NYCS Swag Spotlight: Kree Harrison
Kree Harrison may have been born in Woodville, Texas but the singer-songwriter who tells us in our recent interview that she was singing before she could even speak, made the move to Nashville much earlier than many of our Swag Spotlights. Harrison rose to popularity after her incredible performances on American Idol back in 2013. The songstress finished in the runner-up spot on the singing competition show but what you may not know is that she started her career in music when she was only ten years old. “I always loved music and entertaining and I think the first time I sang in public I was three years old,” she tells us. Feeling natural on stage in front of an audience, she explains she was bitten by the bug very early on.
Thankful for her parents support, they uprooted their lives and moved to Nashville when Harrison was only nine years old. “It’s crazy, more commonly, most people know me from American Idol but the truth is I’ve been here for 20 years,” she says. Laughing she tells us how she and her little brother couldn’t believe that you could call a pizza place and they would deliver the pizza right to your house, considering back in her small home town of Texas, that wasn’t even a thing.
She loved all types of music growing up but recalls Otis Redding being played around her house and the way the soulful music made her feel. Besides R&B she listened to old school country music like Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, and Merle Haggard and as she got older, she was influenced by ’90s country like The Judds, Trisha Yearwood and Lee Ann Womack just like many of the modern-day country artists.
As an artist, Harrison loves to mash the two genres, creating her own lane and a signature sound. “I really do try to marry my influences all together and hope that it sounds like me and not just, ‘Well she is just country or just blues,” she explains. She hates that genres try to put creative people in a box, laughing as she tells us that the night prior to our interview she was with friends and she played a Merle Haggard immediately followed by covering a Cardi B song.
Her latest single “I Love The Lie” was a track Harrison heard during pre-production for her upcoming album and she just knew she had to record it. The honest track was written by Chris Stapleton, his wife Morgane Stapleton and Liz Rose (“Girl Crush”). We discussed the decision for her to cut an outside song for her album and to be the first single from her sophomore album. “It just stood out to me, like a ‘duh’ moment, I have to sing this, I believe in it,” she told us. ” It would be ignorant for me to just write my whole record without listening to outside songs, especially in my writing community here, I am so spoiled with songs that are written by singer-songwriters or just writers that write amazing stuff, I can’t imagine crossing it out just because I am not a writer on that song.”
She looks ahead to releasing her second album, excited to get the music out to her fans and get on a radio tour to promote “I Love The Lie”.
To keep up with Harrison, follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
“I Love The Lie” is now available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.
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