There’s few things we love more than championing badass, powerful women in country music. Today’s spotlight artist fits that description perfectly. We chatted with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville recording artist, Mary Kutter about her journey to music, her upbringing, and of course, new music. Keep reading to learn about her dynamic story.

“I grew up in central, Kentucky, literally where all the bourbon is made,” began Kutter. “I grew up a normal kiddo. Now, my mom, whenever I was six years old, she decided it would be really good for my brother and me to take piano lessons, and there was this lady Ms. Janine, who lived probably about ten minutes away from our farm, and she started giving us weekly piano lessons.”

The songstress credits her piano teacher, Ms. Janine for discovering that she could actually sing. She recalls playing with the teacher’s kittens one day and singing to them in front of her teacher. “I would sing to the kittens, and Ms. Janine was like “this girl could sing.” […] Every week I would go in and do my little piano lesson, and she would sing with me too.” Her first performance ended up being at her piano concert, where she performed a Mozart piece and then surprised the audience with her vocal rendition of the song, “Moon River.”

From then on, Kutter continued to cultivate a love of music, finding inspiration in story-telling, writing, and even classic rock music. “I do love story-telling songs. I love Reba, she has range for days, but she knows how to tell a story. I feel like Dolly Parton is the same way, but as a little girl, my daddy and I would drive thirty minutes each way to go to the grocery store, and he would crank up his favorite music, which was classic rock. […] We were listening to AC/DC, The Who, Alice Cooper, and I think that’s how I caught the bug a little bit.”

The Turning Point:

Kutter’s journey to country music happened organically and over time. While she was playing shows near her hometown and the surrounding areas, she still didn’t quite know much about the music industry or Nashville. “I never knew how to do it in a career space, but there was this fella that owned a couple of radio stations outside of Louisville, Kentucky, and we had met, when I was singing at an event that his radio station was hosting. […] Well, he wanted to have a live music variety show and he wanted me to host it, and that ended up being kinda my segway to Nashville,” shared the songstress, adding, “I didn’t have any experience doing any of that stuff, but I started hosting that show, and we had three or four guests every week, and I ended up starting to write with some of those folks in Nashville. […] I don’t think I understood how the business worked at all, but that’s how I got to, and I started writing some songs that opened up the door for me to the music world.”

For Kutter finding her place in the industry was a process; however, she knew that she always found herself in writing “Writing was an outlet for me. […] I always loved writing stories and poems and songs. I know I’m not the only person who feels this way, but sometimes we’re able to express ourselves better through music. It’s interesting that whenever I started writing for different artists that different songwriters are known for different things. […] For me, different folks wanted to pull me in to help tell their personal stories.”

Kutter’s songwriting put her on the map of major record labels in Nashville, ultimately landing her a deal this year (2026) with BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville.

Today:

Flash forward just two months later, the singer-songwriter is on this wild ride, working on more music and playing as many shows as she can. Her debut major-label single, “Bed of Roses” marks just the beginning for the songstress.

“I had this vague idea of a housewife murders her husbands, puts him in the back with the rose garden, and the day before the writing session, I got a phone call that was honestly really heartbreaking. There was a person I really respected in the industry for a long time. I didn’t know them personally, but my manager Adrian had called me up and said he got some bad news. He said that he had talked to them about my artistry and very long-story short, they said that they didn’t think I had the vocal chops to be an artist, that they didn’t think I was pretty enough to be an artist, and they even talked about the way I talked. I was just kinda shattered,” shared the singer.

Instead of dwelling on it (although she was heartbroken), she took herself to Nissan Stadium to see her favorite band AC/DC in concert. “I remember looking down at the stage that night, and I had never felt farther a way from the stage, literally and figuratively. All my dreams felt so far away,” she shared, adding, “It started kinda striking me that every single song that you would know the song just from the introduction and also what hit me was at the end of every chorus, at least their hits, they would have this chanting section. […] I was like “Wow I want to write a song like this.” And I text my two co-writers that I was going to write with tomorrow.”

Kutter took her pain and heartbreak into the writer’s session the next day, and “Bed of Roses” was born. “The next day happens, and the sadness had kinda turned to spice a little bit, and I start telling them what this business person had said. I said if they don’t like the way I talk, I’ll take the whole song. […] We settled on having a sung chorus and a spoken verse,” she shared. “The song kinda turned into a metaphor for me, killing off the negative voices and burying them.”

The single is just the beginning for Kutter, and we cannot wait to see what she unveils next. Stay tuned!

Connect:

To keep up with Mary Kutter, follow her on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter.

Mary Kutter’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.