Who Is Kayley Green? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

This week we caught up with incredible singer-songwriter, Kayley Green. The Sony Music Nashville recording artist has a chased her dreams for a decade, knowing from an early age, that music was her calling. We chatted with the songstress all about her journey, her music, and everything in between.

“I have a big family, none of which are really musical. My mom’s dad was musical and my dad played a little guitar, but no one in my family really pursued music or did it as hobbies or anything, but I always pursed music. I did musical theatre as a kid and sang in church choir, and was playing live gigs in front of audiences as soon as I possibly could. It started in middle school,” shared the South Carolina native.

Green recalls always being drawn to music. “I loved Martina McBride. She was my favorite. My grandad asked me to sing one of her songs, and I remember saying “I can’t sing that.” But I wanted to make him happy and make him proud, so I would blare my stereo and scream sing her songs until I could hit the notes,” she shared. Adding, “I loved all genres of music, but my grandma watched me and all of my cousins, she watched all of us everyday, and she spent most of her time standing in front of CMT watching all of the music videos, so I just grew up with country music constantly playing.”

During her youth, Green chased her music dream, garnering the support of the people in her town. “My youth pastor set-up my first gig at a coffee shop, and it just continued from there. I played bar gigs all through high school. I moved to Nashville and continued playing shows as much as I could,” shared the singer. “There really wasn’t ever a time in my life where I didn’t want to be a singer. There really wasn’t any other option at any point in my life.”

The Turning Point:

Armed with a dream and ambition to match, Green headed to Nashville in 2013 to attend Belmont University “I found out about Belmont [University] in middle school, and I found out I could get a singing degree, and that was it. I went to Belmont and I got my music degree, and from that moment on, I just knew I was moving to Nashville, and I was going to do it.”

Green worked on her craft, all while performing five nights a week at the bars on Broadway. Eventually, she experienced the pandemic, which led her to leave her dreams behind momentarily. “I lived in Nashville for probably seven years, when the pandemic happened. I was playing downtown the whole time, but I had no idea how to even get into the industry. I wasn’t being told “no,”. I didn’t even know how to find a “no,”” she shared. Adding, “I moved home for a year and a half during the pandemic, and I thought that music was over, but I couldn’t quite give it up.”

The songstress began to find a new way to make her a dream a reality. “I started working on TikTok and influencing, doing that kind of thing. I really wanted to build up my influencer platform, so I could have money to put into my own original music and really give music one more shot. As soon as I launched my website and my merch line, I got a call from Keith Urban and his team, asking me to come play at the Bridgestone. It was two days before the show, I had no idea it was coming. […] He asked me to sing “We Were Us” with him and one song that I loved to sing too. […] I sang “Independence Day” and it changed my life over night.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, Green found a home at Sony Music Nashville, first a writer with a publishing deal and later with a record deal.

“I had no prospects in the industry, no contacts, no friends, I was so far from it, and immediately was kind of thrown into it, 100 miles an hour. Ross Copperman was behind me at the show, and he asked “who are you, what are you doing,” and he was kind of helping guide me in the right direction, and asked if I wanted to sign a publishing deal with SONY. […] I signed a joint venture publishing deal with Ross and SONY, and then not long after, I was offered a record deal with SONY too, but it was all because of the night at Bridgestone with Keith Urban.”

In the last few months, the songstress has released two songs that really speak to her unique talent as an artist. Both “Shadow of a Cowboy” and “Catching Up” were inspired by a break-up that the artist was going through.

“‘Shadow Of A Cowboy” was written by me, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite, and Ben Williams. It was Ben’s idea, but I was going through a break-up at the time, and he had the idea “Shadow Of A Cowboy,” and then just that with break-up energy in the room, we created this awesome song. […] As soon as I listened, I knew it was special and big. […] It was one that I had no doubt that I wanted to release,” she shared.

When it came to “Catching Up,” Green recalls wanting to hide the heartbreak she was going through. Her poker face was not very good, and one of her co-writers asked her what was wrong, eventually leading to this song.

“I told them everything that was going on, and we wrote “Catching Up.” It was totally organic, no one really came in with the idea, it was just about everything I was going through, and it was so healing to write it with them. I think it’s a story that a lot of people can relate to, especially girls. I think the story is great, and I’m really proud of that one too.”

Fans can expect more new music coming from the singer at the top of 2025. This is only the beginning for Green, so make sure you follow along!

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