Chappell Roan Reveals Why She Decided Write A Country Song

Learning that Chappell Roan just released her first-ever country song might come as a shock to her fans. But she only felt it right to live up to her nickname as the Midwest Princess and honor her country music roots with a fiddle and banjo filled tune that she calls, “The Giver.”

The rising sensation only released one single last year in the pop genre, so making this genre-bending leap was understandably a nerve-wracking move. However, as she stressed on social media, the whole point of Chappell Roan as an artist is to take those risks and let her heart guide her.

Sitting down to discuss this new side of her life and artistry with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast, she made sure to point out that this is not her way of trying to declare herself a country artist, by any means.

“I wrote a country song not to invade country music, but to really capture what I think the essence of country music is, for me, which is nostalgia and fun in the summertime and the fiddle and the banjo, feeling like a country queen,” she explained.

There was also a certain level of curiosity Roan was experiencing as she wondered what it would be like to write a country song and how it would feel to place that alongside her fan-favorite pop tracks like “Casual,” “My Kink Is Karma,” and “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.”

“It makes me feel a certain type of freedom that pop music doesn’t let me feel, I think. It’s interesting. I had to do it for myself…I know that my heart really wanted to write a country song and I’m trying to really articulate that it’s not me trying to cross genres and be like, ‘hey, look at me.’ I’m not trying to convince a country crowd that they should listen to my music by baiting them with a country song. That’s not what I feel like I’m doing. I just think a lesbian country song is really funny. So, I wrote that.” 

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Growing up in Missouri, Roan recalls being surrounded by the classic country hits and superstars like Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood, George Strait and Shania Twain. This was the kind of music she heard playing on the radio on her way to school and in her hometown, so whenever she’s looking for a bit of nostalgia, this is still the sound she gravitates towards.

 “I can’t call myself the Midwest Princess and not acknowledge country music, straight up, because that is what is around me in the grocery stores. That’s what is playing on the bus,” she added.

At the end of the day, Chappell Roan is proud to say she is a true fan of country music and she wanted to do the genre justice by recruiting Nashville-based banjo players and background singers to record “The Giver.”

The lively track offers a more daring spin on country music storytelling, as Roan boldly insulates that no man can match her when it comes to satisfying a woman. In the song’s spoken-word section, she confidently declares, “All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right…Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right.”

Of course, this release now begs the question, is Chappell Roan releasing a full country album? And to that, she says “ask me in six months.” At the moment she’s having fun exploring new sounds and not holding back from trying everything. Seeing as how her last album took five years to complete, she’s in no rush to make promises for what her next release will look like.

“I just want to find the best group of songs, whether that is five country songs, whether it’s two or one and the rest are pop. Like, I just want what I know is the best. But I’m not trying to, I can’t express that I don’t want to come in and take the sauce, like the country girl sauce, like that’s absolutely not what I’m trying to do,” she stated once again.

Fans will have to stay tuned to see what will follow the “The Giver” and 2023’s full-length album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”