Warren Zeiders’ ‘Pretty Little Poison’ Paves the Way for a Life of Stardom

With the release of ‘Pretty Little Poison,’ “I get to show a new side of myself dynamically, vocally, but also emotionally,” the 24-year-old gushed.

By

Melanie Rooten

| Posted on

September 1, 2023

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1:31 pm

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Warren Zeiders; Photo by David McClister

Warren Zeiders released his debut album, Pretty Little Poison, on August 18, ultimately paving the way for a lifetime of success within country music. The album combines the spirit of a seasoned road warrior, the timeless resilience of old-school grit, and a diverse range of genre influences. Pretty Little Poison firmly establishes Zeiders as one of Nashville’s most notable rising headliners. 

When asked how the feedback has been so far surrounding Pretty Little Poison, Zeiders explained to Country Now in an exclusive interview, “I got nothing but smiles, and everything that I’ve seen on my end has been good, so I’m super excited that it’s finally out in the world.”

When diving deeper into the project itself with Zeiders, he discussed how Pretty Little Poison came to be, what it was like working with one of his biggest inspirations, what his favorite tracks are, and more.

Debut Album Out Now

Warren Zeiders - Pretty Little Poison
Warren Zeiders – Pretty Little Poison

Assembled An Impressive Team

When it comes to the creation of Pretty Little Poison, the country crooner had a star-studded crew that helped bring the album to life, including producers like Ross Copperman, Bart Butler and Ryan Gore, as well an impressive list of songwriters like Chris Stapleton, Eric Paslay and Randy Montana. While he had help from some of the biggest names in the country music industry, the effort that Zeiders himself put into the project is what really brought it together in the end.

“I think honestly the duration of the album between me singing and going into the studio, I probably spent a good two and a half, three months in the studio alone,” the rising star revealed. “Over the winter, when I was off tour, I was in and out every other day trying to lay down vocals for these songs, because aren’t all artists perfectionists in their own ways?”

“The 717 Tapes, my first project I put out, that was releasing music on the fly, almost like rappers dropping mixtapes, but this is my first cohesive work of art, and I have been writing like no other, being so new to the music industry for two years, and I think the music picked itself… I just kind of finally found those songs that I wanted to put together in one project and figure out what I wanted to tell the world and open up, and it’s really great because I get to show a new side of myself dynamically, vocally, but also emotionally,” Zeiders continued passionately.

Warren Zeiders; Photo by David McClister
Warren Zeiders; Photo by David McClister

Wanted Each Track To Stand Out On Its Own

Even though he says “the music picked itself,” the Pennsylvania native had a very specific goal when creating the songs that would be featured on Pretty Little Poison, and he accomplished this beautifully.

“I wanted the songs to be able to stand on their own two legs, if you took everything away and it was just a vocal and a guitar,” the star-in-the-making gushed. “We built from the ground up, starting with acoustic guitar… I would say some of the songs have a more rock-leaning alt vibe, and then there’s a Western influence between the steel guitar and some songs have fiddle, but at the root of it all, there’s the acoustic guitar and there is my vocal that I work tirelessly on to make sure each song has the correct character and correct vibe.”

“At the end of the day, I just wanted the people listening to the songs to believe the guy singing each and every song,” Zeiders continued with a grin, and that feeling holds true for all 14 tracks on Pretty Little Poison.

Warren Zeiders; Photo by Edgar Evan
Warren Zeiders; Photo by Edgar Evan

A Versatile Artist

As for the overall message of the album, the one-of-a-kind artist explained that “you can’t really put Warren Zeiders in a box,” going on to share that the versatility of Pretty Little Poison is what makes the album itself so special.

“I want fans to take away that there’s so much versatility in my toolbox. Whether it’s my voice or whether it’s my creativity, I’m just gonna put out music that I love,” Zeiders explained. “At the end of the day, there’s so many songs on this album that each individual person out there, whether they’re a fan or they’re a new fan, everyone can find something that gels with them or that they’re gonna find that they love.”

With just one listen to Pretty Little Poison from top to bottom, fans will surely resonate with at least one of its phenomenal tracks.

“Inside Your Head”

YouTube video

One of the most notable songs on the album is “Inside Your Head,” which was written by the one and only Chris Stapleton, one of Zeiders’ biggest musical inspirations.

When asked about this once-in-a-lifetime moment, he shared what was going through his head: “I feel like it’s such a full-circle moment for me as an artist and just as a fan of Chris Stapleton’s and as a fan of just music as a whole. I was not opposed to outside songs in the creation of this album. I think a great song’s a great song, and if you can get behind it and put your own twist on it, I think that everybody should consider taking outside songs, because sometimes the best songs are the ones that you didn’t write.”

“The first cover I ever put on social media was Chris Stapleton’s rendition of ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’ and I’m a huge Chris Stapleton fan. I love his music to death, love his voice, love his vibe… When I got that song sent over to me, I felt like it was the good Lord talking to me like, ‘This is a song that you gotta go put out,’ and it just made sense for the album… When it came to me recording this song, I didn’t approach it as in, ‘I gotta beat Chris Stapleton’s version.’ I just gotta make my best version on my own. I gotta make Warren Zeiders’ best version, so it’s an awesome opportunity for my first cut to be a Chris Stapleton song. I think it’s a full circle moment for me,” he concluded with a smile.

YouTube video

Reveals His Favorite Tracks

While this track is extremely noteworthy to Zeiders himself, he surprisingly did not pinpoint it as one of his favorites on the project. Instead, the musical maestro revealed to that “Pretty Little Poison,” “Love’s A Leavin’” and “Weeping Willow” are the three songs that hold a special place in his heart.

“I’ll give you my top three. I’ll give you ‘Pretty Little Poison’ because it is my first song going to country radio, and that is a sentence I never thought I’d ever say in my life,” Zeiders shared, beaming. “I think that that’s just the good Lord’s sense of humor and how fast life can really change for someone in the matter of a blink of an eye, and honestly chasing after what you want in life.”

“Pretty Little Poison” is, without a doubt, the song that launched Warren Zeiders to stardom – there is a clear reason why it is one of his favorites, as well as the lead single and the title track of his debut project.

Since its release back in March, “Pretty Little Poison” debuted as the most added song on country radio, as well as broke into the Top 40 on the Mediabase Country Airplay Chart and the Top 25 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart. To top it off, the track has already amassed over 75 million global streams, and the number just keeps rising day by day.

Warren Zeiders; Photo by David McClister
Warren Zeiders; Photo by David McClister

Due to the viral success of this tune, it is safe to say that “Pretty Little Poison” set the tone for the other 13 tracks on the project, as well as created an array of Warren Zeiders fans across the globe.

Aside from “Pretty Little Poison,” “I would definitely say ‘Love’s A Leavin’’ was probably one of the hardest songs I ever had to write with how true it hits me in my heart and soul… That song I actually did cry writing, and that was a tough one for me to put on paper,” the budding superstar admitted. 

“My third one, I would probably say ‘Weeping Willow.’ I love the reactions the fans are showing, and I think it’s great because of the dichotomy of this album,” the Pennsylvania native revealed. “There’s heartbreak, and then you have a song like ‘Weeping Willow’ come along and it’s talking about the beauties in life that a woman can do for you… You have the heartbreak along the way, but then you find the one that just lights your world up like no other and can put a smile on a weeping willow. She can do anything.”

At just 24 years old, Zeiders it is clear that he will be a force to be reckoned with within the country music industry for years to come. 

Spent Years Playing Lacrosse

To the surprise of many, the country crooner was not always a musician. 

Starting out as a lacrosse player, the athlete-turned-singer made this drastic life change just a few years ago. Zeiders discussed how being incredibly involved in sports helped him develop valuable skills that have led to his success as a musician: “I think there’s a lot of similarities between the disciplines and characteristics of being an athlete, especially when you look at road life. You look at touring and there’s so many things around you that you could fall into that are not good for you… Being an athlete and having study hall, having two, three practices a day, having workouts, having early five, six AM workouts, all these things along the way that were instilled in me through my whole life, I’ve taken with me.”

He continued, “I approach each and every show with a certain mentality of it’s my job to go up there and give these people the best show they’ve ever seen, give them an escape from reality, give them something that they can feel and something they can take home with them, and honestly win over every heart, whether they’ve already been a fan or are making a new fan that night.”

Advice For Aspiring Musicians

Zeiders proceeded to offer guidance to individuals contemplating a full-fledged plunge into the music industry.

“I think the best piece of advice I could give anybody would be if you’re not, hop on social media as fast as you can… I think the second piece of advice that I always give is to make sure you do it because you love it, because there’s too many things in this life that we do, or work or career paths that we do, because we have to and we don’t love it,” Zeiders explained.

As far as music goes, “I think really the core of it all is being authentic. In a world today where there’s so much stuff being pushed on social media, any which way you look is perceived as reality, but in all reality is very much so fake. I think just being true to who you are, writing lyrics that you wanna write, singing what you want to sing, and putting out stuff that resonates with you, not just because you wanna feed an agenda. Just be who you are and be proud of who you are,” he concluded passionately.

This advice holds true to who Warren Zeiders is as a person – With just one listen to his music, it’s clear that he is truly as authentic as can be.  

While the release of Pretty Little Poison has been all-consuming as of late, the rising country star has some exciting plans for the future.

Headlining Tour

Following his sold-out spring run, Warren Zeiders extended his Pretty Little Poison headlining tour, which kicks off on September 15 in Buffalo, New York, and concludes in November in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“I’m excited to get back into the clubs. I think I’ve been playing at festivals this summer, but you can’t beat an energy like going into a club atmosphere with people showing up for your show, headlining, and coming back to some familiar cities and some familiar states, but going to some new places too… I think it shows the process of growing, going back to some of these places, but playing bigger venues. I played Pittsburgh last fall, 2,500, now I’m going back this fall and playing for 5,000,” he shared with Country Now.

Speaking of bigger and better venues, Zeiders will even be putting on his first-ever performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium during his headlining tour. When asked about his long-awaited debut, he gushed that he is “super excited to, you know, leave [his] mark and leave [his] stamp on there.”

“A cool story with the Ryman is I made a promise to myself with the Opry and the Ryman that I would not step foot in those buildings until I’ve stepped foot on stage for the first time. I made that promise and I came true with that last summer when I debuted at the Opry. I still have yet to step foot in the Ryman until I step foot there in October,” he revealed, setting the scene for an extra special night.

His show at the Ryman Auditorium may be sold out, but there are plenty of other opportunities to see him live. Click HERE to visit his official website for a complete list of upcoming tour dates. 

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Melanie Rooten

Written by

Melanie Rooten

Originally from Southern California and currently residing in Music City, Melanie graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA in Journalism before beginning her career as a music and entertainment journalist. Beginning to write for Country Now in August of 2023, she has also contributed to Holler, Music Mayhem, Country Chord, Celeb Secrets, Celeb Secrets Country, We Got This Covered and Decider throughout her career thus far. When she is not writing, Melanie enjoys going to concerts and music festivals, binging her favorite television shows, spending time with her friends and family and cheering on the Oklahoma Sooners (of course).