10 Questions With Charly Reynolds

Charly Reynolds began her musical journey at a very young age and she didn’t waste any time chasing her dreams. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee two weeks after graduating high school, and immediately began immersing herself in Music City’s creative community. She’s been in Nashville for five years and in that time frame she’s made a name for herself and continued to forge her path to become a successful singer/songwriter.

Reynolds released her single, “Rodeo,” last summer after it went viral on social media, and her version of “Neon Moon” was featured in the Season 5 finale of FOX’s medical drama THE RESIDENT. Reynolds also served as a guest host for Country Now‘s coverage of the CMT Music Awards in April.

Her newest single, “She Ain’t Me,” is out now, and she will celebrate the release with a performance at the 50th Anniversary of CMA Fest on June 8.

Country Now recently caught up with Charly Reynolds to chat about her upcoming CMA Fest performances, “She Ain’t Me,” new music, and more. Check out our exclusive Q&A below.

1. What is the story behind “She Ain’t Me?”

We went in to write this song and I had the title for it and we were just kind of talking about it and how we can go about the song. I actually have an ex from a few years ago who cheated on me with a girl who looked exactly like me. That is kind of how we came up with the idea behind the rest of the lyrics. We just kind of channeled some sassy energy and that mindset of being in that position and that’s how it was born.

2. CMA Fest starts in a week and you will be playing Thursday at the Spotlight Stage. Can you explain what it will be like to play your first CMA Fest at the 50th CMA Fest?

I’m so excited. I have been dreaming of officially playing CMA Fest for so long. I’ve played one year of CMA Fest, but not officially, so to be on the lineup, I just feel really honored and excited. I’ve never been in the fan fair hall before either, so it’ll be cool to be playing a stage in there and meeting fans and making new friends. So I’m really excited to be a part of it.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charly Reynolds (@charlyreynoldsmusic)

3. What songs are you planning to perform at CMA Fest?

I’m kind of debating on a few, but I definitely will be performing “She Ain’t Me.” I’ll also play “Rodeo,” one of my past singles, “One Day at a Time,” another one of my singles, and then I’m still deciding on the next one. I’m not quite sure yet. I probably will end up doing five, but I’ll keep those a secret for now since I don’t even know myself.

4. I saw in an Instagram post that you got to perform in front of Miranda Lambert at her bar, Casa Rosa. Can you talk about that experience and what it was like to meet her?

I had just been playing there for a few weeks, actually. It was right after it opened and we had a three-hour-long set, me and my guitar player, Dave Maiorino.  I was like, something’s going on up there. I could tell somebody was coming because they were making everything perfect and cleaning the loft area up there. It just looked like somebody important was coming, and then Miranda came in with her husband and her parents and it was crazy. I mean the whole street of Broadway found out in 30 minutes. I don’t know how, but it was so packed in there and at first I was really nervous, but then we just turned it on. We were like, okay, this has to be the best show ever acoustic. Our adrenaline kicked in and we did the show and then they invited us up there to hang out for a little bit, talk to ’em and meet ’em. They were so kind, all of them, Miranda’s family, her husband, they were all just so nice. It was just a really cool moment for sure. I loved Casa Rosa. I played there for almost two years and I’m actually playing there during CMA Fest on Friday. So, I’m very excited to go back and play for a bit.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charly Reynolds (@charlyreynoldsmusic)

5. You had vocal cord surgery in January. Good or bad, how do you think this affected your career?

I’m definitely glad that I did it, but things are different for sure. I needed to go in and get rid of some scar tissue that had developed on my vocal cords and I’m so glad that it’s gone, but it’s definitely different. It’s going to take a while to get back up to the strength that my voice had before. I’m still not making shows that are over an hour long,  just to take things slow because I definitely don’t want to risk having to go back and do that again. I think overall it was a good decision and I am learning how to sing differently, preserve my voice and try new techniques of therapy and warming up. It’s been really interesting. It’s definitely stuff that every singer should know anyway. I never used to warm up and stuff like that, which is terrible for you. So I’m glad that now, at least, I’m learning all these correct techniques and how I should be singing.

6. Was there a significant reason as to why you covered Lee Brice’s song, “I Drive Your Truck?”

Actually, when we were deciding what song we were going to do as a cover song, it was during the war in Ukraine.  We were going to do “Traveling Soldier,” and then somebody mentioned “I Drive Your Truck.” That’s just such a great song and it’s always been a favorite of mine, so we decided on that one. It still has the soldier thing in it. It’s about his brother, the Soldier and so we rolled with that one. I cover guy songs sometimes, but not songs like that. It was just really special to record a song like that and put it out during that time. Everybody has seemed to really like it a lot. I’m a big fan of Lee Brice as well, so it was really cool to be able to put out songs.

7. What was it like moving to Nashville, Tennessee at such a young age (18), right after high school? What was the transition like and do you think it was worth it?

Oh man, it was really tough in the beginning. I was 18 when I moved here and I couldn’t really get into any shows or anything. And I lived in Spring Hill, so I was like 45 minutes south of Nashville at the time. It was tough. I worked at Chick-fIl-A full-time because I didn’t know how to get into anything or meet people. Eventually, a few months later, I just forced myself to start reaching out to people on social media and meeting people that way and started writing. It definitely was 100% worth it. I’m glad that I stuck it out, because for a minute there in the first four months I was like, I don’t know, maybe I will go to college instead and I’ll move away. But I’m glad that I ended up sticking it out, because I think it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my life and my career. I don’t know what else I would do if I wasn’t doing music.

8. What is the biggest highlight you’ve had from your music career so far?

There’s so many things that I’m so happy, so blessed to have done and had. But to pick one, if I had to pick one recently, I would say hosting with Country Now actually at the CMT Awards. I think that was one of the coolest things this year that I’ve gotten to do. It was just really fun meeting everybody and interviewing everybody. It was just a really cool opportunity, so I think that’s definitely one of my most proud accomplishments this year.

9. As a young female country artist, what are some goals that you have for yourself in your career?

So this year, I will be putting out a project at the end of this month, and that is something that I’ve had a goal of doing for a very long time. I’m very excited about that. Also playing the Grand Ole Opry is definitely a goal for me.In the next coming years, I really hope to be able to do that and have the honor of stepping into the circle. That’s been a big goal for a really long time. On top of all that, just being able to continue sharing my music and writing what’s real to me and being vulnerable in that. I think that’s just one thing that I am blessed to be able to continue to do, I hope forever.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Charly Reynolds (@charlyreynoldsmusic)

10. What are your next steps this year? Do you have an upcoming album or tour?

My debut EP is coming out at the end of June. It’s called “Perfect Timing”, and there’s not a song called that, but I named it that because it was supposed to come out in March this year. I had my vocal surgery and that kind of pushed everything back.  I think that it was all for the best because I got to put different songs on it than I was going to and I think everything works out for a reason. So, I just decided to call it perfect timing. It’ll be out at the end of this month and I’m very excited to have my first project out into the world

Fans can keep up with Charly Reynolds on Instagram.