Hard work, heartbreak, and a voice that
resonates like a southern choir, rising country music artist, Candi
Carpenter, has fought for 20 years to make her way to the Grand Ole Opry
stage. On Friday, July 12th her dream comes true as she makes her Opry debut.
“I feel like I’ve been waiting for this my whole life – ever since I
was lucky enough to meet my mentor, Jack Greene, and him allowing me to
become a member of The Jack Greene Show, then spending countless hours
peeking out from that curtain and dreaming it was me out there,” says Carpenter. She continues, “This
first time performing at the Opry is just as much for Jack as it is me.
I feel like he’ll be standing right there in that circle with me.”
With an already impressive canon of songs, Carpenter is thrilled to also
be hitting the Opry stage by premiering new music recorded and produced
by Grammy Award winner, Brandi Carlile. Each song, “Fancy Floors” and “The Astronaut” also feature Carlile in the background vocal.
“Both of these songs are important to me and this was my first time
working with a female producer. Brandi and I started the session just
singing the songs back and forth on guitar going over every line. She
really went out of her way to connect with who I am as an artist – it
was a beautiful, emotional, truly magical day in the studio.”
“Fancy Floors” (Written by Candi Carpenter and Leslie Satcher)
After experiencing so much heartbreak and rejection at a young age,
Carpenter was disenchanted with her career and felt like her dreams were
slipping away. She was broke and cleaning houses along with working two
other jobs to pay her bills. While working for various clients cleaning
their homes, she had a lot of time to think about the past and her
uncertain future. She started writing “Fancy Floors”
while cleaning someone’s beautiful dining room. It was the first time
she had been excited about a song in a long time, so she took the idea
to her close friend, Leslie Satcher. Leslie isn’t just a hit songwriter,
she is also one of Carpenter’s favorite artists, always seeming to know
how to make a solid idea even stronger.
“The Astronaut” (Written by Candi Carpenter, Alden Witt, and John Caldwell)
This song started with a new found love of astronomy and a season of
questioning everything. As Carpenter was going through an emotional
rough patch, trying to make sense of life and find her purpose, this
song started as only the first four lines and the bridge. Unsure of what
to do with the song, she showed it to Alden Witt and John Caldwell
during one of their weekly writing sessions. The two jumped on board
immediately and helped to breathe new life into the track. The song was
finished in just a few hours and took on a life of its own – it demanded
to be written.
2019 is proving to be an exciting year of firsts and noteworthy
accomplishments for Carpenter. Along with recording new music with
Grammy Award winner, Brandi Carlile, and achieving her childhood dream
of performing at the Grand Ole Opry, she is also in the process of
organizing a world tour, will be performing at Dolly Parton’s 50th Anniversary at the Opry, and is set to perform at the Newport Music Festival.
American Icon, Dolly Parton, recently stated, “Candi Carpenter is
one of the greatest singer/songwriters I’ve ever heard, bar none. I
became a fan when I heard some demos and said, ‘That girl’s a star!’ I
think you’ll agree.”
For additional information on Candi Carpenter and upcoming performance dates, please visit: