Martina McBride arrives at the 53rd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13, ... [+]
Martina McBride was the latest musical guest to appear on Season 2 of Songland on May 4, where the country singer selected one song from the show’s four up-and-coming songwriters to record and release as her new single. McBride gravitated to “Girls Like Me,” an empowering anthem for women, penned by 20-year-old Nashville-based songwriter Halie.
The episode of Songland was filmed February in California, weeks before the coronavirus pandemic became a concern in the U.S. Once McBride returned to Nashville she quickly learned how difficult recording a song in isolation could be.
“It's challenging,” she tells Forbes over the phone from her home in Nashville. “Studios are closed, and you're not allowed to have musicians congregating together to record. So even before this pandemic happened, I started sitting with the song. I knew that I wanted the producer to be Nathan Chapman, who I've worked with before. I went to his house and played him the song and talked about it.
“After that, we never spent a second in the same building together throughout the whole recording process,” she continues. “Luckily, he's an extremely gifted musician and producer so he was able to play all the instruments and record from his home studio.”
McBride and her husband, John, own Blackbird Studio in Nashville. Since the studio was closed following Tennessee’s mandatory stay at home order, she was able to go in and record vocals with an engineer. Afterwards, her husband mixed the song in isolation and brought the mixes home for his wife to listen to and approve.
“It's not the most fun way that I've ever made a record. It felt a little isolated to be honest, but Nathan and I had the same vision for the song and the same idea of how we wanted it to sound,” she says. “Luckily, we know each other and we're able to communicate and it just came down to communication. I think we ended up producing a beautiful track to the song.”
“Girls Like Me” is McBride’s first single in several years. Her last charting single was 2016’s “Reckless,” which peaked at No. 47 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. McBride’s Songland release marks the second song penned on the primetime series to become a single following Lady Antebellum’s “Champagne Night” last month. “Champagne Night” debuted at No. 58 on Country Airplay.
“Girls Like Me” was originally written by Halie and her brother, recording artist Michael Tyler, with Dan Swank and Lexi Lauren. On Songland, Halie partnered with producer/songwriter Ester Dean (Rihanna’s “Rude Boy,” Katy Perry’s “Firework”), who helped workshop the song to fit McBride. Halie describes the experience as “surreal” and performing her song for McBride as an “out-of-body feeling.”
“I don't have a publishing deal, so being able to have this opportunity feels like a dream,” Halie says. “My mom used to play her music in the car all the time. Singing along to her songs, I grew up loving Martina and when I found out that I was pitching to her, I almost passed out.”
Halie says being on Songland taught her to write from a different life standpoint. “I had to channel more of a mature woman side of the song because originally when I wrote it, it was from my point of view. Ester was like, ‘We need to make this more mature. Something that Martina could sing to her audience.’ It was definitely a challenge … [and] taught me how to write from a different angle.”
“Girls Like Me” serves as Halie’s first major cut and the songwriter hopes the exposure she receives from her Songland appearance will allow others to discover her as a songwriter and help her secure a publisher. “My main goal right now is to work with some experienced writers because I feel like this has given me a platform for a lot of people to discover who I am,” she adds.
As for McBride, the singer says she is “so grateful” she found “Girls Like Me.” On the episode, McBride told the Songland contestants to keep pitching her songs and she says Halie has followed through on that request. “I haven't had a chance to look into those yet, but I definitely will. I'm always open to new, up-and-coming songwriters. There's a fresh approach and it's good to build new relationships,” McBride says. Meanwhile, she continues to get pitched songs directly from publishers and songwriters via email as in-person pitch meetings have halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don't have huge plans to do an album right now. I'm just adjusting to this weird time that we're in and trying to figure out what I want to do next, hoping that we get back on the road pretty soon,” McBride says. “It’s an uncertain time for the music industry.”
