot of people that are like do we have the same nana? It’s like a universal experience of that moment but she has loved it, she has been very excited.”
“I am not at liberty to answer that question at the moment ha ha. I will say though that this week I have been in the studio like ten or eleven hours a day, all week so, I am working on new music as we speak.”
Okay, let’s get into the new song that we can talk about then. I think when I first heard “Marlboro Reds” I thought it had a great sound but also was a really cool idea for a song and how you have written it. When a lot of people are telling their grandparents story, they typically end up being a ballad or very reflective but I really like how it is up-tempo as it comes from really good memories that are fun and tempo reflects it. Also, for me, I remember sitting down with my nan when she would be sat puffing away on a cigarette and talking about her life so, I think it’s really cool.
“Thank you, I really appreciate that. It’s been something that has been really cool about that one is that there have been a lot of people that are like do we have the same nana? It’s like a universal experience of that moment but she has loved it, she has been very excited.”
How did it go when you first told her that you had written a song about her stories and you had called it “Marlboro Reds”?
“I actually videoed the first time I played it for her and that is on my socials but she was actually so excited. She literally just laughed the whole time. I printed out the lyrics for her to make sure she would understand it and the second it gets to that line in the first verse how she lived through her third husband, she just starts cackling. She loves it and she’s a fan for sure.”
I just love how you have done something different as a songwriter and anyone that has not heard it yet, they will love it when they hear it as it’s a cool way to tell someone else’s story.
“I appreciate that, thank you so much.”
Thank you so much for your time Karley and I’m really excited that I get to see you twice. Enjoy the trip, I hope you do get some time to see some cool things as you travel around and I look forward to seeing you in Berlin and London.
Karley Scott Collins will head to Europe for the first time in March where she will be part of the CMA presented Introducing Nashville along with Lauren Watkins and Conner Smith at C2C: Country to Country in Rotterdam, Berlin, London, Glasgow and Belfast. Full UK festival details and ticket information is available on the WEBSITE or socials (INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK) then you can find more information about Berlin on their WEBSITE or on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK along with further Amsterdam details available HERE.
The new track “Marlboro Reds” from Karley Scott Collins is out now via Sony Music Nashville and available HERE. To learn more about Karley you can check out her WEBSITE or follow her socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK TWITTER or FACEBOOK
“I actually videoed the first time I played it for her and that is on my socials but she was actually so excited. She literally just laughed the whole time. I printed out the lyrics for her to make sure she would understand it and the second it gets to that line in the first verse how she lived through her third husband, she just starts cackling. She loves it and she’s a fan for sure.”
I just love how you have done something different as a songwriter and anyone that has not heard it yet, they will love it when they hear it as it’s a cool way to tell someone else’s story.
“I appreciate that, thank you so much.”
Thank you so much for your time Karley and I’m really excited that I get to see you twice. Enjoy the trip, I hope you do get some time to see some cool things as you travel around and I look forward to seeing you in Berlin and London.
Karley Scott Collins will head to Europe for the first time in March where she will be part of the CMA presented Introducing Nashville along with Lauren Watkins and Conner Smith at C2C: Country to Country in Rotterdam, Berlin, London, Glasgow and Belfast. Full UK festival details and ticket information is available on the WEBSITE or socials (INSTAGRAM / TWITTER / FACEBOOK) then you can find more information about Berlin on their WEBSITE or on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK along with further Amsterdam details available HERE.
The new track “Marlboro Reds” from Karley Scott Collins is out now via Sony Music Nashville and available HERE. To learn more about Karley you can check out her WEBSITE or follow her socially on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK TWITTER or FACEBOOK