Getting Real with Lanie Gardner: Every Song’s a Snapshot — Faded Polaroids Out Sept 5

Lanie Gardner doesn’t just write songs—she writes pages of her life and turns them into music. After her viral cover of “Dreams” (63M+ and counting), she’s gone from small-town Carolina to the Grand Ole Opry stage, proving that authenticity still wins in a world full of noise.

Her upcoming album Faded Polaroids (Sept 5th) is more than just a follow-up to her debut EP—it’s a songwriter’s diary you’re invited to read. It’s messy, it’s vulnerable, it’s real life caught on tape.

Along the way, she’s collaborated with Thomas Rhett (What Could Go Right), Warren Zeiders (Loving in Letting Go), and even had Mick Fleetwood play drums on High Divin’. She’s made her Stagecoach debut, joined tours with Corey Kent and Gavin Adcock, and her songs have landed in Twisters and Queen of the Ring.

At just 25, she’s already living out prayers she used to whisper—singing Cry (a song she wrote at 16) on tour with Jelly Roll, making her Opry debut, and becoming one of country music’s most talked-about new voices.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Adam a.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Carry line. She's a queen and talking, so.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
She's getting really not afraid to feel.

Speaker 4 (00:19):
This episode soul.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Just let it flow.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
No one can do it quiet. Cary Line is sounding
car line. Okay, I'm so happy to be heard, Lady Gardner.
You're so cool. You're so cool, and that you came
in fresh off eating a chop bowl. I mean you're like,
I'm sorry, I'm just dwning some chopped salad. You need
some floss, got you hooked up to get it out?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
I did, Okay, I got it out good.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Well, you know, my dad's a dennist and he says
flossing your teeth is more important than brushing mm hmmm,
because all that stuff gets in there and it's rots. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, I have one of the water picks. Do you
have to use physical floss if you have like the
little water pick.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Or I don't know about a water pick? Does it work?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I guess it's like just forces water for your teeth.
That is just so much faster and it feels cleaner
to me than like the flossy Yeah, because I feel
I'm so like like disgusted.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
By what comes out that comes out.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
I'm like flashing, and then I'm like wiping it on
like a tissue so I don't have to like put
it back in my mouth to floss another suit if
it's really annoying.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
No, I know, I know, yeah, it's a thing.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
I gotta remember talking to this.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
I'm like, Laaney, So I started crying with you again.
I've been crying and all my interviews lately because my
daughter just went to kindergarten, and it's just like I'm
not I said, I'm not emotionally stable, and you said, good,
we'll have things to talk about. Yeah, but you are
emotionally stable.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh no, no, no, no, I've I I just I
don't know. I think I block it out sometimes whenever
I have to work, and then I go home and
then my boyfriend is like support animal, which.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Your boyfriend is very cute and also a singer. Thank
you for checking him out. I was like, dang, y'all
are a little haughty couple.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well he sings, he won't he won't sing for anybody.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
He's just like famous on Instagram. He just how did
he just become famous on Instagram? Well he's cute, he
is cute, and he doesn't wear shirts a lot he doesn't.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, i've you know, since we started dating.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
I was like, Okay, you're gonna put some clothes on.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
You're gonna have to put a shirt on, because I
don't know. I don't want to think the other girls
are just like watching.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Well you know they're watching. Yeah, I know. Is that
hard because I mean, first off, your first heartbreak that
you wrote your whole first album about, right, which is
a songwriter's diary. It wasn't that like a lot. Have
those songs been writing over for like years? Have you
been collecting those for years?

Speaker 4 (02:49):
Yep?

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Eve been in high school, so you've just been doing
this since high school.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah, And oh.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
We're gonna get back to your boyfriend Fisher is that
his name?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Okay, but your song uh, somewhere and Nowhere Carolina, And
I even printed them out because I wanted to get
the lyrics right. When you say this, and I'm an
emotional rec ord now because my daughter is growing up
and it is really hurting my feelings. I'm gonna cry.
But you say this and you say, like, no, this
is your mom one letters to home. God, don't even

(03:19):
get me started on that one. But you said, I'm
trying to find a reason why picking up this guitar
has gotten so hard. There was a time when the
sound of these strings would just fix about anything. Maybe
I was naive, Maybe I was thirteen when I sing
just to sing and I'm my god, you're gonna make
me cry.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
And I've been cried about that song in a while.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Because I'm like, you started because like you love it
and you're out and I know you still love it,
but now the stakes are just so high and you're
like singing. I saw you sing the national anthem with
the freaking rumble roll.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Or whatever the ww and there's like a million people,
the biggest terrifying.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
Arena or stadium I've ever seen, and you're singing with
no music, the national anthem. But then I go back
to these lyrics and I'm like.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
I like, I honestly, I do have to remind myself
why I started music in the first place, and that
was as a coping mechanism for everything, like everything I
was going through in high school, everything that I went
through through college, everything I'm going through now. And I

(04:27):
wrote that song when I was going through a really
long writer's block, Like I just I didn't I didn't
know what to write about.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
What did you How did you have a writer's block
at thirteen? When did you start writing?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Well, it's it was I I had a writer's block
like during like right after the Dreams cover, when everything
started to be in a business.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
How old were you when that happened? So you were
just kind of writing all these songs in high school
and then you just put Dreams the cover Fleetwood Mac
up on TikTok yep. Well, well you're in YouTube and
it just went everywhere. How did people find it? Well? A,
I mean, you're phenomenal that song. It's so great, But like,
how does a video where you're just singing all of

(05:09):
a sudden go viral? Like I never know how that happens.
You're incredible, But like as an accident, did you just
wake up to millions of views?

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Like millions, Yeah, like sixty three million or something.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
That number wasn't overnight, but it was up in the millions,
like over night, And it.

Speaker 3 (05:27):
Was just.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
I don't think because they're in COVID, everything was kind
of remote anyways, and so like so digital nothing felt
nothing totally felt real, And I think that's what kind
of was messing with a lot of people, and I
just felt lucky because I had music to kind of
be that real aspect for me that I could continue
to do in my home. So when I heard like

(05:52):
that that Dreams had resurfaced on the radio, I remembered
how much I loved and like connected to that song.
And I don't know, I just I wanted to sing
it and sing it for other people like family and friends,
definitely not sixty three million people. But and when I

(06:13):
did it, I just, uh, I mean, you can tell
in the video. I was just in n cranberry like
lounge clothes and like my hair was in a ponytail
and drinking cranberry juice that do.

Speaker 3 (06:24):
You drink that before you sing? No, you're just drinking it?

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well that was a it was a head nod to
Dogface at the time of skateboard guy. Did you ever
see him? So it was like a big thing and
it's it's what resurfaced Dreams on the radio was him,
I believe, so from from my knowledge, he was on
a skateboard and drinking Cranberry juice during like this whole

(06:47):
COVID thing, And I think it was like a a
reminder that there is still a world out here to
go outside, and it was just a happy vibe I
think for everybody during that time, because it was so
you know, not happy.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
Why did you connect with Dreams so much? Because I
really feel like that even when you were singing the
national anthem, like I was getting teary watching you because
like you're pausing, you're taking breasts, you're not rushing, like
you're feeling it in your whole existence. And I can
just see that with you when you sing, like you're
not just like going through the motions, like you are
like fully internalizing the song. Thank you, And you can

(07:28):
feel that with Dreams, and I'm sure that's why it
resonated so much. But why did you connect with that song?

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Because I was going through the same thing everybody else
is going through during COVID. It was just like it
was I don't even know if it was totally about
the words, I'll be honest, but music speaks to people
in different ways at different times, and during that time,
just the vibe of the song and the guitars and

(07:55):
the drums and Stevie's voice and everything, it just helped
me feel so calm and I don't know, just uh,
it just made me feel like everything was gonna be okay.
And I think that's probably why the Dreams cover that
I did resonated with so many people. I think that's

(08:15):
probably why it went viral. To be honest, that makes sense.

Speaker 3 (08:19):
That totally makes sense. So what were you going through
in high school and all those years, Because like I
feel like right now, like I am forty two years old.
I just turned forty two July thirty three. Both are
July babies, and I have lived through so many transitions
now in my life. Like I remember when I was
your age and like move into Nashville and I was
also doing music back in the day and like getting involved,

(08:40):
I mean, just putting yourself out there in a new way.
And like I'm seeing you put yourself out there in
such a big way, and like your music is connecting
and you're in front of a ton of people. You're
singing duets with Thomas Schreett and Warren Zyders, and you're
going on tour with Jail and like you're saying, like

(09:01):
you're just opening for like Cody Johnson, and like, like
I said, you're doing that ww is it w emmy
wwe wwe, And like you're seeing the national Anthem, and
it's like and that's just some of the stuff that
you're doing, and it's like you're really just like putting
yourself out there. And I am finding I found this

(09:22):
in my whole life. And I haven't been in a
growing pain in a long time, but like I am
in a massive growing pain right now, and it hurts
even though it's like good and things are like if
do you want things to progress forward? It is so
hard to expand your bandwidth and to like go to
that next level where it's like you're putting yourself out

(09:42):
there for so many more people to like feel your
energy and be a part of your energy.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
Feel do you feel that absolutely?

Speaker 3 (09:49):
And has it happened fast? And is your nervous system wrecked?
And how are you handling it?

Speaker 2 (09:54):
I did it? Did happen fast. Everything has happened so fast,
And it's honestly like kind of weird to like hear
some of those accomplishments like thrown back at me, because like,
because everything has happened so fast, I didn't really have
a whole lot of time to like, good job, you
did it, you know, whether you know if I was
in college and I was doing all of these things.

(10:16):
I feel like I would have had like a different perspective,
or maybe I wouldn't because I didn't know. I didn't
expect everything to happen so fast, and so I don't.

Speaker 3 (10:25):
Know how after dreams it all just happened.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, I was. I was just a college kid with
no follow like no massive amounts of followers or like
nobody was listening to my I don't even think I
had a song. I may have had one on SoundCloud.
I'd never put a song on Spotify. I'd never done anything.
I'd just put covers on YouTube, and I think I

(10:48):
may have put.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
So you had done that before, like many times, to
just put songs up there.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
That was like that was my way out of a
small town because I didn't think I was going to
go to out of state college first of all, because
I like we wouldn't have had money for that. And
then my parents like figured out a way to for
me to be able to get as close to Nashville
as possible, and that was MTSU.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
You have really good parents, don't you.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yeah, Yeah, they're like they are. They are the only
reason why I'm here today, they really are? They Any
anytime I wanted to quit or just like, oh, you know,
everyone's making fun of me at school, like school, Oh yeah,
why because I sang And I didn't do you know,
sports or like any of like the popular kids stuff.

(11:33):
And I no, I wasn't hanging out with the I
never fit in anywhere like during school. I didn't you
have the drama friends I did. I did. I had
friends from many different groups. I was kind of like
one of those little hoppers, you.

Speaker 3 (11:47):
Know, yeah that's good.

Speaker 2 (11:48):
And so I just liked I liked. I liked hanging
out with people that could make me laugh or just
make me happy, or they were they have like a
cool vibe to them, Like I just didn't really care
what group they were in, really, And so I hung
out with the drama kids and the the choir kids,
and the popular kids, and the rednecks and the you know,

(12:11):
I didn't really hang out too much with the golf kids.
But there was like one or two that I thought
were just like so cool.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
But who were the ones making fun of you most?

Speaker 2 (12:21):
You know, it was I think it was all over,
you know, in all of those groups obviously, you know,
the ones that weren't my friends. And I could I could.
I had a good head of my shoulders to figure out,
you know, who actually supported me and who kind of
just meant it as a joke.

Speaker 3 (12:39):
And so when you're in high school mm hmm.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yeah. But because I had my family and my and
my parents and also you know, music, it helped me
through everything. And that's why I like, I owe so
much to my mom and dad for encouraging a way
to cope with things on my own, if that makes sense.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
And that was music.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
That was music, and that's what diary is, because that
was my diary. I didn't write in a diary. I
just I wrote it out in songs.

Speaker 3 (13:13):
So tell me the main themes that you're going through
in that, because like the ones I loved. When did
you write letters to home? Letters? Yeah, letters to home?
Because that one kills me. I've read one line of
this too, especially where I am in my life right now,
I'm like, Okay, it's like chasing dreams, flying high with
the wings you built, letting go, leaving home to find

(13:34):
a life of my own. And I swear it still
scares me. But you gave me everything to grow. You've
made me strong enough to go. And then you say
this to your mom, and I this is so good
for your mom. She has to be so happy. You say,
sleep now, mama.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Oh my god, I couldn't even say it.

Speaker 1 (13:49):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
I'm just like in the throes of my girl growing
up right now, and I see you and I'm like,
oh my god, your mom did a good job.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
She did, and you're happy. Your dreams are making me cry.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
I'm sorry, lady, I'm like literally a record.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
No, no, it's okay.

Speaker 3 (14:04):
But you say, like, sleep my mama, rush her head,
dream on fields of flowers instead sleeping now, Daddy closed
her eyes, let her stit home. Say your baby girl,
baby girls, doing just fine. And then you say prepared
to lose and to win, prepared to fall, and to
stand through the ground though the ground crumbles on my feet,
and to love you show me how you pick me
up when when I was down for that I'll make

(14:27):
you proud. And I'm like, oh my gosh, that is
so great. I'm sorry so much.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
I've never really read those lyrics like that. I've always
just sang them, but it really does, you know, it resonates,
and my mom used to listen. I wrote that when
I was back in college.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
I would listen to that song every day.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
If I was your mom, she listened to it at night.
She when you were gone as a lulla by, and
she would listen to all of my music. Whenever she
would start worrying about me or thinking about me or whatever,
she would just listen to it so she could go
to sleep that night, have peace of wine.

Speaker 3 (15:03):
But the fact that you can write that and put
your thoughts into a song and write that down and
like give that gift to your parents.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
I wanted to give. I wanted to give them both
like a lullaby at night, because like they didn't write
I didn't really none of them were lullabies, you know, necessarily,
but it was like, you know, I uh, I wanted
to give them something because it was like that's that's
definitely scary, and I know like as a mom, one day,

(15:30):
I'm going to go through that and like I'm gonna
need a lullaby, you know what. I So, anyway, thanks
for that.

Speaker 3 (15:37):
I'm sorry. I wish I could have prepared you break.
Your other publicist said she's an emotional wreck, beware and
still am. I'm always an emotional wreck. But like add
my daughter going to kindergarten, and then you're writing a
song to your mom about how you've grown up and you're.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Okay, and I'm like, oh, it's okay, sor right.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
So your parents always believed in you and they got
you to you said, where'd you go to college? MTSU
were but like these growing pains. So it's like you're
in your hometown, like and you wrote your song like
nowhere somewherewhere nowhere in Carolina, and it's like you miss
those days of kind of just like you know.

Speaker 2 (16:26):
Somewhere like it was like somewhere in Carolina nowhere in
my career and it sounds like so funny and like,
but you know what, like you have such a sex
successful career, like why would you wish it away? And
I think I just wanted a sense of like normality
and to go back to where music was just something

(16:47):
that I coped with and it wasn't a business. I've
learned to balance that out now, But during that time
when everything was just kind of like thrown at me,
it was like I felt a piece of me just
like ripped out, a huge piece. Yeah, just the meaning
of music to me was just like ripped out. And
I was like no, like I'm nothing without it.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
You know why how did that happen? Because I feel
like sometimes when you get to Nashville and you get
in the machine, it's like you've been writing your whole life.
It was your coping mechanism. You wrote all these songs
by yourself in high school. Is your outlet? Yeah, and
then you go viral and now all of a sudden,
here comes Nashville knocking on your door and they're like,
we want you, we want you, we love you. And
then they get involved, and it's like as soon as

(17:27):
the machine gets involved, it's it becomes this business. And
now it's like this they found you and they love
you for your creativity and what your expression, but now
they're trying to like turn it into money making machine.
Did you feel the pressure of like you need to
change stuff like this? And you're with Broken Bow and
they're really great. I keep letting the artists stay true
in themselves. I feel like I feel like they actually

(17:49):
do a great job for a major record deal. But
still when you get in the system, it's like, right
all of a sudden, they're like telling you, like I
don't even know what came your way right away, Like
what happened when you got in and it started changing.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
They the label that I was with at the time,
just really didn't know who I was, and they decided
to sign you.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Then well they.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Just they were a lot of labels. I think at
the time, just from my knowledge was they were kind
of taking kids like viral off yeah, viral kids off
of the Internet and then signing them and then not
knowing who they are, not knowing who they are going
through what I call build a bear process of just
like what what can we create? Rather than an artist

(18:34):
who has their art, which is their voice and their
you know, what they write, they didn't really they don't
really care about that unless it's something that's like super
interesting or like you've got like this big, you know,
sad story, or like I don't know, it's just it's
just the build a bear thing. And I didn't want

(18:55):
to do that.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
I knew you knew you didn't want to do that.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah when you were young, yeah one, twenty one, yeah,
twenty one.

Speaker 3 (19:03):
Not be influenced, not be like like you know, overpowered.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, yeah, I h they wanted me to go into
like pop, like super pop music, and I wanted to
sing country music and I wanted to sing things with
like real messages, and I wanted to tell stories, and
I wanted to not saying pop music isn't real messages.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
But it's just different, different one messages.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yeah, but yeah, and and to storytell and also stay
in the South, just to stay, just to stay near
home and stay where I've I've felt most myself. And
so I didn't want to go to La and do
the whole La Hollywood thing. I had no desire to

(19:47):
do any of that. And so in that I was
told a lot of things that I had never heard
in my life before, like.

Speaker 3 (19:56):
What like.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
You need to be uh sure of yourself, and like
you need to be like you need to be able
to pinpoint your certain genre and and it just seemed
very boxy to me.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
Like when you just put me in a box and
you've just been fluid your whole life, just writing your inspiration.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Just free spirited about the whole thing. Just like I
was able to write whatever I wanted to, and all
of a sudden, I had to write what everyone else
wanted me to or just something that was if that
would be commercial on radio, Yeah, yeah, I think I
think if you I think if someone boxes themselves in,
which is fine. You know, some people do because that's

(20:42):
just how they are able to like put out their craft.
But that was just not me. So I don't know.
It was you gotta stay consistent, at least with one thing,
whether that's being free spirited or boxing something into a
genre that you you know you want to keep here.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
So what did you do with all what happened? Where
is your nervous system like freaking out?

Speaker 1 (21:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (21:07):
I had, I'd ever I'd actually had like two panic
attacks in one month, and I'd never had a panic
attack before. I've had like anxiety, you know things, but
i never had a true panic attack where like my
body just completely What caused it?

Speaker 3 (21:22):
I've had two panic attacks too? What caused your panic attacks?

Speaker 2 (21:25):
I had gotten off the phone with my manager at
the time, and he was kind of just like going
over a lot of stuff, and it made me just
realize how like stuck in this I was because I
was with a label that I would probably have to
pay all this money back to, and like now I'm
in debt and I you know, they're not wanting to
do what I want to do, and they're not putting

(21:46):
out my music, and I'm not being able to I
haven't been able to write because it's different for another label. Yeah,
it was another label and another manager. It was just
another team at the time. And I think it was
just so early in my career, like there and everything
was happening so fast, no one really took the time
to figure out what I wanted to do, and so

(22:08):
everything just felt I felt like imposture syndrome. I felt
just completely lost. I felt, you know, disappointed because I
was like, this is not how this is supposed to go,
and just hopeless about the whole thing. And so a
little trapped. Yeah, just trapped. And and for someone who
is a true like free spirit that really takes a
toll on somebody and really messes with you. So and

(22:34):
it did, and it really, it really messed with me during.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
That How did it become How did it become like
in your physical body? How did it materialize?

Speaker 2 (22:43):
I I just didn't want to I didn't want to
do anything. The motivation was gone, and you can see
it in uh, some of the videos that I was doing.
I wasn't talking how I was raised. I was you know,
you know, throwing the F bomb around and just being

(23:05):
completely honest, like that's not how I was raised. And
you know, I was raised to be more intelligent, I
think than that just throwing it around like randomly.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Kind of like for effect.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah, And it was like I was, I was trying
to keep up with what they wanted me to do,
but also figure out a way to kind of sneak
out of it. And I think I was just like
rebelling against my own aspirations, my own I was rebelling
against me. It's really conflicting and it's really hard to

(23:41):
put into words.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
But what a hard place to be in mentally. And
you're so young and you haven't really lived a lot
of big, huge life experiences. Yet you're in a business now,
a big business now with a lot of people.

Speaker 2 (23:54):
A lot of access, a lot of things.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Yes, you're having to navigate this at twenty one years old.
No wonder people's mental health is shot, you know when
you get going so young, because how do you even
have the tools? You know, which you have figured it out,
which is incredible, but like, how do you even know
how to handle yourself? Like I can't handle my daughter
going to kindergarten, which is just like everyone knows that happens,
but this is like, now you're having the world come

(24:18):
at you, right, and people getting involved in your life, yeah,
and telling you how to live.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, it was like, yeah, it was. It was. I
think I think my brain has blocked out a lot
of it because a lot of regret obviously came from
that time, and I was drinking a lot during that time,
and so I don't I think I remember a lot

(24:44):
of it, and it's just like kind of self medicating,
it was, yeah, And I think it's because I had
had the only way I've ever coped with anything just
ripped away from me, and I didn't know how else
to cope with things, and so I turned out and
I turned to not hard drugs, but just like you know,

(25:04):
smoking and like whatever.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
And you have another song about that too, Yeah, talk
about what is It? It's in your diet letter. Uh,
it's in this first album what is It? When you
were talking about.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Somewhere nowhere in Carolina. Yeah, it's like, you know, the
skipping stones instead of getting stone, Yes, all of those things,
and it's just it's but it's so real. And I
think I've talked to you know, a couple of other
artists about it, some people who are like really high
in the music industry and just hearing how lost that

(25:35):
they were and like how much they craved the small
town stuff before all of this happened. And I was like,
I don't want to be like that, but I don't,
you know, look at them, Like a lot of people
don't escape it. You know, a lot of people don't
don't figure it out. And I just didn't want to
be one of those people. And so I like started

(25:56):
trying to force myself to write. And somewhere nowhere in
Carolina that came out of that, and it was just
like literally I was writing it, staring up at a ceiling,
and I'm just like, what do I want to say?
And I, you know, what is it that that is
crumbling inside of me? And it was it was just
I miss home, I miss my guitar, I miss the music,

(26:19):
I miss just the simple things of life before all
the fame and you know, having to fly everywhere and
just the busy, busy life. Anyway, Yeah, just like that.
I think that's why it like comes in so direct
with that song that's staring at my ceiling trying to
find the reason why picking up this guitar has gotten

(26:42):
to be so hard because it was so when.

Speaker 3 (26:45):
Did you shift? When did it take a turn? For
like you feel like you got back on top of
like your career, like you got back in the driver's seat.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
When the label dropped me out, Yeah, yep, And I
think that was and it was a miracle that they
dropped me, and so I definitely I blame I blame
God for that because there was no way there was
just it was so random and so sudden that it happened.

(27:14):
And it was.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
Like do they sign you so fast? And then they
like tried it for a little while and they're like, Okay,
we're gonna.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
I was with them for two years. Yeah. So I
was with them for two years, and I don't know,
like during that time, I was just getting like so frustrated,
and I was writing songs like somewhere Nowhere in Carolina,
and you know, I was just like, you know what,
I I'm just gonna wait this one out. And I
turned to God during the whole thing of just like
give me the patience and give me the strength to

(27:40):
get through it. And all of a sudden, I get
a message one day that the label would be dropping me,
and I was not upset, were you so happy? I
was so I was so relieved you were. Yeah, I
was so relieved.

Speaker 3 (27:54):
So then what did you do? Now? You're on your
own again, which is great because you were before. But
did you, like were you? Did you want to pursue
more more opportunity in Nashville or are you just gonna
be like I'm just gonna kind of go back.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
I was still writing during that time, with like co writing.
I'd started co writing. I'd never co written a song before. Okay,
so I I, uh, I stopped co writing and started
I went back to the like, you know, the basics,
just to try to find me again, to just restart
the whole thing. And I think that's I fell off

(28:27):
the face of the earth pretty much after Dreams happened,
and so I took that as an opportunity to kind
of like hide from the world for a second while
I reminded myself who I was.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
You know, is that where polaroids and like faded polaroids
are coming is coming from?

Speaker 2 (28:43):
Yeah? Yeah, okay, some of the songs in there, and
those are those were songs that I was too kind
of nervous to bring like the idea into a room.
So yeah, like definitely a songwriters diary. All those we're
songs I would have never written with anybody else.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
But it's vulnerable to share your stories with people and
bring them into your room and be.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Like, okay, into your mind too. Yeah, so I'm like,
I don't know if I'll want to come in here,
but yeah, that's a fad of Polaroids is the the
first album was all like one hundred percenters or whatever,
and then fad of Polaroids is all like co writing
and kind of like just a level up.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Did you like co writing?

Speaker 2 (29:28):
Yeah, it depends. It depends on who it is. Speed
Dating isn't we call it speed dating? And just writing
with a different writer all the time isn't always very
fun because you're having like talk to strangers about.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Your whole life everything. I know, you walk into a
room and you're literally like, let me spill my whole guts.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Yeah, is what I'm going through right now.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
It's a lot.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah. Yeah, it sounds a lot better in songs than
how it was all the conversation, like how it was written.
So yeah, but I enjoy I'm starting to like hone
in on the couple of people that I really enjoy
riding with that that seem to get who I am
and like my writing style and everything. We all kind

(30:10):
of have our own little jobs in the writing room.

Speaker 3 (30:23):
So then like things have happened so fast, So like
we're talking about all that, you're CMT, next Woman of Country.
You're like the Academy Country, like the Grammys or something, right,
they like picture as the artist to watch. You're doing
the national anthem. You're having two songs and movies like
you have a song on Twisters and then you have
a song in what's the other movie, Queen of the
Ring Quick two songs in that? I mean, did that?

(30:45):
How did that all happen? Just start happening in lightning fast?
And how did you get signed? Again?

Speaker 2 (30:49):
I yeah, a lot of these things just started kind
of like falling into our laps, which is great with
like the the UFC thing and why it was just
a fan of like my songs and so he started
that whole thing. So I got daughter of a Yeah,
he had seen Dreams and then I think he had

(31:10):
seen another one of my songs and like really liked it,
and so he I think he like commented on a
story or something and he was like this is awesome.
Stop it. So I was like hi, and then he
it was his idea, like he he it was his
idea to bring like Daughter of a Gun into like

(31:31):
one of the the events and so uh, just random
stuff has happened, but the like the coolest stuff though too.
And he's always been He's still very very supportive of everything.
He's constantly like sitting fire emojis on, like stoping oh

(31:52):
grand ol Opry debut. Fire Emoji just released a new song,
fire Emoji. He's very he he's very very kind and
just what.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
A got to have in your corner. Yeah, I mean
like random too, he just found you on the internet.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
So yeah, there's a couple of artists that really kind
of took me under their wing.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
And jelly Roll. Jelly Roll definitely another huge one.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
Jelly Roll.

Speaker 3 (32:18):
I feel like he's like a pastor. Yeah. I mean
he is like saving the world up there. Yeah, in
his way.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
You know, he definitely gives a hand down to the
smaller artist. I always talk about Landy Wilson, Like when
I first met her, she just, uh it was kind
of crazy because she was like I know you, and
I was like you know me, I know you, and
it was just anyway, like we uh, anytime I have
a question or anything, I just text her about it

(32:46):
and she said, I don't know everything, but you can
always text me, which I found like really really.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
Cool, how sweet. Yeah, she really is just like rooting
for everybody like artists, like she wants you y'all are
all I feel like this whole batch of young women
who are coming up like really like so talented, absolutely
that it's like y'all all are so your own person
that you all have your own lane immediately, you know, yep,
do you feel that camaraderie?

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Absolutely? Absolutely. I was actually talking to another one, Ella Langley.
She had came off of stage and I caught her
backstage and I was just gonna tell her that she
did a great job, and she was like, come sit
with me in front of my RV. And I was like, okay, yeah,
I've met Ella in a writer's round prior, so if

(33:34):
we had already like known each other, and but we
sat there and we just talked about that exact thing,
and she was just like, you find your people here
and it's really important for like women to really like
stick together in this industry. And I just I don't
know especially when I got like invited into the next

(33:55):
Women of Country talking to Laurna Lena on her podc
or thing. It just felt like, you know, she was like,
you know, we've got your back. I don't know, it's
just like a rite of passage into that. And it
felt like I wasn't as lonely as I had felt
over the last couple of years, just trying to figure

(34:17):
everything out of my own so truly.

Speaker 3 (34:20):
And I feel like in the past, like women were
always pitted against each other, and I just feel like
that is like changing, like theake time, especially with your crew. Yeah,
you know, h because all y'all don't want Nobody wants
to be pitted against each other. That's not fun, no,
and it doesn't feel good. Yeah, and you know that everyone,
everyone knows each other is talented and everyone deserves to
have their spot, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
Yeah. Our purpose is to in my opinion, our you know,
my purpose as an artist is to uplift people and
like help people cope. And I feel like not just
for the fans, but also for other people in the
industry as well. And I think that's what makes it
so special, like talking to these these women and just

(35:02):
being able to kind of like lean on them during
the whole thing.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
I love that you keep talking about like coping because
like isn't that life though, Yeah, And like you said,
with each new level, you're like it just gets harder. Yeah, Yeah,
it does, doesn't it.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
But you like you learn, you learn how to like
figure out those things and everything that. Looking on the
bright side of things, like everything that's bad that happens
to you, you learn something that may help you with
something harder that I know for a fact, like I
wouldn't have been able to handle all of this in
high school, but all of those things that happened in

(35:37):
high school, I think.

Speaker 3 (35:37):
Like built resilience.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
Yeah, and like made me who I am today, which
is the whole you know, theme of Faded Polaroids.

Speaker 3 (35:44):
Like, so, tell me about Faded Polaroids because that's coming
out September fifth, right, Yes, are you so excited?

Speaker 2 (35:49):
I'm so excited.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Well tell me about this one because this is like
your second full length album, right yeah, yep, sophomore album,
sophomore album.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
Yeah, Faded Polaroid. It's I think something that I really
wanted to do with this project was to what's the word,
uh explain kind of like how my brain works. We'll
just further introduce myself and like how I think, and

(36:21):
like how you know, the things that I've learned to
hopefully influence other people to like maybe help them with things,
because that's how music has always been for me. It's
always been like a way of learning things on a
deeper level. And it's really how I tend to kind
of live my life is just through other people's words

(36:42):
and other people's experiences. And so with Faded Polaroids, the
Faded Polaroids is the is the title track of the
album too, And uh, it's my favorite song.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
On the entire album, And why do you like it
so much?

Speaker 2 (36:57):
I just I there's like snap I wrote it looking
at a scrap book of like old pictures that my
grandpa had, like putting a scrapbook of his family and
his family before that, so like these generational things of pictures,
and then I just I wanted to whenever I look

(37:23):
at anything like that, I'm able to kind of dive
into that moment in time, whether I know anything about
it or not, and dissect a picture of just like
I wonder what they were thinking. Just the common curiosity
with just time in general, and I wanted to figure

(37:50):
out what made me me just coming out of that
whole you know era that we were just talking about,
what'd you land on? Just like the like I and
I'm someone who is complicated for one, how so mine,

(38:13):
like my mind is complicated, and like how I how
I how I try to express things through words is complicated.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
Why do you feel that way?

Speaker 2 (38:21):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (38:22):
I just hard I'm getting it out or hard time
getting it out or into like finding the words to
say it. Okay with with.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
With songwriting, I'm able to do it through music, but
speaking is so a different story, and so like putting
it into like just normal conversation is kind of like difficult,
I think for me. So anytime I do anything like.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
This, You're doing a great job.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
Thank you. I'm like, Okay, Laney, speak English, don't speak
the gibberish. It's in your head all the time. I
love it. No, that's great though, Yeah, But I think
I think that's what's my whole point is just like
the self journey, the self awareness, figuring out how to
express yourself through words, to be able to communicate with
people rather than you know, communicating through your phone or

(39:12):
like videos, on YouTube or like anything like that, or
even music. Figuring out how to communicate with other people
is something that I wanted to encourage with the album.
And the only way to do that is to figure
out who you are and dig deep. And I don't
know that the environment that you can make for yourself

(39:33):
knowing those things is is what's going to make life
the best I think, or better than maybe it is
right now or whatever. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
Just you feel if you found who you were on
this album? Yeah, how would you describe yourself right now?
How would you describe yourself right now?

Speaker 2 (39:54):
I don't know. I like to I'm very curious with time.
I'm very curious with history. I love music. I love
my family and my friends and God, and I love
the simple things. I like old things. Uh. I like

(40:15):
to think of myself as a good person with you know,
tendencies that I'm trying to fix all the time.

Speaker 3 (40:28):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
I think I think that's where I think. That's where
I'm at right now so far.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
Yeah, how do you communicate with God?

Speaker 2 (40:38):
I communicate with him, I think again. Music was like
a big thing for me in church. That was how
I felt his spirit the most. And so listening to
pianos is usually the how you know, I really feel
like I connect spirit to spirit, you know.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
So.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
And then also just prayer, whether that's frustrated prayer or
a karate prayer or a happy prayer. I just I
talked to him like another person, but obviously with respect,
and like, you know, I just I talk I just

(41:23):
talked to him.

Speaker 3 (41:24):
Do you feel him guiding you? Like? Can you feel
it when like God's opening and closing the doors?

Speaker 2 (41:28):
Yeah, I have to be in tune with it there,
I know, right, you know.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
And I noticed like through when I was figuring out
who I was, and like all the simple things aside
from my phone, aside from the fame, aside from people
have done me wrong, the hate that I've had for people,
or like the the heartbreak I've had or whatever, when
all of those things are kind of just like out

(41:52):
of my mind and I'm doing things that I used
to do as a kid, you know, a more innocent time.
There's a reason I think why we we go back
in time for childhood memories because life was a lot
simpler than but God was able to communicate with us
a lot easier when we had an innocent mind, and
so I think whenever I try to do those things

(42:15):
and put myself in a better mindset, I'm able to
communicate with him like I used to. You know, if
that makes sense, It does make sense. So yeah, that's
something else i'd want to There's so many meanings behind
this album, and I don't think i'd have all the
time of the world to like explain it. But the

(42:38):
best way to figure out what it's saying is just
go and listen to the songs, each and every song.
Connect to which one that you like and like you
were doing, like read the lyrics. I don't think people
really read lyrics anymore or listen to the message.

Speaker 3 (42:55):
Well, you know why I really love your stuff too,
is because I know you're being honest. You're not just
like writing something because you're trying to get a hooky
song cut on the radio and you want, like I mean,
of course you want success and hits and all that,
but like, but these are like real songs, Like I
can tell this is your life, yeah, and these are
your stories, and so like I want to know what
you're saying because I'm like I can feel that you

(43:17):
were telling me your truth and like telling me like vulnerability,
like things that you've gone through and you're not but
you're not just trying to like get a hit, you know,
which is fine when people do that, But I really
don't gravitate so much to that those kind of songs,
you know, yeah, like you are like pouring your heart out.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
I get I honestly, it's it's more fruitful to me
to know that somebody resonated with a song or learned
something from some you know, a song that I wrote,
or a certain chre progression that's there, or like anything
any part of a song. It's more fruitful to me
to know that they have learned something from that, whether

(43:55):
about themselves, about other people, to then take that out
into the world themselves and blossom something else that's I'll
probably never see, but like it's out in the world,
and with that, you know, you get enough people doing that,
the world could slowly become a better place.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
I think, you know, Yes, So how do you manage
dating when you're on the road, because you're dating this
really cute influencer you're very successful, how do you navigate that?
And how did you get trusted again? Because I know

(44:36):
you had a really big heartbreak yeah, how it sounded
like he maybe did you wrong?

Speaker 2 (44:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (44:42):
The first guy? Yeah, and what did jerk?

Speaker 2 (44:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (44:46):
Well I I dealt with a lot of that through
like angry songs, so I didn't really go too hard
into like heartbreak songs because I just wasn't he mad?

Speaker 2 (44:57):
Yeah, I was just mad.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
Yeah, And yeah that one, I was like, yeah, you
tell him, like, what is it? What does the course
of that say?

Speaker 2 (45:05):
Basically? It basically hoped, which oh my gosh, I actually well,
I wrote this before my last breakup. I wrote that
when I was about seventeen in high school and it
was my first heartbreak i'd ever been through.

Speaker 3 (45:21):
How long had y'all dated?

Speaker 2 (45:24):
I don't even think we ever like dated, but it
was one of those you know, it.

Speaker 3 (45:31):
Was like big when you're in high school, your first
like it was my first love and I'm like, oh
my god, yeah, yes.

Speaker 2 (45:38):
Yep, he went to a different school and did.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
We feel the same way?

Speaker 2 (45:43):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (45:44):
Are you more in love? And he was kinda you
are kind of baits me girlfriend, dot here's the thing
so much, here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
I think he did, but don't we all? He obviously
didn't you know.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
And you know it It crushed you. Yeah, yeah, because
it was the first time you met someone who were like,
I feel love for you.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Yeah yeah, and I thought he felt it back. Yeah,
And it was like obviously a lot more serious than
I'm letting on, I guess, but he he I went
to church with him, and it was like a whole
whole little thing. So I didn't get to see him
a whole lot. So of course, you know, with distance, Oh,
there's a lot of things you can get wrong.

Speaker 3 (46:29):
Oh yeah, and create big stories in your mind, especially
when you're seventeen.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
So when Cry was written, it wasn't as emotional as
it is now, just from all the like repetitive heartbreaks
and like disappointments and frustration. Yeah, girl, I'll be chasing
it down.

Speaker 3 (46:48):
I was never good at dating. I was probably the
world's worst dater. Yeah, I feel like you'd be a
great dater, and anyone was so lucky to date you.

Speaker 2 (46:56):
I I look for the best in people way too early,
you know. And and I'm definitely one of those people
that's like I'll fix him. I'll be the one to
fix I'm a fixer, and you know, I uh, there's
some people that just gate be fixed so so anyway,

(47:19):
but he he was, he was one of them at
the time. Granted this was in high school. You know,
this kid is, you know, trying to figure out his
own life too. But anyway, and what I was gonna
say before was I think Gabby Barrett she beat me
to it with like the I hope thing because I
had never released anything, and so when she put out

(47:43):
that song, I was like, dang it. And I think
it was like the first time that I realized, well,
maybe maybe I can do the whole songwriting thing and
people may want to hear like what I write about,
but anyway, it's just fun facts. Yeah, I wrote Cry.
I'd already written Cry when I had like had that
realization of just like, Okay, maybe I can do this,

(48:04):
and I was I was about yeah, like sixteen or seventeen.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
How so, how do you and Fisher keep it going?
How are you dating?

Speaker 2 (48:13):
Almost two years?

Speaker 3 (48:14):
Almost two years in November.

Speaker 2 (48:16):
I kept it like we kind of kept it on
the down low for a while because both of our
fan bases. There's some people in it that just they
are not happy.

Speaker 3 (48:25):
Why.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
I don't know, It's it's just I think there's some
people out.

Speaker 4 (48:30):
There that, you know, the Lulu people out there that
think that there is a chance between them and you know,
somebody that they're a fan of.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
It could happen. It's a normal you know, it can happen.
I will never forget when Matt Damon married a waitress
that he met and they're still married with three kids,
because I think to myself, that could be me.

Speaker 2 (48:51):
Yeah, one day, it's true. You know, it's true.

Speaker 3 (48:54):
Yes, And I'm like, you could be a regular old
person and you could meet Matt Damon and they could
fall in love.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Yeah. Yeah, But I have to say, you know the
fifty year olds that out here like, uh, Fisher, that's
my girlfriend. I have to sign. There's no way so anybody,
anybody that's still doing that.

Speaker 3 (49:14):
Are you protective over him? Do you feel like you
have to? Do you feel like you have to guard
yourself because like he is a public figure and so
cute online without a shirt on all the time. I mean,
you're so hot online, but ya like hot online? I
uh uh? How do you feel safe? How do you
all make each other feel secure?

Speaker 2 (49:32):
Well? To be honest, like something, there's a lot of
his his fan base that actually does like me, which
is you know. So, so that's good. There's a there's
you know, a select few that obviously come into my
comments or my dms with you know, crazy stuff, but
it's never anything that that I'm really affected by, I

(49:52):
think because they're Delulu.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
Anyway, how do you guys stay like strong?

Speaker 2 (50:01):
He actually comes on the road with me often. Yeah.
He being working with social media, he's able to go
wherever he really wants to. But yeah, he goes to
with me to a lot of my events, a lot
of my shows, and uh, yeah, it's not super hard

(50:22):
to make time for each other right now. That's great,
but that could change.

Speaker 3 (50:26):
That's great.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
Hopefully it doesn't.

Speaker 3 (50:28):
But yeah, okay, because a lot of people like don't
want to be in a relationship when they're budding in
their careers. You know. Yeah, you feel opposete.

Speaker 2 (50:35):
When I first started, yeah, I just didn't have time
to really like really get into deep with anybody. But
when I met him, he was just he was somebody
that was able to, like I guess, like bring me
back down to earth, and he just reminded me of

(51:00):
simple things.

Speaker 4 (51:01):
You know.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
He wasn't a celebrity and he like not really but
like anybody in like a consistent like having to be
out in front of people like artists or anybody in
the music industry. He was just he seemed normal, you know,
even though he wasn't with TikTok. But he just reminded

(51:23):
me of the simple things. And that's why I think
drew me so much towards him. And he was just
real and he was nice and he was kind and
he seemed to lack me. But this time it went well,
you know, he stayed that way. Maybe that's what it was.

(51:45):
He just stayed that way, you know, and I didn't
scare him off, so like it was.

Speaker 3 (51:50):
I do not believe you could see him. You're so
adorable than you are. You're so fun dudeks. So do
you see your parents a lot? Uh? Yeah.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
They they come out to like a couple of shows
every every you know, chance they get, and they'll come
out to Nashville. They follow me around for sure, because
I can't come home as often, so they just come
to me. Now as siblings, I don't usually I don't
get to see them a whole lot, but the.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
Older younger siblings both your a middle child, yes, okay.
Is it is it true that middle child or like,
is the middle child syndrome? True, yeah, that is what
is the middle child syndrome?

Speaker 2 (52:30):
Well, we just kind of like no one really pays
attention to us, so like we're able. But I will say,
for some reason, I think middle children get in trouble
for a lot more things. You think. So, I think
the youngest gets away with a lot of things because.

Speaker 3 (52:48):
You're supposed to like be a good example to the youngest.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
Yeah, and then the oldest. You know, this is the
first time a parent is doing what they're doing, so
that they get away with a lot of things.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Yeah, and they don't have time to baby. You can
babies here now, yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
Yeah, and then like middle child, they're just like they
don't have time to like give leeway because it's like
if that leeway gets too far away, they have to
handle it. They don't have time to do that. You know,
they don't have time to fix that.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
That makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
I think we're I think we're the kind of like
the the black sheep of families and middle children. It's fun.
I like being a middle child.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
Everything's fine.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
I've poured my song, my feelings and my songs that
I'm totally fine now they leave me alone, you know, voluntary,
voluntarily or not. You know, I'm just left alone. Lay.
Are you a middle child?

Speaker 3 (53:37):
No, I'm a youngest child.

Speaker 2 (53:39):
Oh okay, okay, So how do you did you feel
like you got away with a lot of things?

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Uh? Yeah, I felt like I was probably my My
sister was super capable and very type A. So she
was like in charge of everything, so smart, so driven,
so like just like your typical first child, like she
was crushing the game of life.

Speaker 2 (54:00):
To talk about my siblings that way, And.

Speaker 3 (54:02):
So then I came around and I was like, I
can't do anything. I don't know how to like survive,
help me, and so I kind of felt like I
was just like a disaster my whole life. And so
I think I probably annoyed her because she's so capable
and she's like, why can't you just figure this out
and get it done, Like I can't, you know, And
I'm like, but.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
I don't know how, yeah, And so I don't know.

Speaker 3 (54:25):
Our dynamic was always like yeah, she's great. I mean,
she's like my rock. I like lean on her because
she just knows answers to everything. So she always knows yes,
and I never know, like she knows, and I don't.
I feel like that's it, Like she knows the way
and I am just having to figure it out with
like bleeding guts everything. You know.

Speaker 2 (54:44):
There was four of us. We had like different levels.

Speaker 3 (54:46):
Four. Oh my gosh, that's a lot. That's a lot
of kids.

Speaker 2 (54:50):
We have a really big family. My mom had like
five brothers and then like a long lost sister that
came later.

Speaker 3 (54:57):
Did she know she had a long lossister? No? Did?
Were her parents still married and the longest sister showed
up or were was like somebody divorced.

Speaker 2 (55:05):
No, this was a baby that my grandma had put
up for adoption, like when she was young, and no
one knew about it. None of the family knew about
it the day. People didn't talk about that stuff. But
she is like she is just the salt of the earth.
Her name's Mary, and she's you know, my mom used

(55:27):
to cry about wanting to have a sister, and then
Mary showed up. And Mary showed up, you know, so she.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
Uh wow, how did Mary? How old was Mary when
she showed up?

Speaker 2 (55:37):
She obviously the oldest out of everyone.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
I don't know, was she like a grown grown oh.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Yeah girl, grown adult? Yeah? It actually just happened. I mean,
like several years.

Speaker 3 (55:52):
Ago, did she get to meet her real mom Mary? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (55:54):
Yeah, she actually found her. She found her.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
How did Mary and the mom? How was all that?

Speaker 2 (56:00):
I think I know I can hear. Yeah, sure, Like hell,
I think it was shock For one. I'm just like,
oh my gosh, I have a sister. I have a sister,
Like you know, I've always wanted one, and so I
think it was like shock in the in the beginning
of it. But they I think they talk often now

(56:22):
and Mary comes to my shows and she's very she
fit right in. You know, we love her, and she's
she's my aunt Mary.

Speaker 3 (56:28):
Now you know, Wow, that's a story.

Speaker 2 (56:31):
She's my only blood aunt. My dad had brothers, so
like she's my only blood aunt.

Speaker 3 (56:38):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
Just kind of funny.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
Lady, what a life you've lived to be twenty six
years old. I mean, I cannot believe all the things
that you have accomplished in all that's happening for you
and how fast it's going. So I'll wrap up with this,
but what is success for you? Like, what what is
the dream? Where do you hope it all goes?

Speaker 2 (57:01):
I just want to be I want to be happy,
and I want to have a good life, and I
want to be mom one day. And I want to
be able to make music for the rest of my
life and hopefully be able to make a living doing it.
And I want to I want to experience all the
things that life in the world has to offer, and

(57:25):
I don't know, do the most with the time that
I've got down here. It's true, I just want all
of that. That is so beautiful. I mean it like
I really do. It's to live your.

Speaker 3 (57:37):
Life to the fullest. Yeah, with all the gifts that
you've been given and all the opportunities, and so you
really don't have an agenda for where it goes. You
just want to go with it.

Speaker 2 (57:45):
Yep. I just wanted I want to experience what God
has planned for me because I know it's going to
be good.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
That is so beautiful, Okay. And I always wrap up
with leave your light, and it's just some uh inspiration.
What do you want people to know? What do you
want them to leave with? What kind of inspiration do
you want to drop on them?

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Right now? I want people to be who they are,
but first like figure that out to a deep level
and to laugh and sing and dance and cry, and

(58:32):
you know, I just I want I want people to
experience all the you know, the things that I've experienced
just from the simple act of just like communicating with
people and spending time with your loved ones and spending
time with God and listening to music and just find

(58:52):
find the simple things in life. I think my favorite,
like one of my favorite songs on the album is
take the Slow Ride, and it's just literally just slow down.
That's that is my advice. It's just that's why I
want people know. It's just slow the heck now, because
it'll all be gone so quick if you don't, you know,

(59:14):
so that I.

Speaker 3 (59:15):
Love that, Okay. And then one last thing that you
just reminded me of. You recorded a song You're I'm
gonna look at I Can't Find on Her with Fleetwood
Mac Yeah, Nick, Nick, with you did Dreams. And then
full circle you're recording a song and he's playing drums
on it. Yes, what is the song?

Speaker 2 (59:32):
High Diving? Another self reflection song, but that one's not
so nice to yourself.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
But you're in a kind of a dark place.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
Yeah. Yeah, that was also during that that era of music. See,
it's a blessing and occurs. During that time, I made
great music and I learned a lot from it. But
High Divin was really just the song I wrote about
the journey of like self sabotage and like the the
dark side of self awareness is you start using things

(01:00:02):
against yourself that you find out about yourself until you
learn to love them about yourself.

Speaker 3 (01:00:08):
You're so wise though, I mean, you're going on the journey.
It's the journey. You can't escape it. You either like
stick your head in the sand and you don't discover yourself,
or you freaking go on the hero's journey and you
like figure it out, the dark Knight of Soul, and
you like get in there and you uncover, turn over
all the rocks, and like you look at the demons,
you look at the angels, you see it all and

(01:00:29):
then you face it. You know. So you're doing the
hard work which gives you freedom. Ultimately, it keeps how
cool you had to be on a song with him,
I got you famous? Was that amazing?

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
Yeah? I assumed with them, like shortly after the Dreams
cover and he had said, you know, let's let's make something.
Let's you know, let's write, or let's you know, do
anything any of those things, and just from everything happening,
I just never had the chance to and so I
can't remember how we got back into communication, but he

(01:01:08):
just you know, asked what I was doing, as you know,
I sent him a sent him hot Ivan, and I
was like, can you maybe do something with this, you know?
And so he he and dog Miggs took it and
produced it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
That is so cool. I mean, those are the moments
in life that are just so cool that music takes
you to too, you know. I mean it's priceless, what
a priceless, amazing like full like you said, full circle moment. Yeah, Okay,
Landy Gardner, You're amazing. Tell everyone where they can find
you what you have going on. You're going on tour right.

Speaker 2 (01:01:43):
Yes, going on tour with Gavin Adcock this fall. First
date is uh not not this weekend, maybe the next weekend,
I think, Okay, something like that. And then September fifth,
your album dropped. September fifth, Fade of Polaroids drops, Oh
my go and you can you can find me.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
Anywhere anywhere, Landy Gardner, Landy Gardner, I love it. Okay,
we sit around for a quick WEE bonus episode. We're
dropping questions and answer. I'll tell me more.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
Okay, it's fun. I love games.

Speaker 3 (01:02:12):
I love games. You're the best. Okay bye.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
Ye h m hm

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
H