Callie Twisselman opens up to the Mirror about her love of Dolly Parton, life growing up on the ranch, song-writing and what the future holds in a wide-ranging chat while on her UK tour
After wowing at C2C: Country to Country, at London’s O2 Arena, the future looks bright for Callie Twisselman.
We caught up with her for a spot of lunch in the capital in the middle of her UK tour which has been going down a storm. From signing a deal with Dolly Parton’s manager, to growing up on her family’s seventh-generation grain and cattle ranch in California, Callie opened up about life in the spotlight….and what the future holds.
Country music is a massive over here…how have you found playing C2C again? So many have come up to me from the last time I played, saying they had been following my career ever since. It’s so humbling.
In terms of your creative process, how do you go about writing music? Are you quite set in your ways? I’ll take something off the top of my head, and then just kind of start with a melody on the guitar and then write the lyrics. But sometimes it’s like, (my manager) Danny telling me, ‘Hey, that’s a good song title…why don’t you roll with it.’ So I do!
Do enjoy the lyric writing process? I’ve written songs since I was 15, and I started out with poems, so words have always been kind of an easy thing for me, but I also enjoy it a lot. Sometimes you’ll get writer’s block, and then it’s aggravating, but it hasn’t happened too much, thankfully.
Is your music quite autobiographical? Sometimes it can feel like I am writing in a diary. So it can be a lot of your own experiences, but then you do have to make them a little more interesting sometimes, and jazz them up a little bit.
Do you find that process of putting some of the more personal lyrics out there quite nerve wracking? When I was first starting out, I felt like I had to hide certain things, as I didn’t want people to think that about me. Then I learned along the way that the more open you are and honest, the more people can relate to that.
You’ve met Dolly Parton quite a few times…what was that like and what advice did she give you? She’s always so sweet. She talked to me about sacrifice, and how that was one of the things she said she had to do. And if you want to get to where you want to be, you have to sacrifice things
What have you sacrificed? I’ve sacrificed relationships. Just focusing on the music takes you away from time with family or loved ones. But you have to make choices.
Has that been hard, though, making those decisions? I had to move away from California, and that was a tough one at first. But then I love Nashville, because it’s Music City, and it felt like that’s where I was meant to be. So that was a good, tough choice.
You interviewed Dolly on International Women’s Day and she talked about how she leaned on her family…have you done the same? They’re very supportive. My parents and my siblings have always supported my music. My mum was trying to be a singer when she was younger, and I was in a local country band, and so her and my father have always loved country music, and I think they live vicariously through me.
Can you recall your mum when she was singing? I remember I’d have the tambourine, and she would sing Patsy Cline and all that sort of vibe. I thought I want to do that, so I started singing the national anthem everywhere. I was 10.
You moved to Nashville from California to follow your musical dreams. Were your parents worried? My mum was, of course, nervous. She was like, ‘you’re going 2000 miles away from home.’ But they were very supportive about the music, and I knew it’s always what I wanted to do, and they just always encouraged me to chase my dreams.
How close are you to them? I talk to them every day on the phone if I’m not with them or I visit California every couple months. I help out on the family ranch when needed
What does helping out on the ranch look like? Well, we have cattle, so I help vaccinate them, or move them to another field and check their waters. We have horses too. I love to just do my part.
Were you ever minded to do that full time? (laughs) It’s always gonna be there if I need it.
When the opportunity came to work with Danny Nozell (Dolly Parton’s manager) did you jump at the chance? Absolutely. Danny met all my family and really loved them. I remember him saying ‘there’s sharks out there and you can’t be taken advantage of.’ He’s been great ever since.
We talked about the creative process, and occasionally you get writer’s block. What do you do in that situation? I try not to force it, because I know when that happens, nothing good comes out of it. Not good music. I just take a break and live a little bit – not too long, because I obviously want to keep writing – but try to get inspiration. So then it’ll come out naturally. But then co-writes always help too. If you are stuck, other people can give some ideas.
A lot of people look at people like Taylor Swift and how she keeps evolving musically from country to pop and even into folk. Has there ever been any sort of pressure on you to adapt your sound? No pressure ever, really. But like I also grew up loving Shania Twain and she was able to cross over. And I’ve always loved both genres – country and pop – and I don’t want to be put in a box. I just want to make music and hope that people like it.
Last year, you released In My World, before joining forces with Dolly and fellow country singers Maddie & Tae and Jessie James Decker for the Diane Warren-penned single Gonna Be You. What’s next? We’re working on tour dates, and looking to release music every six weeks. Keep pumping out my new music.
