Interview: CARTER FAITH, C2C Country 2 Country (Part 1)

One of the best things about attending Europe's biggest country music festival? Getting to chat with all of the amazing acts! Without a doubt someone I was SO excited to talk to was rising country star Carter Faith. If you don't know her music, get on that! If you don't know her, keep on reading...

 

Ciara’s Country (CC): I feel like I’ve been waiting years for today's guest - the voice behind some of my favourite songs from the past few years like Wild and Greener Pasture, and definitely one to watch in country music, it’s Carter Faith! Welcome, Carter.

 

Carter Faith (CF): Thank you Ciara, that’s so sweet. It's crazy to come over here and people even know my music.

 

CC: We've been waiting a long time for you! You're finally here in Europe playing a bunch of shows as part of the C2C festival in the Netherlands and Germany. How has your time in Europe been?

 

CF: So fun! I'm sure every American says it, but the fans over here are just so special. The shows have been so special. Getting to see the Netherlands - I've always wanted to go there, so getting to go there because of country music is crazy. Then seeing places in Germany, just crazy. I think there's something special to that, having fans all over the world. I’m just loving every second of it.

 

CC: Have you been able to enjoy your time in Europe outside of the shows too?

 

CF: I really have. I'm grateful that we've been very busy but my amazing team booked me time to see the world too, which is really awesome. I’m such a long way from home so I need to see it. I got a day off in Amsterdam and one in Hamburg too, which was just so cool.

 

CC: I think it's fantastic that you get to do what you love and travel the world. Was this always the dream or did it hit you later?

 

CF: I'm from a small town in North Carolina so this wasn't really anyone's dream! I was in high school when I wanted to decide to do music for my job and I didn’t even picture going overseas. I was like maybe I’ll get to tour around North Carolina, but this is just like exceeding all my expectations for sure.

 

CC: Yes, pretty far away from North Carolina! And now we’re here in London – how’s it going?

 

CF: I love it. I had the whole day off yesterday so I saw Covent Garden and we saw a play on the West End, which was cool.

 

CC: Which one?

 

CF: The Book of Mormon, which I've never seen. It was so funny, it was my first hard laugh in a while. So good.

 

CC: I love that you have been making the most of your time here, especially since the West End is such a core part of London culture. Is there anything else particularly British that you want to do or have done?

 

CF: Well, we went to Dishoom. I was very excited about that. I feel like everyone has gone! I'm sure that it’s not the place that the locals go to, but I just had to go at least once because I love Indian food and it's just hard to find good Indian food in America.

 

CC: Well if that's what it takes to get you back here more often, we'll just open more Indian restaurants! With so many great songs under your belt, what can we expect to see from you at this festival?

 

CF: I just want to play! I've been really watching people message me about what songs they want to hear and I really care about that so I've been trying to play people's favourites because I don't get to come over here very often. Then new ones too, I have a lot of new music coming out this year that I'm excited about. It's taken a long time for me to write, create and figure out a plan so I want to play all past, present and future songs that I'm proud of. It's fun to switch up the set every show and play what people want to hear.

 

CC: I think I’ve listened to your entire discography and what I find amazing is that you really don’t seem to be able to put out a bad song! How do you manage that?

 

CF: I write like crazy. I write so many songs, because that's just what I wake up thinking about and I think that has helped me. I mean, I have written hundreds of bad songs. But I feel like I've made a team around me that cares about music and knows what I'm trying to get out of this and has said yes or no to stuff. Just listening to your team and your friends, even your family when they tell you to put out songs that really feel like you and not put out songs for other reasons. I think that's probably why - just writing my ass off, and picking a few that are good, really!

 

CC: Is there one song that you wrote and you were just like ‘absolutely not’?

 

CF: Oh my god, yeah. So many! I swear to you, I have hundreds, like definitely the first two years of writing, all of them are shit. But you have to go through all the bad ideas to get to the good ones. So I'm not hard on myself about that. But I definitely don't put those out.

 

CC: Considering you've written so many songs, how do you even choose?

 

CF: I change my mind a lot, honestly,. I want to put out a record, that's one of my biggest dreams as a songwriter, put out a full record. Usually I don't have that hard of a time picking songs, but this is just so important to me that I keep going back and forth. But usually I keep coming back to the same ones, and that helps you decide. You're just throwing a Hail Mary and being like, ‘universe, tell me what ones!’

Keen to find out more about Carter's upcoming music, top career moments and what she'd love to do outside of music? Stay tuned for Part 2, coming very soon!