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Who Is Jenna Paulette? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

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Who is Jenna Paulette? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about her journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…

who-is-jenna-paulette

Jenna Paulette // Photo Credit: Nick Swift

The Beginning:

This week we shine our spotlight on Texas-raised country star, Jenna Paulette. Growing up in North Texas, Paulette embodies everything that country music is all about. “I grew up loving country music. It was always on in the kitchen when my mom was cooking dinner,” shared the singer. Adding that she would even listen to music out on the cattle farm with her grandfather. “I’d be listening to George Strait, The Chicks, I was just really kinda heavily influenced by very commercial versions of Texas country music that kind of sang about the life that I grew up in and love and admire so much.”

At an early age, Paulette knew she was made to be a country music singer and songwriter. She recalls her mom and her family instilling confidence in her throughout her childhood and teen years. “I remember watching the ACM’s with my mom, and her being like ‘you’re going to do that one day.’” Later the songstress declared, “There was never really a doubt in my mind about what I’m supposed to do in my life.”

Although country music in general was her passion, Paulette specifically loved female artists like Lorrie Morgan and Lee Ann Womack. Today, she finds inspiration in artists like Miranda Lambert and Kacey Musgraves. “My voice is more the nuances and the texture that I bring in the storytelling aspect,” shared Paulette, addressing her similarities with Lambert and Musgraves.

“I always felt it was such an honor to sing about the life that I come from and the people I get to represent through country music.”

The Turning Point:

After high school, Paulette headed to The Savannah College of Art and Design on a full scholarship. Although she did not apply to the school, she was offered a full ride after the school saw her perform. “I knew when I went to college that I wanted to be a country artist and I knew what I wanted to represent.”

With the desire to use her education to further her career, Paulette majored in Marketing and utilized her school projects to build her own personal brand. “I wanted to be able to figure out how to communicate who I am so well that people listen to a song or go to my Instagram or Spotify for whatever and they know exactly who they’ll get.”

After college and a brief stint in Austin, Texas, Paulette finally decided to make the move to Nashville, Tennessee. “I’ve been doing this ever since. It’s just been growing the whole time,” she shared. “We’ve been here for 5.5/6 years and I absolutely love it,” said Paulette, about Nashville.

“It’s just so cool to kind of look back at my whole life and see everything that led me to where I am now with so much purpose. I couldn’t love what I’m doing more.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, Paulette is making strides in her music career. Her latest two songs “Country In The Girl” and “Pretty Ugly” have been a hit with fans and social media. The former went viral on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. The songstress shared that she wanted to write a song about her life growing up raising cattle.

“It’s gotta be something about the way real life people live on a daily basic verses what people think about the country because I did grow up in it,” she shared during a write with her co-writers. The track was something special almost instantly, and after it went viral, Paulette knew she had to record it.

As for “Pretty Ugly,” the track was one of the several songs the singer wrote on a writing trip. Although she initially passed on the title three times, it was in that writing room on the beach that she finally felt the title was the right song for her. “Parker [one of the writers] said ‘heartbreak makes pretty ugly,’ and it was the fastest song we wrote.”

“It feels pretty and badass at the same time. And that’s the type of songs I like to listen to. […] And it’s really fun for me to get to perform a type of song like that.” Paulette also shared that the music video for “Pretty Ugly” is slated to come out soon.

As for other new music, Paulette has three songs coming down the pipeline soon. The two originals are called “Bless Your Heart” and “Slow Draw.” The last song is a cowboy version of the popular Christmas song “Santa Baby.” Fans can look forward to the new music and for the singer to get out on the road with artists like John Michael Montgomery and Aaron Watson this fall.

Connect:

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about upcoming Jenna Paulette announcements and releases.

To keep up with Jenna Paulette, follow her on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Jenna Paulette’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

Mason Ramsey & Friends Entertains Fans in New York City

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This past Thursday night, Mason Ramsey brought his rodeo to lower a Manhattan venue, Gramercy Theatre, with special guests Jenna Paulette and ERNEST. While only 12 years old, Ramsey held the room in the palm of his hand, singing a variety of originals and covers while showcasing his yodeling and dancing skills for the crowd. Penned Lil Hank Williams, he certainly lived up to his nickname.

Jenna Paulette Mason Ramsey

First up was rising Texan singer/songwriter Jenna Paulette, a long-time member of writers circle Song Suffragettes in Nashville. When the lights were dimmed, the crowd went wild as Paulette walked out, clad in a fringe skirt and cowboy hat. She opened her set with “Wild Like the West,” an upbeat song about her wild personality. When Paulette played current single “Blue Jeans”, the crowd was hooked. “This is my first time playing a show in New York City,” she said, to which the crowd cheered. She closed with hit “F-150”, and asked the crowd to send a “yeehaw” back to Mason Ramsey before leaving the stage. To learn more about the Texas native check out our Swag Spotlight from earlier this year.

Next was songwriter-turned-artist ERNEST. Performing with just his guitar, ERNEST stole the show, performing a slew of hits recorded by artists such as Morgan Wallen and Chris Lane, as well as new songs on his debut EP, Locals Only, released this past Friday, October 11th. “This is what helped me sign my first publishing deal,” he said before playing his catchy hook “Blacked Out”. He sang it another time after free-styling to the word “mullet” at a suggestion by a fan. After singing “Sugar”, a fan shouted, “Play ‘Blacked Out’ again!” He laughed and responded, “Y’all don’t wanna ruin the present now, do you? It’s coming,” And with that, he closed his set to a deafening sing-along of “Blacked Out”. His music is perfect for fans of Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen.

Mason Ramsey

When the lights flickered on and off, signaling that Mason Ramsey was about to enter the room, people started excitedly running to the front of the stage, chanting, “Mason, Mason, Mason”. He followed his band out, singing and shredding the guitar like it was nobody’s business. He opened with his original song, “The Way I See It”, and the audience knew every word. “So… I’m happy to be in New York. Tour’s fun… except for that one incident I had on my bike, I crashed,” Ramsey told the crowd, laughing and cheering. “Now we’re gonna go a little classic,” Ramsey said. “Let’s take it back with ‘Ring of Fire’ by Johnny Cash.” The crowd was thrilled to hear it, screaming the words back to him as he made his way to the front of the stage, hi-fiving fans. Following his Cash cover, he played four Hank Williams covers, which included, “Jambalaya”, “Hey Good Lookin” and “Your Cheatin Heart”.

“It’s a true story,” Ramsey laughed, telling the crowd. “My grandma needed towels at Walmart, and I decided, in this weird little aisle, like Aisle #12 or something like that, to sing a couple of songs, and then a circle started forming around me. And after that, there was this lady who said, ‘Can you sing me a special song?’ And she recorded it. And that song goes like this,” he said, nodding to the band who started up the song that started it all, Hank Williams’ “Lonesome Blues”.

Mason Ramsey

After singing an unreleased song, “Gone”, Ramsey surprised the crowd with his verse of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road”. For his two encores, Ramsey brought out ERNEST to sing “Twang” and Jenna Paulette to sing “Famous”, closing the show to the entire venue singing both songs at the top of their lungs. Ramsey, ERNEST, and Paulette all seemed to be so thrilled to be on stage together, soaking in every moment.

It’s not every day a 12-year-old embarks on a headlining tour with a stop in New York City. After success on social media, it was incredibly impressive to see how dedicated his fanbase is and how truly talented he is. This show had something for everyone – if you can, make sure to catch the HOW’S UR GIRL & HOW’S UR FAMILY PT. 2 Tour. Additional dates at www.masonramseyofficial.com

To keep up with Mason Ramsey follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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NYCS Swag Spotlight: Jenna Paulette

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Jenna Paulette

“I was always wanting to be apart of the national scene”

Growing up on a family ranch outside of the Dallas, Texas area, Jenna Paulette was heavily influenced by many country musical artists, notably George Strait and the Dixie Chicks. “I think I fell in love with, especially George Strait, the way that he takes songs that just make you feel something and the pedal steel in most of his stuff is just so hauntingly beautiful and communicates emotion I think better than words do sometimes and I was just romanced by that whole idea,” she told us in a recent interview. “I related to George because he kinda represents all of my favorite men in my life like my grandfather is a cowboy and taught me everything I know about cattle and I just really respect who he is as a person and what he represents as a man and so I think I just took all of that and was like ‘If I can make people feel the way George Strait makes me feel then I’ll be doing a good job,’ that’s a major goal for me.” “Cowboy Take Me Away” and “Wide Open Spaces” by Dixie Chicks were among songs that made Paulette feel those things, while she was experiencing life on a ranch.

Singing in choir herself, her mother recognized the talent and passion Paulette had for country music at a very young age and always encouraged her dreams. Paulette was apart of four choirs in high school, including an all-state team group a regional group. Everything she experienced from life on the ranch made her recognize she always wanted to pursue country music as a career. Paulette started writing music in college and became more interested in the people who were writing her favorite songs rather than the artists who were singing them, “I would read the back of Carrie Underwoods’ records and be like ‘Oh my gosh, who are writing these songs that are making me cry’ and one of them was Ashley Gorley.” After college, Paulette visited Nashville when she was introduced to Gorley by the wife of the pastor of Gorley’s church. Shortly after meeting the hit-making songwriter, Paulette sent Gorley the first songs she had ever written which grew into him seeing the potential in her and coached her into commercial country songwriting. Continuing to be her mentor for the next couple of years, Paulette was traveling back and forth from Texas to Nashville, visiting Nashville once a month for a week at a time writing as many songs as she could with Gorley. He then sat her down, telling her “If you want to play this game, you have to be present to win.” Paulette then made the move to Nashville at the beginning of 2016.

Meeting with labels, she would describe her style of music as a cowgirl vibe which resulted in being pitched with songs that would be “too western” or “so pop it wasn’t country at all,” that’s when she knew she would have to show everyone what she meant. “One day I was on this road trip and the words ‘New West’ came into mind because I was like I’m a cowgirl but I’m so not like old school cowgirl, I’m a new version of whatever that means and all of the feelings that come along with it that you love about me, the west and the ideas of the west and new west popped into my brain and that just kind of became my goal and I started writing towards that and everything started making sense.” Paulette describes ‘New West’ as commercial country music with western ideas and undertones and a slight bit of pop underneath. She then moved on to release three songs with corresponding music videos on CMT last fall that made those people in Nashville begin to understand her sound. “I am really thankful that it didn’t happen before now because I don’t think I knew who I was in a way that I could make a whole career out of it and I think everything happens for a reason and I’m extremely thankful for all the voices that coached me along the way,” she tells us.

Paulette is a member of Song Suffragettes, an all-female songwriting collective in Nashville. It wasn’t until joining the prominent group that she noticed the lack of women being played on country radio. The Texas-native feels a sense of obligation for the future of female airplay, “It put responsibility on me like, okay, well what’s my part in all of this and how do I break down the barrier myself and do such a good job that they want to play what I’m putting out… Let’s be so good they can’t ignore it.”

Her current single, “F-150,” co-written with Mark Trussell, was the “it” song for her. On her way to the writing session with Trussell, Paulette pulled into three different parking lots to stop and note the melody of the chorus and idea for the hook that popped into her head immediately. It took Trussell and Paulette two writing sessions to complete the song’s lyrics. She tells us she feels the spacing of the hook makes the whole thing make sense, “Baby drive me… crazy, like you drive your F-150”

“F-150 is apart of her lane as where she wants to continue to grow as an artist and the type of song that she is passionate about and can sing over and over again and enjoy herself every single time. This is the type of song she feels equipped with to play in arenas one day.

Gaining some experience by opening for Zac Brown Band, she loves to watch artists who are exactly where she wants to be in the future, taking notes from the people who inspire her. Paulette is gearing up to release an EP this year, along with two more visually artistic music videos for new songs. Keep up with the new western artist on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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Thank You for supporting Country Music in NYC!

Subscribe to our Weekly Round-Up here 
for ticket giveaways, meet & greet contests, upcoming events,
and all things country music in the New York metro area and beyond!

+ Follow our country music adventures on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook: