Photo credit: Stefanie Lee Johnson

Exclusive feature Q&A with Victoria Bailey

rj frometa Wednesday, October 11, 2023 Content Leave a comment

Victoria Bailey is back with a gorgeous new album, “A Cowgirl Rides On.” She wowed us with her previous release, “Jesus, Red Wine & Patsy Cline,” but she has set the bar much higher with this new collection of songs. Mining relationships and her faith, Bailey shares glimpses of her heart and soul with these songs, and it’s an A+ effort from the very first note. Fans of Americana, country, folk, and bluegrass will want to put this one in heavy rotation.

Vents Magazine sat down with Bailey to talk about the new album, and we took a dive into the creation of the song “A Cowgirl Rides On,” including its inspiration, and how she befriended the author of the book that inspired the song. We chatted about the importance of having this album be stripped-down and raw, musically speaking. We chatted about her unique sound, and what’s next for this charming and hugely talented artist.

Hi Victoria, welcome back to VENTS! How have you been?

So good to be back! Thank you! I have been great! Just enjoyed a really wonderful summer filled with fun shows, horse rides, and time with my puppy, Taco. I just released my new album, and I’m so excited for it!

Yes, the reason we are chatting today is because you have an amazing new album that just came out called “A Cowgirl Rides On.” What can you tell us about it? What is the story behind it?

Yes! It has been a long time coming for this one, and I was so ready for these songs to be out in the world. It is a gospel/western/bluegrass album. It is so different than anything I’ve released before, but also sounds so true to where I am at musically and in life. It is stripped-down, and was recorded live all together in one room with a foud-piece string band. The songwriting for this record was my absolute favorite experience. A lot of the tunes were co-written with my good friend and producer of the record, Brian Whelan. It was so fun collaborating with him and he truly brought my visions for these songs to life in the studio.

What do you hope listeners get from hearing the album? What do you hope the overarching message is?

These songs are deep and are full of faith and heartbreak, and I just hope listeners can feel comfort from these lyrics and to connect to them in some way. The album as a whole is just a reflection on a few things I was going through in life over the past few years with covid and a heartbreak – times I really leaned on my faith and God. All of those things poured out into these songs and gave me such peaceful closure, and I hope even a little bit of that can be passed onto others who are listening.

We really love the song “A Cowgirl Rides On.” What inspired you to write that song? What is it about?

This song is so special to me. It was inspired by an amazing true story, a book called “Distant Skies” written by Melissa Priblo Chapman. She rode her horse across the country from New York to California, and this book follows her incredible journey. I was so moved by it and wrote this song as a reflection of not only her story, but woven in are my own experiences and heartbreak at the time. This was the first single released from the album, and she actually reached out to me after catching wind of the song from her publisher. We are now unofficial pen pals and have been talking back and forth about horses and life. It was such a beautiful full-circle moment from writing the song to being able to talk with her, and I’m so grateful for it.

What was the recording process like in the studio for the song? Did this song end up sounding like you expected it to, or did it take a different direction in the studio?

Like I mentioned earlier, our studio sessions were all tracked live together in one room, and we really all felt this one in there together. It came out exactly how I envisioned. The production is dreamy and simple and so real. Brian Whelan and I recorded a voice memo of this song after a songwriting session, and I played it a million times on my phone wishing that could just be the recording, because it sounded so real and beautiful. But adding the string band and the pedal steel was the best decision. It gives the story the life it deserves.

What is your favorite part of the song – either musically or lyrically?

There’s a line in the last verse that says, “She belongs to the prairie, and the river’s her song,” referring to a breakup and moving forward and finding comfort and peace in nature and leaving it all up to fate. Musically, I just love the harmonies and fiddle so much.

Your sound is really rootsy and classic country-based, but there are other aspects to it too that make it really special. There is a bit of folk in the storytelling, and some Americana flavors. The result is really great. How did you settle upon your overall sound for this album? How does it differ from your previous album?

Thank you so much! My first record was a full-on, fun, honky tonk record, and I am so proud of it. But I wanted to do something different for this one. I wanted it to be a reflection of how I sound live, stripped-down and raw. Don’t get me wrong, I love a full-band, honky tonk show, and that will always be a piece of my heart. But I am excited to tour with this new record and play these songs stripped-down, just how they were meant to be.

What else is happening next for you? Can fans see you on tour anywhere this fall? Any other new music coming?

Definitely! I am always playing somewhere around here quite frequently. But I am so excited to be heading out on a run with Jesse Daniel and his band in October. And a few other shows to be announced soon! No new music being recorded at the moment, but I am definitely getting some ideas started for the next project. Stay tuned. Thanks so much for having me!