Whilst Nashville, Tennessee is globally recognised as the home of country music and where the industry is predominantly based but surprisingly it is actually very rare to come across artists who were actually are from Music City. However, Lauren Watkins is an example of someone that is actually from there and she is now in Europe for the first time as she appears at this years C2C: Country to Country festival in Rotterdam, Berlin, London, Glasgow and Belfast.
The rising star who has just finished a run on tour with Conner Smith, released her second EP “Introducing: The Heartbreak” at the back end of 2023 and also is a member of this year’s CMT Next Women of Country class. During the festival in Germany, Lauren spent some time to chat with us about her first visit across the pond.
Thank you so much for taking the time to hang out with me, we are very excited that you are over here in Europe. “I’m so excited to be here, it’s my first time across the pond.”
How was the first show in Rotterdam last night? “It was so much fun, it was so cool. I don’t know how to picture anywhere over here, I’m totally just going with no expectations. It was so beautiful, everybody was riding bikes and I loved it. We got to go out for a fun dinner and the crowd was awesome. I’ve been hearing that audiences over here are such good listeners and it was exactly like that.”
I’ve definitely noticed that here over this weekend as this is my first time in Berlin but even compared to the UK crowds, people here are so much more attentive and receptive. Everyone that comes over talks about British audiences but over here is another step further as they are so dialled in. “That’s awesome. The songwriter in me is very grateful to hear that because obviously I write these words hoping that people will receive them. I love playing to a rowdy crowd don’t get me wrong but there is something really special about people looking you in the eye and really listening.”
How weird is the idea of having a writers round open up a show in an arena and to kick off the whole thing to twenty thousand people in London next week which is so different to festivals back home. “It is and I just think it’s really cool that we get to show people a piece of Nashville because playing a round style is so normal to us and we forget that they don’t do that everywhere. It’s one of my favourite ways to play music, I just think it’s really interesting and different so I love getting to share that with other countries. I keep making this joke about how there’s so many people that do music in Nashville that you’ve got to put them all on stage at the same time.”
By the end of this run you and Conner (Smith) could well and truly be sick of the sight of each other after you opened for him on tour back home and now the two of you are sat on stage with Karley (Scott Collins) for seven or eight shows back to back over here. “Ha-ha, well we didn’t get sick of each other on tour so I think we’re going to be great."
Like I said earlier, a lot of people have been wanting you to come and see us for a while and the big thing about country music in the UK is that the radio element is so different where it doesn’t drive things as much and isn’t as widespread so DSP’s and socials are even more relevant than at home so people listen to what they want to listen to rather than what they are told to listen to if you know what I mean. “Oh yeah I get you, that’s really cool and I’m so new to all of this so, I’m just taking it all in. It’s just cool for me as it’s my first time over here so this is an exciting step one then I just want to build from here and meet people for the first time.”
London is a very different festival experience to what is going on here and in Rotterdam but with the Scandinavian shows before that, I hope you still get some time to explore all of these new cities and not like at home where you just see your tour bus and backstage at the venues. “We see the drive from the airport to the venue but I do actually get some downtime in London and we’re going to try and find something fun to do. Honestly, my favourite thing to do is just find cool restaurants and drink spots really.”
Coming on to talk about music, Nicolle Galyon has obviously been a big part of what you’re doing, how did you first meet her and the two of you start working together? “I actually met her over Instagram. When I was in college I was in a period when I wasn’t living in Nashville, I’m from Nashville but I left for a little while to go to college.”
Yeah you’re a unicorn as people tend to call them, because you’re a Nashville native rather than a transplant aren’t you. “Ha-ha yes, it is very rare but at the time I was living in Mississippi for college and I was posting cover songs on Instagram purely for fun and she came across my Instagram, reached out and said like hey what do you want to do, are you trying to be an artist? We started talking that way and at first we were getting to know each other but then she introduced me to a bunch of writers in town, she gave me great advice, kind of helped me get my foot in the door and then after a little while she signed me to a publishing deal. She has been huge in my whole journey just getting me to where I’m at and she then signed me to a record deal. She’s awesome, I’ve always been a fan of her just as a songwriter and now that I get to work with her, I’m getting to see a different level of how inspiring she is and she is such a hard worker but she is also like a mentor to me so, it’s the perfect partnership which is incredible.” Talking about women that do a lot to help and support other women, you’re part of this years CMT Next Women of Country class and I love asking this question to girls that have been part of this programme but important is it to have someone like Leslie Fram in that position that puts so much into supporting new female artists? “Leslie is awesome, I love her. She’s such a sweet person who is very warm but she is such a hard worker and such a power player so, having someone like that who I look up to as a business woman that looks at me and says I believe in you enough to ask you to do this is so cool. I feel the same way about Nicolle, just people like that who I respect a lot and they want to be supportive of me is really cool and really validating as an artist.”
We are so glad that you are here and I can see already that you are loving Europe, the fans here go out of there way to find artists and yes there is a different level of attention given where you are so not used to it that you get initial thought going through your head of do these guys think I suck or something? “Ha-ha that is so true, you’ve got to get used to it because in the United States people are very vocal and rowdy a lot of the time so there is constant cheering. I was really excited for people to sit and listen but yeah at first you do get that thought of do these people hate me because they are not saying anything, then you realise that they are just listening and don’t need to shout to tell you that they like you. After the show I got all of these messages and comments saying we love you and we loved your songs which is really cool and I’m glad to know that because I wasn’t sure ha-ha.”
These arena sets in the round are quite short so it’s not a huge amount of songs that you get to do but going forward over here, because of the way that people access music and without the radio element being as much of a factor, a really deep cut that an artist may not have played live for ten years could well be that artists biggest song in their eyes. “I think that is really cool, I think as a songwriter that every single song is important, no matter what type of song that it is. I think about somebody like Miranda Lambert where she plays all her hits live which are all tempo hits which are awesome and so fun to watch but she also wouldn’t be Miranda if she didn’t have all of those songs on her albums that don’t always get heard but for someone like me, some of those songs are lifechanging and taught me a lot as a songwriter. It’s nice to be somewhere where that is appreciated and I’ve definitely been thinking about what random songs that I want to try out for these crowds to see how they go over.”
This has been so cool and you’re awesome to chat with but you’ve got some more people waiting for you and they were Lauren Watkins merched up! “Ha-ha I know, I don’t know how my merch made it all the way over here but it looks like it did. Thank you, it’s so good to meet you, this has been fun to talk to you.”
Lauren Watkins will be appearing at C2C: Country to Country in London, Glasgow and Belfast this weekend (March 8th to 10th) where she will be performing as part of the CMA presented Introducing Nashville series along with Conner Smith and Karley Scott Collins. Full festival information and details of any remaining tickets can be found on the event WEBSITE or socials (INSTAGRAMTWITTERFACEBOOK)
C2C Country to Country Berlin will return in 2025 for three days over the weekend of March 7th to 9th where you will be able to find more details on their WEBSITE or on INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK where you will also be able to relive highlights from this past weekend. The latest EP “Introducing: The Heartbreak” from Lauren Watkins is out now via Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters and available to listen to HERE. To learn more about Lauren and be the first to find out about her upcoming projects you can check out her WEBSITE or follow her socially on INSTAGRAMTIKTOKTWITTER or FACEBOOK.