Kaylee Bell: Kiwi Country Singer on motherhood, performing, Cowboy Up

Kaylee Bell has been busy since she last popped into the ZB studio. 

The Kiwi country singer has released a new single, has a new album ‘Cowboy Up’ on the way and a five date tour coming later in the year, but she’s also become a mother.  

Her son, only six months old, has already been around the world – Bell taking her family along as she performs in America, Australia, and around New Zealand. 

“He’s definitely just getting chucked in and taken for the ride,” she told Mike Hosking. 

Motherhood wasn’t necessarily something Bell had on her agenda, revealing that it’s not something she thought she’d get the chance to do. 

“But it’s just so nice,” she said. 

“I love that I get to go and, you know, play a show and I walk off the stage and he’s there now, or I get to come home to him at the end of the day.” 

“In this industry, it’s so nice to have something so grounding.” 

Pregnancy is not an easy experience but Bell’s schedule remained packed, the singer working right up until 34 weeks, at which point she could no longer fly. 

“I cut a record here in New Zealand,” she explained to Hosking. 

“And then I had James at the end of January, and we were back on stage after six weeks for CMC Rocks in Australia.”  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What a joy it is to welcome back to the studio,
old mate, Kaylee Bell. It has been a year, but
then one of us has been having children, so therefore
has been a little bit busy. We have a new
single this morning, along with a new album at the
end of September and a five date New Zealand tour
as well. Kaylee Bell is with us. Good morning, Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
How are you.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
I'm extremely well, So I have a confession. But before
I get to the confession, I need to ask you
the woman's weekly question, which is is how's motherhood?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
It's amazing.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
I had a little six month old baby boy, James,
and he's already been to America, Australia, around this country
and yeah, he's definitely just getting chucked in and begging
for the right fantastic.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Has he cut us first track yet?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, his favorite song at the moment is the Wiggles song.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
So I still hope you'll go through that. Is it
all you thought it would be?

Speaker 3 (00:51):
I really didn't actually have any idea what to expect,
I don't think, but I feel like we've been pretty
lucky with him. You know, he's an amazing sleeper and
things like that, which obviously life a lot easier, but
it's just so nice. I never thought i'd get the
chance to be a mother, and I love that I
get to go and you know, play a show and
I walk off the stage and he's there now, or
I get to come home to him at the end
of the day. And it's like in an industry that,

(01:13):
as you probably while are we're there's a lot of
you know, up and downs and bs for what of
a bit of word in this industry. It's so nice
to have something so grounding and just like just real.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
You know, it does change you, doesn't it. The logistics
of it all, Yes, are they difficult.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
They are very difficult.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
I feel like they've always been tricky. I mean, we
travel with about twenty pelicans on the road and nine guys,
and now we're just kind of adding a baby in
the mix with everything that that also entails. So yeah,
I'm lucky my partner he obviously works with me as well,
and we've always been organized, but I just feel like
we're really organized now.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
That's good. Did the music stop for a while while
so you kept on.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Being I actually worked right up.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
We're on the Cane Brown Tour through Australia at about
thirty four weeks pregnant and then basically had to stop
for flying reasons. I cut a record here in New Zealand,
actually cut my record. My producer came out from Nashville
in December, so we did that then, and then I
had James at the end of January and we were
back on stage after six weeks for CMC.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
Rocks and I stood on you and I watched that
the other day. The CMC Rocks thing. That's a that's
a thing.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
It's a thing.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
It's it's just kind of exploded over the last i'd
say five to ten years, and we had a.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Really cool spot this year.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
We got to play like the Sunset Spot, and Australian
fans are really amazing, Like when it comes to just
getting in there and having a good time and supporting good,
you know, artists from.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
The SICH time we go back to those sort of things.
Are you feeling momentum like you're getting bigger and better
and all that?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Absolutely, I think yeah, we've just really just been continuing
to grow this thing. And we put a lot of
emphasis on the live show I think is really important
for us. And so we just want to keep getting better,
and we keep getting these amazing opportunities, like we've got
a festival coming up both Shaboozi and Jail, and the
spots are getting better that we get to play, which

(03:03):
I think is a really good.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Because they're the real deal.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
They are the real deal.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Well, Caane Brown's the real deal. Time do you hang
out with him?

Speaker 3 (03:10):
We had the best time on tour with him. It
was to me he's like one of those country artists
that can really cross over and he's got a lot
of pop sensibilities that it was amazing just to actually
like stand side stage and watch how they take his
songs from like what we hear and you know, on
his records, and actually how they interpret that live.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
And I think we took away a.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Lot from his live show and his band and stuff,
like we still on group chats.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
And still he is a slick act. Which, speaking of
which brings me to my confession. Cowboy Up. Yes, I
had heard it and I didn't think it was you.
I didn't Yes, I didn't know it was you. I
just thought it was a really good song. And Katie
said one day and she was playing at home and
she goes and Kylie Bell, and I said, is that

(03:58):
And I just joined the dots at that point. And
the reason I didn't think it was you is I
thought it was such a slick, professional Nashville international type song.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
Oh thank you match.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
It was a phenomenal song.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
That song had a journey.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
I actually wrote that in New Zealand and the epprasong
cubs just over at Aroundhead Studios, obviously one of the
most beautiful studios probably in the world.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Actually Neil put his head around the corner.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Like, actually, here's a line of like, thanks Neil, see later,
I wish. But I wrote that song in like March,
and I teased that song on TikTok and it kind
of exploded. But then I was like, like, I actually
need to have the song produced, and it took me
about nine months to find the person. And I actually
land with Travis Heidelman and Nashville who's been doing all

(04:42):
the Dasher stuff. So it's very nice that you say that,
because I feel like I love the Dasher stuff.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
It doesn't it for you, but you know what I'm saying,
it is very international. Do you think about Kane Brown
and what he does? You know, plays a male it's
got the same yeah about it, doesn't it?

Speaker 4 (04:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (04:58):
And that's I guess that's why we kind of basing
a whole tour around it now. It's one of those
songs that, like I think people have just really quickly resonated,
and as soon as we started playing it live in
the set, it was like it felt like one of
those songs that will be in the set for a
long time. So it's always lovely when you get those
songs because they're few and far between.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
It's going to go for miles that song. By the way,
what are you going to play for us?

Speaker 2 (05:17):
I've got a brand new single out at the moment
called The Thing About Us?

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Okay? Is it any good?

Speaker 2 (05:21):
No?

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Because I'm just enjoying talking to you, that's all.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
I'm just trying to bou so we know'd much rather
to chat, all right.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
So we've got the new single this morning.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
You've got how many singles out from the forthcoming album?

Speaker 3 (05:33):
We've got four singles out and there's four more to
come on the record.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Okay, very good. And the album's out.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
Next month September twenty six.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
And the tours coming in the latter part of the
let me give the dates on that shortly, because in
the meantime we need to hear the new single, the
new single, which is called what.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
That's called the Thing about Us.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
Okay, it's asleep on a slotey. It's a walk home,
take a long way to get about the hustle and
the fasting, losing track of time with you. It's a
magic of the moment. It's the dashboard when it's glowing.

(06:15):
Here we go together and we know it. Everything is
better now, Baby. That's the thing about sunshine kissing on
my shoulder on a long drop. See the way you're
looking over your rights, reminding me of something good.

Speaker 5 (06:31):
Baby.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
That's the thing about louse Guy's fading like your blue
jeans feels right wrapped up in your rip teeth. We
know pieces are forever kind of love. Baby, that's the
thing about us. Baby, that's the thing about us, Because

(06:56):
you're reading my mind when I lost it, you keep
on track when I'm off it.

Speaker 5 (07:02):
What everybody's looking for, we got it. The sweetest thing
I ever found. Baby.

Speaker 4 (07:07):
That's the thing about sunshine kissing on my shoulder on
a long drive. See the way you're looking over your eyes,
reminding me of something good. Baby, that's the thing about
blue Skuy's fading like your blue jeans feels right wrapped.

Speaker 5 (07:25):
Up in your rip tea. We know this is a
forever kind of love. Baby. That's the thing about us.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
Yeah, baby, that's the thing about us, because we're falling
in deep at the right place, at the right time.
Can't believe I'm the one that's calling you mine. The
thing about real love, you really gotta show up and

(07:55):
a hard times think is never getting better.

Speaker 5 (07:59):
Long guy, thanking God that we're together, we'll say, because
we know we got something good. Maybe that's a thing
about loose guys.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
Yeah, they're gonna common go real laugh a he's an
easy role. But weena, this is a forever count of enough. Baby,
that's a thing about us. Oh yeah, baby, that's a
thing about us. Oh yeah, maybe that's.

Speaker 5 (08:30):
A thing about.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Instant reviews. Gosh, Mike, she has a lovely voice. Gosh,
don I love Kaylee Belsadega. Thank you the lapping you up.
So you've got the single, you got the album, you're
around the country. I'll give the dates in just a
couple of moments, and next time you bring jameson.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Absolutely and we'll have you willing to do some babies.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
We'll have a little sing along or a campfire or whatever.
It's lovely to see you, lovely to see you, and
we'll get you in again soon, Kaylee Bell.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
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