Brooke McBride has lived a lot of life in the three years since the release of her single “Can’t Get Away” in 2016, and with her new EP Coming Clean, she’s giving listeners a front row seat to see how that time has unfolded for her.
Coming Clean follows McBride on the journey to meeting her husband, which is detailed in the EP’s lead single, “One More.” There’s humor, there’s heartbreak, and there’s distance. Throughout the journey, McBride hopes that listeners can connect with the songs, and that they’ll have an impact on them, and with the strong writing and performances throughout, it looks like she could do just that.
Read along as McBride talks about her growth since “Can’t Get Away,” many of the songs on Coming Clean, how she plans to make 2020 a big year, and more!
Pro Country: Your new EP Coming Clean was released three years to the day after your single “Can’t Get Away.” What has been the biggest thing you’ve learned about yourself/about music in that time?
Brooke McBride: I’m constantly evolving as a songwriter and as an artist. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is knowing exactly what I want to say, and not being afraid to say it. That’s part of why I chose to name the EP Coming Clean. I’ve always told the truth in my music, but with this new project, I opened up in a way that I never have before, and I really feel like that has helped me connect with listeners on a completely different level. I just want to be honest and share my story and my truth. To me, that’s the whole purpose in making music.
PC: Want went in to the decision to release “One More” as the lead single from Coming Clean?
Brooke McBride: “One More” actually almost didn’t make it on the record. I had narrowed it down to about 10 or so songs that we were trying to choose from for the last song, and I sent this work tape to my producer and a few other people, and everyone was like, “You have GOT to record ‘One More.’” This song is unlike most songs that I write;being that it is a happy love song [laughs]. But that’s part of what went into our decision to release it as the lead single off of the EP; it’s a feel-good love song that represents where I currently am in life. I just got married less than 2 months ago, and I wrote this song (with Ashley Scire) about the beginning of mine and my husband’s relationship. It seemed fitting to release this song as the lead single.
PC: “One More” has gone on to earn nearly 10,000 streams on Spotify. What do you think it is about that song that has allowed it to connect with people the way that it has? Is there a certain level of validation that comes with having that success with the lead single from Coming Clean?
Brooke McBride: I’m so excited that “One More” has resonated with people the way it has. I had the melody for this song stuck in my head for months before we ever wrote the song, and I think that’s part of it. It’s catchy and makes you feel good. I just write my truth and hope that it’s somebody else’s truth as well. And yes, it definitely feels good to see people connecting with the song.
PC: “Coming Clean” is one of the standout tracks on its EP. Why did you decide to name the EP after that song and have it serve as the lead track on the EP?
Brooke McBride: Well, it’s like I mentioned earlier, these songs are my truth over the past 3 or so years. They are everything I’ve been through. It seemed only fitting to name the EP Coming Clean because that’s exactly what I feel like I am doing with this new music.
PC: “My Eyes Are Up Here” is a humorous song about judgement about single life. How true do the lyrics of that song ring to your real-life experiences at the time?
Brooke McBride: Literally every line in this song is true. I’m not exaggerating. It was one of the easiest songs I’ve ever written, because I lived every bit of it. I was single, and all of my high school friends were married and having babies. I came home from Nashville and was shopping with my best friend. I walked out of the store that day completely cracking up and thinking, “Gosh, I have the BEST song idea.” I wrote this song in about 30 minutes the next day.
PC: “State I’m In” is my favorite song on Coming Clean. Can you talk about the inspiration behind that song?
Brooke McBride: “The State I’m In” is one of my favorites on the EP as well. I’ve found that being a full-time musician means you spend about 80% of your time driving, and only about 20% of your time actually playing music. I had the idea for “The State I’m In” as I was crossing the NC/TN state line one night a few years ago. As a travelling musician, it’s easy to go through 4 or 5+ different states in one day. There’s been plenty of times when I’ll be in the back of the van and one of the guys in the band are driving and we’ll stop and I will have to ask what state we’re in. This song is one of the closest songs to my heart on this record.
PC: Most of the songs on Coming Clean deal with love in some way. Was that an intentional theme you wanted to cover on the EP, or was that something that happened naturally as you were writing the EP?
Brooke McBride: It wasn’t intentional per se, it’s just honestly kind of hard for me not to write a song pertaining to love in some way. Now, that’s not to say I write a lot of straight up “love” songs, because we all know I don’t do that [laughs]. But I got engaged while writing and recording songs for this record, so you’ve got the obvious love song with “One More,” and then the rest of the songs are kind of lack thereof ”love” songs, which is honestly a phase of my life I felt stuck in until I met my husband. (I hope he reads this, that’ll get me major brownie points)!
PC: What do you hope listeners take away from the Coming Clean EP after listening all the way through?
Brooke McBride: My goal in creating music is always to connect and make a difference in people’s lives. If I can give them the words that they’re too afraid to say or the words that they didn’t even know they needed to hear, but once they do, they’re like, “Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel,” then I’ve accomplished that goal.
PC: Along with promoting Coming Clean, what are your plans for the rest of 2019 and going in to 2020?
Brooke McBride: I can’t believe 2019 is almost over. My plan for the rest of the year is to continuing touring and promoting Coming Clean, while hopefully gaining more traction, more adds on Spotify playlists (which you guys at home can help by continuing to stream my music and add it to your own personal playlists) and just being with my family and enjoying the holiday season. When it’s all said and done, I will have played over 100 shows in 2019. I plan to continue that grind into 2020. I’ll be performing all over the US, so be sure to keep up with me at brookemcbridemusic.com!
PC: Is there anything you’d like to add?
Brooke McBride: Be sure to add your favorite songs from Coming Clean to your Spotify playlists or listen/download on your favorite digital retailer. Thank you for the support!
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