BY LESLEY HASTINGS

Hailing from the small town of Hope, Arkansas, Mae Estes’ first C2C festival this year didn’t exactly go to plan! Having contracted a vile sounding “super flu” bug she had to cancel all her planned sets in Berlin and Rotterdam, so we were extremely fortunate here in London that she recovered in time for her three performances……and what an impact she seems to have made judging by comments I have read. 

I grabbed fifteen minutes of her time a few days beforehand, and quickly found out that as well as both being workaholics we are both dog fans 

“We saw a guy with one in a bag and three on a leash in the coffee shop earlier, and we were like, can we please? Oh my god.” 

Of course my plans to ask how her European C2C experience was unfortunately had to be amended slightly by saying I hope she had decent hotel rooms!! 

“We did. 
Nice hot showers and baths and stuff like that. That saved my life! Jordan (her tour manager & bestie) was making fun of me because I take a lot of showers in general. 
I admit that, I love a hot shower. My husband will tell you. I’m like, don’t bother me, and there will be no hot water when I’m done with this. 
But yeah, it was not what we expected, we didn’t get to see much, but we’re grateful to be here and salvaging the rest of the trip now.” 

I joked that even her “Mr Fix It” couldn’t have helped her out 

“Ha true. Jordan has her “Mr Fix It” too. We are so lucky, we found the two most precious, supportive, incredible men ever, but we we’re both, like, violently independent, and that’s why we’ve been friends our whole life.  But I’m like, oh God, we miss them, and I think we might depend on a little more than we would also admit! ” 

I wanted to start by asking Mae a few questions about her musical journey. 
Firstly, I said I love that some of my favourite current female country artists all hail from Arkansas…along with Mae there’s Ashley McBryde and Erin Enderlin. Is there something in the water out there?

“Ah Erin and I are playing a show together soon!  I think it’s definitely the way of life. 
Where I grew up specifically (in the south part of the state) why I was so drawn to Country music is they were singing about the life I was living. Um, kind of the rural, small town, simple, kind of hardworking blue collar kind of living. 
And so I think it makes sense that a lot of people from Arkansas grew up that kind of way and found their way into country music. So I’m really proud to be in that group of people. You know, we got Johnny Cash and K.T Oslin from way back too! So yeah, I’m so proud of the Arkansas scene”

Is she from a musical family? 

“So my mom’s, dad had a bluegrass band. It actually runs, but skips several generations, and then hits us again in my family.  No one has taken it as far as I have by any means. I have been absolutely eaten up with it and obsessed and it’s been my whole career and life plan.  
But even my mom can sing well. She’s just really shy about it. No one’s had the entertainment bug part of it that I have. I just really love people and I love to have deep conversations and introspective thoughts and I love to have my view and perspective of the world challenged and that part of the entertainment business really appealed to me”. 

Was it her family who instilled her strong work ethic in her? 

“Yeah. I think it points back to that same rural way of life. There are only so many jobs and careers available where I grew up. 
And it’s not that you have much of a choice, I think, you have to work hard to eat and pay your bills and take care of your family. And I’m really grateful for that, looking back at it now I’m really proud of my work ethic and it has opened a whole lot of doors for me ……just by being stubborn enough to not quit and not give up. 

And now, at this point in my life and career, if anything, I’m trying to figure out how to not run myself into the ground!”

My next question was about Nashville being known as a “Ten Year Town” and Mae adhering to that as finally after a decade there she has her recording contract with Big Machine …

“Yeah, this is supposed to be my magic year. I think you turn into Cinderella or something? 
But it’s funny because there have been seasons for me in that decade where I was so encouraged by it being called a 10 Year Town where I was like, you’re just getting started, you know? Of course it’s gonna take a while. And then other days it’s so discouraging because 10 years is a long time.” 

Did she ever feel like quitting and falling back on the degree she took before relocating to Nashville? 

“Falling back on the degree….I don’t know. I feel like the degree thing for me was I was a 1st generation graduate, which I don’t think really means anything in the big scheme, but it meant a lot to me. Yeah, it’s something I’m really proud of. 
I kind of wanted to prove to myself I could do it and it felt like doing it on behalf of more than just me. It also felt like the responsible thing to do. But I have known this is what I wanted to do and felt that it’s my God given purpose since birth and that’s never wavered, but it is not a straight line. 
I have kicked and screamed, cried, and thrown up, and called my mom and said this is not working, I’m coming home. And she’s like, no, you’re not. And then some calls, she would be like, okay, baby, if you want to come here. 
But no, it 100% has kicked my butt over and over again and you just find the passion inside of you. 
It just doesn’t feel like a choice. And at the end of the day, God’s given you all the tools you need to survive it, and it’s your responsibility to take care of yourself otherwise ” 

So many artist I interview mention the importance of finding your “tribe” in Nashville, people who lift you up, support and inspire you. Did Mae agree with that…and has she found hers? 

“I think it’s crucial. In life in general, but especially in the music industry for me.  I’m so far away from home, all my family, all my friends, I left everything I knew in Arkansas. And so there was the homesickness, the feeling like a fish out of water. Everyone needs a community, whether they’re related to you or not. 
But I really lucked into it early. My friend, Josh Matheny who plays Dobro on all of my stuff  and he’s on every Carly Pearce song and Lee Brice’s….our families, a few generations back, had that bluegrass band I was talking about. So, I didn’t know him when I moved, but he took me under his wing immediately. He was my first mentor, still is one of my best friends in the whole world. 
And he dumped me in his network as soon as I got there, which was a huge blessing, ’cause people take years to find their community, and I definitely have developed mine over the years, but I lucked into some of my still favourite collaborators, best friends from day one through that connection with Josh. So I have been unbelievably blessed in the community. 
I do not want to depend on people, but you can’t do it without them, in my opinion”.

So what are here favourite collaborations to date, and who is still in her bucket list? 

“Honestly now I’m in kind of dream territory, but I’m getting to collab with artists like Vince Gill and that is just otherworldly to me. I am very excited about having a collab coming out with Ashley McBryde and Ashley Craft. 
I’m trying to think of like the biggest collab dream I have. 
Honestly, Lee Ann Womack has been a giant influence of mine. I think she is one of the best singers, song pickers of all time. And so getting to do something with her someday would be really, really crazy.”

 I knew we were going talk forever , I was running short on time and hadn’t even talked about Mae’s self-titled EP that was released last year and which is SO great. What surprised me was there’s two outside cuts on it….which I thought was odd for a prolific songwriter! What drew her to them? 

“I’ve been collecting ‘outsides’ for years. I’ve been in Nashville, sitting in rounds on stools beside people that are playing songs that knock me off my spot. As a songwriter you’re mad when you hear a good song that you weren’t a part of, it’s like grrr why wasn’t I in that room! So I just made a list over the years and I always want to be open to hearing that because I have been a part of some really incredible songs, so grateful to be, but the best of the best songwriters are here in Nashville, Tennessee and I’m so lucky to have access to their music first of all but I intend to be an artist who cuts the best songs I can find,  and I won’t always be a writer on all of them”. 

As long as she does them justice?? 

“Yeah, and I try. Luckily, all my friends wrote those songs, so they were excited for me to cut them and I was grateful they let me and so it was just a great experience”.

 
And everyone lifts everyone else up? 

“Yeah absolutely. Yeah”

I’m a sucker for a country heartbreaker, and told Mae how much I loved “Drunk on That” and “What She’s Havin'” 

“That’s one we wrote so many years ago too, somewhere from 4 to 6 years ago. I wrote that with Aaron Goodvin and Faren Rachels, Faren was kind of living the story at the time.  It was a fan favourite for years and then I finally got to release it” 

I just managed to get time to ask how her recent duet with Alex Hall came to be…..

“That was so special. 
That was the song itself.  He sent it to me and said,’ hey, if you like this, we’d love to have you on it’. It turned into the most incredible, authentic thing”

I was out of time (as usual!) so just quickly wished Mae all the best for her slots over the weekend ….and asked if there was maybe an album in the works for later in the year 

“We’re going to have so much new music so soon. I’m so excited” 

I finished by saying I’d see her at BST Hyde Park …..

“I am SO stoked for that” 

More artist information here – https://www.maeestes.com