Who is Walker County? The Story Behind Their Journey to Country Music
Who is Walker County? The singer-songwriting duo joined us to chat about their journey to country music. Get to know the rising stars here…
Walker County // Photo credit: Trea Allen
Quick Facts:
Full Names – Ivy Dene Potter & Sophie Dawn Walker
Birthdates – April 10 (Ivy Dene) & March 19 (Sophie Dawn)
Hometown – Sulphur Springs, IN
Current City – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical Influences – Dolly Parton, The Chicks, Miranda Lambert, John Prine
Current Single – “The Thing About Fences” // as of date of article: 5/6/2024
The Beginning:
Today’s spotlight shines on incredible sister-duo, Walker County. Walker County, comprised of Ivey Dene Potter and Sophie Dawn Walker are a force to be reckoned with in country music right now. We chatted with the songstresses’ about their path towards music, their new independent project, and everything in between.
“We grew up in a town of 390 people, and we only had each other to write with,” began the Indiana natives. “We started playing music together when we were 9 and 12, and we started to play music with our dad, Billy Walker. He was a big influence. He played bluegrass all our childhood and played for a church band.”
As soon as their father realized they could sing, he invited them to pursue their gifts. “We just learned a love for all music really early on, so when it was time for us to do our own thing, we loved our bluegrass. […] I remember the first song that we got to cover that we chose was “Red High Heels” by Kellie Pickler. We definitely looked up to those female artists,” shared the singers who found inspiration in many different genres of music. “Our dad grew up playing bluegrass, but he also would play every genre of music in the house. We listened to anything and everything.”
Armed with a passion, the duo took a trip with their family to Nashville in 2007. “We opened up the guitar case, and street performed for a little bit,” shared Walker County. Adding, “We went back down and played for like an hour and a half, and made $200 bucks, and I thought we were rich of course, and we went to the mall after […]. We ended up going back to Indiana, and started to play wherever we could, fairs and festivals, and that really took over our lives. We started playing every weekend, all through 2014, until we made the move to Nashville, and we’ve been in town ever since.”
The Turning Point:
Walker County continued to hone their talents and their storytelling through their upbringing. Eventually, at just nineteen and sixteen years old, the singer-songwriters made the move to Nashville, Tennessee to further their careers.
“We moved to Nashville with a record deal at nineteen and sixteen. We moved to town with the idea that in the next two years we would have music, and that just didn’t happen. That season of our lives, we had a lot of growing to do and learning the ins and outs of the music industry, some of it heartbreaking and some of it exciting,” shared the singers, as they reflected on their journey.
While in Nashville, they spent years writing and cultivating their sound. “Nashville was definitely a writer’s bootcamp for the first two years we lived here.” Despite continuing to write music almost daily, Walker County was not getting the opportunity they wanted to put out all the music they were creating.
This led to the women finally deciding to bet on themselves. “It was just a season in our lives that needed to happen, but we had been there for nine years, and last year at Sophie’s birthday dinner, we were sitting with a friend of ours, a singer-songwriter named Paul Sikes, and we were just sitting there pouring out our frustration of not being able to release the music we want and having this catalog of songs that we’ve been dying to put out to the world, and just not getting the opportunity to, and that’s when Paul was like “girls, let me produce this record. Let’s put out every song that we always wanted to put out. We don’t need the record label to do this, we can do this on our own.”
Walker County went on to do just that and took a leap of faith.
Today:
That leap of faith culminated in Walker County finally releasing their debut album, Painted Ponies. The eleven song project features songs like “The Thing About Fences,” “Handwritten,” and the title track. Each of the songs speak to their incredible songwriting prowess, their knack for crafting a relatable song, and of course, their journey thus far as they navigate the windy road that is the music industry.
“I think there’s a song on this album from every year we’ve been in town. It’s really cool, because it definitely tells our journey and our story in the music industry,” shared the singers. “We really didn’t have any rules while picking this album, which was so freeing. […] We really wanted this album to be one that you listen to from start to finish, and for it really to tell a story. It’s evident that we had a good time making this album.”
The record is a true embodiment of what happens in music when there are no boundaries. “We just sat and listened through the songs, and we wanted the record to make sense, but we didn’t want to be held back by how many tempos we had on it, how many ballads, what this song meant, we just wanted it to live with the songs in it. No rules, no fences. We just wrote down our favorites, and I think the songs that stuck out were the songs we knew the day we wrote them that they were going to special songs.”
Fans can look forward to even more music from Walker County coming out hopefully this year. The ladies will also be playing at fairs and festivals this season, as well as, heading back to CMA Fest. For a full list of shows, head to their website here.
Connect:
Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Walker County releases.
To keep up with Walker County, follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Walker County’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.
