Taylor Austin Dye has been working four years for a day like October 21st.
About four years ago, Dye left her native Kentucky and set her sights on Music City. Hundreds of shows and songwriting sessions later, Dye took a massive step in her career on February 26th; the day her single, “Good Time Girl,” shot up to number 26 on the iTunes country chart and 91 on their all genre chart on its release day.
Looking back on that day, Dye realizes how monumental it was for her and says it gave her a newfound confidence as she moves forward.
“‘Good Time Girl’ was such a pivotal song for my career as an independent artist. Having lived in Nashville for almost four years now and staying on the ‘grind’ of writing and playing Broadway shows, it’s easy to get discouraged because progress in this town is anything but linear,” says Dye. “When I released this song and it charted, that was truly a turning point in realizing the potential my music could have and the vast audience I could to reach. This song has meant so much to me, and it means even more when I am on stage performing and the crowd is screaming my lyrics back to me. I wish I could bottle that feeling up and send it back in time to myself four years ago.”
Fast forwarding another eight months to present day, Dye had herself another highlight on October 21st, as her newest single, “Water Me Down,” doubled down on the success “Good Time Girl” earned, with her newest effort peaking at number 22 on the iTunes country chart and 71 on its all genre chart.
While “Good Time Girl” was a deeply personal ballad, “Water Me Down” turns the twang, steel guitar and honky tonk piano up to 10. Dye says it was important to follow up “Good Time Girl” with a more rollicking, good timing tune.
“‘Water Me Down’ is definitely the complete opposite of ‘Good Time Girl’ in many ways. The content matter is the biggest difference,” says Dye. “As ‘Good Time Girl’ is about a deep and heavy subject, ‘Water Me Down’ is fun and quirky with a lighthearted, cheeky feel. I knew when I released ‘Good Time Girl’ that I wanted to follow it up with something upbeat, lively and not so serious!”
With her newest single, Dye took inspiration from a consistent message she’s received about her personality and turned it into an anthemic song of self-confidence.
“Throughout my life, I have had lots of people tell me that I’m ‘a lot to handle,’ so I thought it was time to write an anthem for anyone who could relate to that. The opening line says, ‘There’s a lotta things in common between me and ol’ Jack D., you could never handle your whiskey and you could never handle me,’ and I think that pretty well sets the tone for the whole song,” says Dye. “I had finished verse one and had the idea for the hook when I approached one of my favorite co-writers, Kelli Johnson, to help me finish it up. She came over to my house and we finished this song in 50 minutes! If you know anything about writing songs, that’s kinda crazy. Even though this song is as lighthearted and fun as they come, the message behind it is really to not change who you are for anyone else; ‘Don’t put ice in my whiskey ‘cause you can’t water me down.’”
Serving as Dye’s fourth single, “Water Me Down” veers a bit from Dye’s typical country-rocking sound, this time falling more in line with a 90s country sound that she says serves the song perfectly.
“I think ‘Water Me Down’ took a 90s country feel out of necessity. Between the subject matter, and all the sassiness, I couldn’t help but think of chicken pickin’ and a steel guitar,” says Dye. “When we all got started tracking in the studio, everything just fell into place and everyone immediately got on the same page with the groove of it. Growing up on 90s country has obviously influenced me as well, and I’m happy that this song took that turn!”
The last time we talked with Dye, she promised more new music was on the horizon, and she is ready to let listeners in a bit on what they should be expecting with her two forthcoming singles.
“I can officially announce that I will be releasing TWO more singles after ‘Water Me Down!’” says Dye. “I won’t give too much away, but I can tell you that “Like You Do” is coming pretty soon, and it’s probably my favorite song I’ve ever recorded. You can expect things to get a whole lot more vulnerable and heartbreaking, and then recover with an edgier tune.”
Along with those releases, Dye says she’s excited to explore new cities as she takes her music on the road as she continues to keep her audience engaged.
“I have been so fortunate to be on tour this year with an acoustic duo setup. So far we have played 10+ states and we’re expanding to even more cities in 2022. If you want to catch me on the road, be sure to check out my ‘shows’ tab on tayloraustindye.com,” says Dye. “Of course, you can also expect lots more new music to be released and to see content on Tik Tok almost every day!”
And though she’s looking forward to what is to come, Dye remains grateful for a “career day” that her fans provided her with the release and success of “Water Me Down.”
“I am still in shock that ‘Water Me Down’ hit number 22 on the iTunes country charts and 71 on all genres! I’m so grateful to have so many dedicated fans, actually family now, because they’ve been so relentless and constant in their support of my music and my career,” says Dye. “It’s such a blessing to be able to do what I love and I owe all my thanks to the ‘Ride or Dyes’ for making this happen!”
*”Water Me Down” is featured on The Best of Pro Country playlist!*
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