ERIN KIRBY Q&A

With her new single “Pick My Own Flowers” making very solid impact and showcasing her addictive soulful side, Erin Kirby has intriguingly layered her resume with a new look at who she is as an artist, songwriter, and vocalist. We recently caught up with the emerging singer-songwriter to chat with her all about the new single, her growth as a songwriter, dueting with Kameron Marlowe on “I Can Lie (The Truth Is),” standing in the circle on stage at the Grand Ole Opry, and much much more!

(Interview by: Jeffrey Kurtis/Photo c/o Erin Kirby) 

1) Tell us a little about your current single “Pick My Own Flowers.”

I wrote it with Thomas Finchum and Phil Barton just when I moved to town a couple years ago. I first teased it on TikTok, and it did really well, but for some reason it felt like it was not the time to release it. So, I continued to write new music and get what I wanted to say out there and eventually it picked back up on TikTok.

It’s kind of talking about how you’re worth more than a bad relationship, so don’t find your worth in that.

2) This song directly follows “Redneck Rich” and “Raised In A Barn.” Both of those showed an edgier side of your arsenal in comparison to this song which softens the pace and really highlights the soulfulness of your voice. Was this something done by design with the order of releases or just sort of how the songs fell out?

It just fell out that way. I really did not have a plan to release “Pick My Own Flowers.” When I felt that it was not the time to release it, I was like, “let’s just pause.” When it eventually picked back up on its own, I felt that it was God saying, “Release this song. You’ve been holding on to it for so long and people do want to hear it.”

And it’s been doing so well. It’s nice to be able to show that more vulnerable side of myself rather than just, “Yee Haw! I’m from Georgia.”

3) You mentioned co-writing this song with Phil Barton and Thomas Finchum. Take us into that session. What did they bring to the writing room that day that really helped you with the direction the song took?

This was one of the fastest writing sessions I’ve ever had. It was a rainy day. I went in and I had never met them before. I was just taking with Thomas, catching up on who I am, and Phil just starts singing, “I can pick my own flowers.”  

And then he was like, “Hey, this would be a great song.”

And I was like, “Well yeah, it would be!”

We just ran with it, and it was like, this is the most perfect song for who I am because I’m so independent and it just speaks straight to my heart.

4) Why was it important for you to have something out there that encourages individuality, being who you are, and staying true to yourself; the idea of it being okay to be single and to not have your personality attached to who you’re with.

I feel that it’s something, honestly, that a lot of girls are afraid to say.  I think we get caught up in relationships and we find our worth in boys, but that’s not how it should be. God created all of us perfectly and wonderfully and I just want to get that message across to everyone. Even though I’m talking about maybe girly things like picking your own flowers, I think guys can listen to it and realize a relationship is not who they are.

5) Travelling back to your first dive into country music with “Boys These Days.” In just this past year since that release, what ways have you seen yourself grow as a songwriter, performer, and artist overall?

I have seen such a change. I feel like when I wrote “Boys These Days,” “Raised In A Barn,” and “Pick My Own Flowers”….Those were kind of the first songs that I had written in town. Now I’m finding that being vulnerable is so worth it.

I was maybe afraid to really tell my story or speak up in a room, and now I’m not afraid. If I throw out a stupid idea, it may not be stupid. It might work! So, I’m finding that now I’m not as afraid and not as much of a perfectionist, which has been very helpful.

6) Having released a few very well-received singles over the past year, are these stand-alone singles for now or part of a bigger project that you can tell us about?

I think that those are gonna stay stand-alone. I do feel that we will be releasing a bigger project, hopefully soon, maybe for the summer? We’re talking about that right now, so we’ll see what happens.

7) Is there a new song you’re currently working on that we haven’t heard yet, that you can’t wait to share with your fans? Why that song? What does it mean to you?

Oh gosh! So many…I have a long list. I would say that there’s two that I’ve started to play out a little bit, though.

One is called “Never Happened To Me,” which shows very much my soulful side.

The other is called “Regretting You” and it’s talking about not regretting a relationship.

I’m very positive in everything I do, and I want people to look at everything from a positive perspective as well. If that means I can inspire them through my music, then that’s what I’m gonna do.

8) We’re gonna slide over to Kameron Marlowe for a few questions. You recorded an incredible duet with him on his “I Can Lie (The Truth Is).” How did that come together for you?

It all came from TikTok, which is so crazy to me cause when I first started on it, I was only a hair person. I would do hair videos, and no one wanted to hear me sing. But I decided to start posting my singing cause that’s what I really love to do…and I don’t know how to do hair.

I found Kameron’s video looking for a female to duet “I Can Lie (The Truth Is),” and I’m such a big fan of him and was like, “what the heck? I have some extra time. I’ll just duet this video.”

I really did not think it was going to go anywhere. I just figured that maybe he would comment on it and that would be so cool. And it went so much further. For months, people were tagging us in each other’s posts, and every time I’d go live or whatever, people would be asking when the song was coming out. I’m just like, “Um…I don’t know. I can’t do anything about it!”

And eventually, my management team had me scheduled to go to lunch and it was not lunch. They surprised me and they brought me to the studio to cut the song. Kameron was like, “Hi…I’m Kameron.” And I’m like, “Uh yeah I know! Oh My Gosh!!!” He just asked me in the studio that day if I’d record the song with him, and I was like “Absolutely!”

9) You not only recorded the song, and saw it go viral, but also got to appear on stage with him at the Grand Ole Opry. Take us into that moment and what standing in that circle mean to you?

Yeah, so Kameron likes to surprise me, and I think he told me the day before the performance. They called and asked me, “Do you want to perform on the Opry with Kameron?” And I’m like, “ummmm…yeah? Let me figure out how I’m gonna get my mom to town and what I’m gonna wear, but yes, I will be there.”

It was crazy. I was nervous the whole day. And it’s funny because the first time I ever went to the Opry, Kameron was actually performing so it was a full circle moment. But I did get my mom up here and figured out what I was gonna wear so I was good on that. I was very nervous, but as soon as I stepped on that stage and into that circle, all the nerves went away. It just felt right; that this is what I’m meant to do. I’m here for a reason and I just sang my little heart out. It was awesome.

10) With so many aspiring songwriters and artists reading our site, we always like to end with the advice question. So, what piece of advice can you offer to them?

Don’t be a perfectionist. I feel like that held me back for a very long time in my songwriting; literally in everything. So, let yourself go and just have fun with it.

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