Courtesy of Blue Highway Records
MULLET SAID TO MUSTACHE —
Mae Estes Takes No Prisoners on Blue Highway Records
Debut Single Out July 17
Hope, Arkansas Native Drops Plain Dirt Truth about What She Loves Most
“The 90s Called” Is Wry, Straight-Up and Full-On Country Gold
In a 10-year town, Mae Estes is right on time. The songwriter with the wide-open heart has made the rounds, listened to the experts, thought about what matters – and after an acclaimed career as an indie artist – she’s leveling up with an unfiltered country anthem about what matters.
“The 90s Called,” her debut single on roots-positive Blue Highway Records out this Friday (17/7), is a slice of pure beer joint perfection. With a thumpin’ back beat, the evocation of Brooks & Dunn, Conway Twitty, Billy Ray Cyrus and Alan Jackson elicits a half-fantasy, half-battle cry for fans of the “real thing” throwback country; not a xerox of what was, but something unfiltered and real.
“I know I’m a songwriter,” says the traditional progressive, “but I was in Aaron Raitiere’s kitchen, talking about how straight up country used to be – like writers do when they get onto what they really love – and I asked him if he had anything I oughta hear. Turns out he did! This song he’d written with Benjy Davis has all the earmarks, a melody for a day and a hook that won’t let go, but it speaks truth in a windstorm you can’t miss.”
With double dobro, fiddle from Grammy-winning Time Jumper and O.G. Lower Broadway legend Joe Spivey and a sense of whimsy, Estes unpacks all the traits that made country great. Between the phone on the wall, the rusty GM truck bustin’ through a junkyard gate and the mullet talking to the mustache, this rocking juke jointer delivers a KO punch to the wannabe, almost kinda and not even close country acting like it’s got a sense of what it’s all about.
As a teaser project leading into her much anticipated 2027 full length debut, Estes is bringing music lovers into her kind of country at the source. Beyond the good-feeling single, the young woman who made her debut at 7 in a rodeo ring in Hope, AR, will also deliver the other side of Country Music Hall of Fame members Brooks & Dunn’s heart-rending “She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind.” Dropping a Reba-meets-Dolly performance, she inhabits the song from the perspective of the woman stepping out in the 18-time Academy of Country Music and 16-time Country Music Association Duo of the Year’s classic.
The three-time Arkansas Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year who re-wrote and recast the second verse of Ella Langley’s “you look like you love me” when the two played Jackson, Wyoming’s Million Dollar Cowboy Bar is all about keeping it true to her roots and delivering passion forward performances. Having played shows and recorded alongside artists including Vince Gill, Ashley McBryde and Ashland Craft, Luke Bryan, Marty Stuart, Dierks Bentley and more, she’s also staked her claim at the Opry, the Ryman, the international C2C Festival and beyond during her time in Nashville. More new music from Estes will be released throughout the end of the year.
“I was a middle schooler singing on the AM country station every Tuesday,” the gap-toothed beauty offers. “There was so much great songwriting and so many unforgettable artists! Before I really get my first true major label album, I wanted to say thank you to the ones who showed me how and what this music I love is made of. Womack, Whitley, Loretta, they define where I’m coming from – but to get to step into the boots of the woman stepping out in ‘She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind,’ to put some Reba in it? Well, that tells you a lot about where I come from.”
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ABOUT MAE ESTES:
Armed with a powerhouse vocal and a knack for brutally honest storytelling, Hope, AR native Mae Estes has earned herself an impressive reputation as “a new-school torchbearer for Nashville tradition” (GRAMMY.com).
Estes signed her first publishing deal in 2020 and has since racked up more than 13 million streams across platforms and over 1 million views on YouTube, building a quickly growing fan base with her “vocal prowess and subject matter range” (PEOPLE).
In 2022, “Thinkin’ ‘Bout Cheatin’” became the first release from her debut EP as well as her first music video feature on CMT. In 2023, she was honored with her third consecutive Arkansas CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in her home state. The NHL Stadium Series, the Grand Ole Opry, PBR Stampede Series, Music City Grand Prix, The Bluebird Cafe, CMA Fest, Nissan Stadium, The Country Music Hall of Fame and more have hosted this “stone-cold country newcomer” (Whiskey Riff) poised for success.
Signed to Blue Highway Records, she is one of the key country females to watch, being named to CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2024 and a slew of artist to watch lists (GRAMMY.com, iHeart Media, Absolute Radio, COWGIRL Magazine, Country Now, etc.). After lending her voice to a number of songs over the last year alongside artists including Ashley McBryde and Ashland Craft, Vince Gill, Braxton Keith, and Jake Worthington, more new music is expected from Estes soon.