Mae Estes Reflects On Her 10-Year Nashville Journey And Shares Stories Behind Her Self-Titled EP [Exclusive]

In honor of Mae Estes celebrating 10 years in Nashville, she is honing in on her honest storytelling and unmistakable country sound and offering a true reflection of herself in her new self-titled EP.

The project, out today, October 10, finds Estes capturing everything she loves about music while navigating the pressures of perfectionism and trying not to overthink her decisions. It’s comprised of five tracks including fan favorites “Mr. Fix It” and “Mountain Of A Man,” the recently released “Drunk On That,” along with two brand-new songs, “I Better Go” and “What She’s Havin’.”

This year, the rising star says she has opened her eyes to realize that she doesn’t always have things figured out and that growth is never ending. From having a major moment online to opening for acts such as Carly Pearce, Luke Bryan and Brad Paisley and now crafting this project, Estes has accomplished a lot, not just in the past year, but in the past decade. Now, she’s looking forward to adding this EP as another stamp on her resume of accomplishments that allow her to keep evolving and figuring out her sound.

“I had to sacrifice a whole lot and work my a** off to be here. And so that is something I’m super, super proud of,” she told Country Now of her milestone anniversary. “On top of all the shiny accomplishments and the incredible community and family of people I’ve built here, I just see it as something I’ve set my sights on and had a lot of people help me figure out how to do because I come from a small town that nobody leaves and nobody dreams this big where I’m from. And so I’m really proud to, no matter how this thing turns out, to have had the guts to go see what happens.”

Keep reading to learn more about Mae Estes’ new EP, hear the kinds of stories that only come out of Nashville, and get a glimpse into her busy year of touring.

Talk about why you decided to make this a self-titled project. 

Well, I struggle so hard with trying to make projects in general. It just seems like so much pressure. You want it to be perfect. You want every song to fit together perfectly, and I’m OCD and a ADD and perfectionist and all the things most creatives are. And so I just put a lot of pressure on songs fitting together well, and I kind of took that pressure off myself with this one and was like, I’m just trying to say all of the songs on this project are something I love and that’s what makes ’em similar. It doesn’t have to have a crazy well-thought through line. That’s something I’m trying to grow out of it as an artist is it’s okay for there to be a little something different than the next song when you’re listening to a project. And so I think that’s what we nailed with the Mae Estes EP, it’s a little something for everybody. 

What are some of the common threads that you discovered while making the project?

When I was looking for the common thread to go through those five songs that are all kind of different, I realized it was me and my vision and what I like. So that’s really what I’m trying to keep honing in on as my career grows is what I like because I think the people who listen to my music have the same taste as me. So yeah, I’m just really trying to get back in a season of remembering what my favorite songs are because I think that’s what connects best with other country music fans out there.

What was your process to choosing the songs on this project?

Well, I have been in Nashville for 10 years this year, and so I have a lot of really talented friends and a big music community that I’ve built over the last 10 years. And so specifically with a song like “Drunk On That,” my friend Chancie Neal played that in rounds with me 10 years ago when we moved to town, and I was so pissed every time she played it. I was like, that’s one of those ‘I wish I would’ve been in that room. Why’d you write that without me?’ So it’s just kind of been in my back pocket for all this time. And then we started trying to pick songs for this EP and I have a ton of songs I love, but really trying to stay well-rounded and keep growing as an artist, those outside songs were something really important to me. And so I was like, ‘Hey guys, I’ve always loved this song. What does everyone think?’ And my whole team was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is a great classic country song.’ And so just stuff like that, this gave me an opportunity to dig up songs that I didn’t write that I’ve loved for a long time, and explore some different sides of myself. Like “Mountain Of A Man” is another outside cut. I didn’t write on the project, and my producer Paul wrote that and texted it to me, and that’s not something I would write, I don’t think. I don’t usually pine over men well, but it’s so fun, just enough outside of my own comfort zone that it feels, yeah, it just feels well-rounded in a way.

“Drunk On That” has another special element. The reference track for that song was “Neon Moon,” and Lonnie Wilson, who was in the studio at the time for “Neon Moon” also plays on your track. Talk about having that connection.

I am an absolute country music nerd. I mean, I am such a nerd about this stuff, and so is my producer, Paul Sikes, which is great because yeah, we were in the studio and reference tracks are pretty common in Nashville production. If you have a similar vibe of something that’s been done, it just gives you a starting place sometimes. And so we don’t always have one, but we definitely were like a slow, easy, but still keeping it going, kind of  “Neon Moon” vibe for “Drunk On That.” And so funny, I’m trying to be professional in the studio. I’m talking to these, my hero musicians trying to tell ’em what to do. It’s hilarious to me…All the musicians go into the studio part where they play and Lonnie grabs his snare drum and comes back out and says, ‘Hey, that shouldn’t be a problem cause I played “Neon Moon” on this snare drum, actually in this studio. We were at Sony, so I was like, I mean, me and Paul just started giggling. We were having a panic attack. It’s just like, what do you even do with that information? 

That kind of stuff is, that’s the Nashville I dreamt about. That’s why I worked my ass off to just get to move to this town from small town Arkansas. And this is the place where people who have it in their bones are making music. And so I am obviously a gigantic Brooks and Dunn fan, but Lonnie’s played on every hit you could imagine from that era. And so just to get to meet him and have a friendship with him is unbelievable.

Are there any other tracks on the EP that you really want to highlight?

I will say “What She’s Havin’” is a song that I wrote, I don’t know, probably five years ago and shared it on socials and played it at rounds and stuff locally. And people have been hounding me for that song for years. And so it is something really special to, we tacked it onto the EP last second because I was like, ‘guys, I think this song’s really special’ and finally convinced everybody, but there are a lot of, “maniacs” are what we call my fans. My husband came up with that term. And so there are a lot of maniacs who’ve been loving on that song on just YouTube for several years. And so I am really, really excited to finally get this to them. This is one of the first songs that I’ve been like, ‘okay, finally, it’s yours.’ So it feels really good to have that coming out on the 10th on the EP. 

You’ve compared your sound to the likes of The Judds, Patty Loveless, Shania Twain, and more. What inspires you about these female country stars?

I think subconsciously I’m just a product of all of those women in little pieces. I’m kind of patchwork made of those women, I think, because I pull a little something different from all of ’em. And Loretta Lynn is a massive influence of mine, and I think for several reasons, but a songwriter specifically, Loretta was so honest and real and authentic in her music. And I think that taught me, I’ve always been honest and a little outspoken. I think I came out the womb that way, but Loretta really showed me that not only can you be honest, but you have to be, you got to say it like it is because if you don’t believe it, nobody else is going to. And so from a really young age, I was 12 years old singing, “Don’t come home a drinkin’ with loving on your mind” on local talent shows and stuff like that. And so I really think I learned to tell the truth as ugly as it is, as a songwriter from her.

Then, just timeless, iconic voices like Trisha Yearwood and Lee Ann Womack and Martina McBride and those women, you know who they are when you hear their voice on the radio. And that’s a signature sound I definitely hope to evolve into. I want people to know who I am. I want that kind of originality because I think that’s the most powerful thing you can have in life in general is being unique.

How has this big year of touring impacted you as an artist?

It has been a super busy year, but an incredible one. You kind of get those hand-in-hand, I feel like in this industry. I have learned so much this year, that has been the biggest takeaway is just so many up-close learning opportunities. Tour definitely dominated this year for me. I’m so excited to have a new project coming and things like that, but we spent so much of this year on the road and getting thrown into situations we had never been in before, and so I feel so much more confident on a stage and trying to win over a crowd that’s never heard me before. And like you said, you learn how to build a set list for any situation you’re in. So I’m in a really cool spot in my career right now, where sometimes I’m playing a private event or corporate event by myself sometimes and having to win ’em over with just a guitar or I’m opening solo acoustic at a theater for a bigger artist or full band to 20,000 people in an opening slot in a city like Maine that’s pretty far away from my hometown of Hope, Arkansas. So I just feel like I’ve really added to my tool belt this year and I’m a little more prepared for all the crazy things that touring the country throws at you. 

What was your experience touring with Luke Bryan this summer?

I think Luke is exactly how we all have perceived him as fans forever. I posted a picture, I can’t remember when it was, but I was in high school when I went to a Luke show and someone handed us free meet and greets. We were sitting in our lawn chairs on the lawn at the show in Little Rock, Arkansas, and someone handed us meet and greets. And so me and my sister got to go meet Luke along time ago. So it was so full circle that I ended up getting to go out with him. But he’s obviously, I mean, Luke Bryan’s kind of bigger than country music in my mind. He’s got a global career going on, especially with American Idol and things like that. And so he is best of the best to get to watch up close. He knows his fans. He is throwing a party every night on stage. You’ll see viral videos of him acting a fool and it always says, ‘nobody’s having a better time at a Luke Bryan show than Luke Bryan.’ We definitely tried to give him a run for his money on that. We had a pretty dang good time ourselves. That was the big reminder I took from Luke, is it is supposed to be fun. We all started this with music as a medicine and an outlet for us. And so Luke is a great example of the artist should be having the most fun of anybody there when you’re doing it. So that’s something I took from him that I hope to be able to implement for years to come. 

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Do you have any fun stories from the road you can share?

My funniest stories this year come from touring. It is such a unique experience because it is grueling. You are exhausted and the travel is damn near impossible. Sometimes you don’t even know how you’re physically going to get there because of the travel schedule, but then like you said, you are getting one in a million opportunities and feeling like an absolute rock star for 25 minutes during your set. And so just that mental health journey for me this year has been really, really strange. But learning a lot. We hired we’re the only artist not on a bus, on the loop tour. And so that has been really interesting because you are kind of catching a plane and then renting a car and then catching another plane and driving through the night and driving after the show and bus life isn’t a whole lot easier. It’s still very hard, but they get on the bus and go to sleep and they wake up in the next town. So we hired a driver for the first time and rented an RV that’s not a bus, but still had bumps and had to fire our driver the second night of our run. Some things that was a little sideways. And so that was another big story was hiring and firing my first bus driver with no bus. Oh my gosh. That was the first weekend of the Luke Bryan tour actually. 

This year marks your 10-year mark in Nashville. What goes through your head when you think about where you started and how far you’ve come in that time?

It’s kind of a black hole, honestly. I think I’ve kept my head down and kept chugging along for 10 years. And honestly, I’m just now kind of opening my eyes and looking up and looking around because I have accomplished a lot of those bucket list goals. I moved to town with top of that list was playing the Grand Ole Opry, and now I’ve got to play the Opry, I don’t know, 15, 16 times. And they really feel like family to me, and so that’s hard to accept. And then playing the Bluebird Cafe and I’m back there this weekend and they feel like family. So really trying to settle into a season 10 years in where, okay, I think I can say I belong here a little bit at least and settle in. And now I’m really trying to show up to those places and those friendships. I’m friends with Vince Gill and things like that, and trying to just push the imposter syndrome aside enough to really enjoy these opportunities that I have now. And it’s crazy to think, it took me 10 years to validate myself enough.