Kelleigh Bannen

With her effervescent personality and country charm, Kelleigh Bannen might very well remind you of the girl-next-door; that is if your next door neighbor loves a good shot of whiskey, plays a mean classical violin and prowls the stage like a woman on a mission. Possessing a voice that commands attention and a songwriter’s gift for assessing life’s most disarming situations and distilling them into potent anthems, Bannen is emerging as one of the country format’s most engaging new artists.

On her EMI Nashville debut, Bannen’s music reflects the essence of the artist herself---stylish yet substantive, tender and heartfelt yet bold and uncompromisingly direct. Working with producers Paul Worley and Jerry Smith, Bannen has crafted an impressive debut album that includes the kind of slice-of-life songs that resonate with a wide audience. She makes her bow at country radio with “Sorry on the Rocks,” taking aim at a lover who offers too little too late to make the relationship work. Her strong, stirring vocals offer a portrait of a survivor who isn’t going to fall for a drunken apology at 2:44 am.

Bannen knew early on that she wanted to write music that would both inspire and entertain. Though she has the vocal chops to find success in any genre, country has long been her vehicle of choice. “Growing up country was always what I was listening to on the radio,” says Bannen, who was born in Pontiac, Michigan, but moved to Nashville when she was three-years-old. “I truly love country radio and I think as a songwriter, it’s really the only genre that treats songs so seriously. The song is king.”

Though her mom recalls Bannen trying to write her first song at age two, inspired by the “word of the day” on Sesame Street, she admits she put her musical dreams aside in college. She decided to take the practical route and pursue a career in law. However, joining a vocal ensemble while attending the University of Virginia reignited her passion for music and she began writing songs in earnest. After relocating to Atlanta she further honed her songwriting skills and performed at her first open mic night at Eddi’s Attic. She soon realized that she needed to move back to Nashville to pursue her dream.

By the time Bannen moved back to Nashville, she was poised to make her dreams a reality. In 2009, she embarked on an ambitious “90 Gigs in 90 Days” tour that caught the attention of Worley and ultimately led to her record deal. However, much more than just a vehicle to propel her budding career, the tour was a personal mission in honor of her younger brother Grant who passed away after a long battle with addiction. “The one year anniversary of his death was looming and I was thinking about what I could do with my music that would honor Grant and this idea struck,” says Bannen, who used the tour to draw attention to addiction and the dedication it takes for an addict to commit to a recovery program. “The premise is when people are entering recovery, they go to 90 meetings in 90 days if they are working in an AA program so I thought, ‘Okay what if I can play 90 shows in 90 days?’ Playing shows is what I want to do with my life. It’s my most favorite thing. How much harder is it for someone who is in recovery, trying to get better, to go to that meeting every single day those first three months than it is for me to show up and do something I love?”

One of the most poignant songs on Bannen’s debut album is “A World Away,” written for her brother. She co-wrote the song with Jennifer Hanson and Jenn Schott. “I wanted to honor Grant in my album. I wrote a ton about him right after he passed, but then I kind of put it away and I didn’t write as much” she says quietly. “I was just telling them about this idea I had written down. . .’down the hall and a world away’ and Jennifer said, ‘You have to write that!’”

Bannen wrote or co-wrote all but one of the 12 songs on her debut and the tunes run the gamut from the nostalgic ballad “Pictures Don’t Lie” to such feel good up tempos such as “Rose Colored Glasses” about a lover whose sunny attitude is contagious and the playful “Pretty Mess,” which opens with the lines: “Hey there baby! Do you want to get real with me? How deep do you really want to go? How much do you want to see?”

Such unabashed candor is indicative of the openness and honesty that permeate the album. “That song is a good summary of who I think I am and who I think really all women are,” Bannen says. “There’s something that’s so appealing to me about women and men who are just real. I’m proud of that song because I think it walks that line of being not overly heady, but I love the message.”

Bannen penned “Oh My My” with labelmate Eric Paslay. “That was the first time we ever wrote together. I love that song so much,” she enthuses. “He’s so fun and so talented.” She co-wrote “I Wore Green” with Heather Morgan and Ross Copperman. “I love the angle of that song,” she says. “It was inspired by the expression ‘green with envy.’ The idea is this woman wears this green dress to a wedding. You don’t really know whether she did it intentionally or not, but she’s in love with the groom and she’s watching him get married. She’s processing her feelings for him all right there.”

Kelleigh Bannen has come a long way from the precocious five-year-old who wowed people with her prowess on the Suzuki violin. She’s blossomed into the artist she was meant to be. “I love creating. Whether it’s creating on stage in the moment or creating in the writer’s room, there’s something kind of magical,” says the young artist who loves taking her audience along on the journey. “I want there to be that invitation for people to just to lean in a little bit with me and be themselves. I hope it feels like an invitation and then I do hope that in sharing truth about my own heart, that it’s a life giving thing in some way.”