Lauren Watkins Discusses Debut Project 'Introducing: Lauren Watkins'

Lauren Watkins is what many people may call a "unicorn:" a true Nashville native who grew up in Music City. Despite that, no one in her family was musical. "I grew up really, really normal. I wasn't exposed to the industry as a kid; my parents weren't in music," she shares. "I was totally naive to all of that but I was around country music constantly."

As a kid, Watkins listened to a lot of Sheryl Crow, noting she grew up "idolizing her" and was also turned on to older country music by her dad: artists like George Jones and Alan Jackson. Being born in 1999, Watkins also heard copious amounts of Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, and Miranda Lambert. Her own taste blossomed in high school where she fell in love with Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings.

Her sister also loved music so the two of them started performing together when they realized it was a shared passion. Living in Nashville, naturally, gave them various opportunities to explore their love of music as Watkins notes, "It made it really easy for us to find a bar to sing in." She adds, "I think a lot of kids that grow up not in Music City, they might find they have that talent and not know what to do with it, but we were like, okay well we can sing here and they'll let us do it tomorrow."

Before going off to college, Watkins didn't think pursuing music as an actual job was in the cards for her. "I'm not really sure why. I think maybe it was a little bit scary to me just because I'd grown up playing with my sister and I knew if I really wanted to do it, I would need to do it alone. I think I was just scared of it," she says.

Photo by Claire Schaper

She went to the University of Mississippi for school and never thought she'd live in Nashville again. While in college, she still always had her guitar around and played for her roommates but never any real shows. At the time, her sister was still playing live and when she made a pit stop in Watkin's college town, she went on stage for a couple of songs. "It was this huge moment where I remembered how much I loved this. There's no way I can go on without doing this for my job," Watkins shares recalling the pivotal time. "I knew from there that I wanted to be an artist."

Not wanting to drop out of school, Watkins shifted her focus to songwriting in her downtime. Now, she's the latest signee to Big Loud Records: the label that's home to artists like Morgan Wallen, HARDY, Hailey Whitters, and MacKenzie Porter. Her debut project Introducing: Lauren Watkins was released on April 27th, 2023.

One of the standouts is "Shirley Temple" where Watkins finds herself playing the comparison game. She wrote it with Meg McRee and Nicolle Galyon, whose known for co-writing "Tequila" by Dan + Shay," "Consequences" by "Camila Cabello," and "half of my hometown" by Kelsea Ballerini. The idea came during "Sober October." when Galyon had the idea for the title and Watkins immediately knew it was something she had to write saying, "I love weird titles that make you go, 'What is this about?'" The goal between the three was to modernize and personify the drink, describing another girl who is sweet, simple, and safe, unlike the narrator. It was also the first track written on a brand new piano that Galyon had gotten; the trio knew it would be something special. "I was so proud of that one," Watkins states.

When asked which tune means the most to her, Watkins responds, "'Ole Miss' is what comes to mind. That is the most nostalgic and personal song from my story." She continues, "Ole Miss means the world to me. We list such real places in the song." In the first verse she references Highway 7 and "that house on 4th" before getting to the chorus where she exclaims, "But, damn it, I'm still seein' / Those powder-blue eyes lookin' into mine / You breakin' my heart at the twenty-yard line / Said I was fine, guess all this time ain't healin'

This same ole miss you feelin.'"

For the visuals that accompany each track on the debut collection, Watkins filmed at different places around Oxford, Mississippi including The Penny Bar, a local bar that she and her friends would frequent, a local laundromat, and a gas station that lands on the route between Ole Miss and Nashville that Watkins would stop at during her trips to and from college. "The main idea was to go to places that actually mean something to me," notes Watkins.

Within the seven-song project, Watkins explores themes of youth, bad decisions, and relationships through her down-home viewpoint. "They're all different phases of the heartbreak. I think that's cool to show that I'm layered," she laughs before adding, "I guess the main thing is I'm a regular person. I went to school. I grew up just loving music. Now, I'm 23, living in Nashville, doing regular 23-year-old things. I want people to feel that and for people to be able to relate because of that. We're the same. These are things we've all said and done."

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