Sue Bonzell:
Welcome to Up N Country powered by the Livecast. My guest today is Christie Huff. I’m your host, Sue Bonzell. We’re bringing you new up and coming country artists. I want to say thank you to our sponsor SoCo Private Security. Now let’s go meet Christie
Sue Bonzell:
She has opened for Jason Aldean, Billy Currington and Toby Keith, just to name a few. I’m excited to introduce you guys to Christie Huff. Hey Christie.
Christie Huff:
Hi, how are you?
Sue Bonzell:
You look beautiful. Look at your background. That is awesome.
Christie Huff:
Thank you. I have a dream catcher obsession so I needed this background.
Sue Bonzell:
You said you have a song called Dream Catcher as well, don’t you?
Christie Huff:
I do, yeah, I do. It’s all very fitting, right?
Sue Bonzell:
It is. It fits perfectly. You’re like an LA country girl, right? You live in LA right now.
Christie Huff:
I live in LA right now. Yes, I was just at the beach this morning. I rode my bike down to the beach.
Sue Bonzell:
Yay, it’s a good life. Are you kind of taking turns back and forth to Nashville?
Christie Huff:
Yes. That’s kind of what I started doing that, I guess really in 2017 I started going back and forth. Then I’ve been here in LA most of the pandemic, but then I’ve started going back since March of this year, I’ve been going back and forth. It’s been good. I can’t complain. Two great cities. Two great music.
Sue Bonzell:
Exactly. How is that as far as travel. We talk to a lot of artists who are in the Nashville area, kind of doing their thing. How has that been as far as the travel and logistics and all of that good stuff?
Christie Huff:
Yeah, well, I lucked out. At the beginning of, or I guess the end of 2019 my band who I’ve been playing with for years in LA moved to Nashville. My drummer and my guitar player have a house there and I rent a room from their house. Very affordable, it’s like a hundred bucks a month so I’m like no brainer. You go for a week and stay at an Airbnb and it’s like five times that much. It’s actually been a really great thing because now I’m able to come and go as I please and stay as long as I want. It’s been really awesome actually. Then I have a band there and then I have a band in LA. I have a west coast, like south coast I guess band and then a west coast band.
Sue Bonzell:
That is awesome. Your music has kind of like a little pop touch to it which I really like. What do you say to people who kind of say, oh, I don’t like that new country pop-ie stuff.
Christie Huff:
I get that quite a bit. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I think, because there’s a debate on the real country, like what real country is and what’s not. I mean to that I say, the genre of country music in general is about storytelling. It comes down to the song itself and production-wise I get if you don’t like the pop elements, but to me country music is just about telling a story and writing a story song. I’m just like, well, this is my version of country music and some people like that better even. Which I think is really cool to be able to straddle both pop and country is that hopefully I’m able to reach more people that way too. People who are more pop fans and country fans and then somewhere in the middle. It’s been great.
Sue Bonzell:
With that kind of the pop and the country, what are your inspirations for writing and creating?
Christie Huff:
Yes, I mean, sonically a lot of musically the inspirations is who I listen to of course. I take inspiration from, I’m in the age group of when Taylor Swift came about and stuff. Listening Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Michelle Branch, Kacey Musgraves, those types of people just for sonically production wise stuff. Then for, I guess song inspiration to me, I just write about my life and what is going on around me. I also really like kind of making up stories and writing stories in my songs and maybe it hasn’t happened to me like a situation, but observing people around me. I wrote a song about my roommate once and just kind of just taking inspiration from everybody and everything. I love watching movies because sometimes I get inspiration watching movies. To me, inspiration can come from anything. My own personal life and elsewhere.
Sue Bonzell:
I love that you said number one, that country music really is about that storytelling because there’s a lot of layers to it. Then when you’re able to tell the story and then add in your own flair, you’re unique. I like your sound, I think it’s great. The song that I, the way I found you, I heard Blow Off Steam and I was like, oh my God, I got to meet this girl because that song is so good. It’s also a little bit of an ear worm where I’m like, ah, I find myself singing it and I’m like… So tell me about writing that song.
Christie Huff:
Yes. Well, that’s song, it was funny. I’ve been in a lot of, I co-write a lot, I solo write a lot and I had just, through the pandemic I’ve been doing a lot of Zoom writes. I just had a Zoom write and I really did not like the way that the song went and the way that I was like after I was like, man, I still want to write a song, but I just do not feel inspired by the song we just wrote. Literally I was needing to blow off steam and I just like started writing Blow Off Steam after that. To me it’s awesome because it just came out from a place of I have a feeling right now and I just need to release that feeling and I want to write it.
Christie Huff:
To me in my experience, that’s when the best songs come. When you don’t necessarily sit down and you’re like, I’m going to write a song and it’s going to and plan it out. It’s just like, I had to sit down. I don’t really know, I’m just going to start playing and start singing and then create something around that. That’s kind of how that came about and then I think too, I was so tired of being stuck in my house and I was like, I just need to get out, get away. For me that was writing a song about kind of blowing off steam and just taking a break.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah, it was absolutely perfect, I love that. You have a new song If I Fall. That’s out now, correct?
Christie Huff:
Yes, it just came out a couple of weeks ago. Maybe like three weeks ago. That’s my current single.
Sue Bonzell:
And then you have another one coming too, right?
Christie Huff:
Yes, I have a brand new song coming in just a couple of weeks, September 10. I’m excited.
Sue Bonzell:
That is awesome. Now you’re also going out, you’re going to be doing some openings for some pretty big names. Tell me about that. I’ll let you tell me who they are and then I always just wonder, it’s kind of like one of those things where your starting out as a musician and you go, oh my God, I’m going to be opening for this amazing person. How does that all like kind of come together?
Christie Huff:
Yeah, that’s a good question. I’m so excited. I’m opening up, September is a really exciting month for me because I have a new song coming out the 10th and then September 18th… I’m originally from Arizona so I’m really excited to be going back to Tempe, Arizona and I’m opening up for Jon Pardi at the Boots in the Park Festival. Then on September 22nd, I’m opening up for Dylan Scott in Temecula.
Christie Huff:
To answer your question how that all came about. I played on August 1st, I played in the Boots in the Park Festival in San Diego and I’ve been playing that festival for a couple of years now. The way that I got that is just by sending cold emails to festivals. I’ve created a really great relationship with the Boots in Park family and people. I’m just excited that they want me to keep coming back and opening up and playing these shows. Then that’s how I got the Dylan Scott show. It’s not associated with Boots in the Park, but the people who ran sound at the Boots in the Park Festival also book shows. They’re like, we want to book you for this festival, or for this show, this opening act. Just getting out there and playing and putting yourself out there as much as you can.
Sue Bonzell:
I love that. It just proves that you know what? You don’t get anywhere unless you ask.
Christie Huff:
It’s so true. I constantly, I’ve gotten opportunities because I’ve asked, but even I forget sometimes I’m like, I don’t know, should I? Should I reach out to them do this? Whenever I do, the worst that can happen is that they don’t respond.
Sue Bonzell:
Right, exactly.
Christie Huff:
People aren’t going to email you back to be like, no. They’re just not going to email you back. You just have to remember and also remember just to keep on emailing people too even if they haven’t responded yet. Yeah, it’s a good lesson. Every time I get an opportunity to do that, just keep on going.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah, absolutely. You’re smart. That’s kind of, as a newer artists, obviously you’ve been playing for a long time, but as a newer artists…
Christie Huff:
Up and coming.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah, up and coming and so you really got to work hard.
Christie Huff:
Nobody is a bigger advocate than you are for yourself. Then you just kind of have to roll with that.
Sue Bonzell:
Then with that kind of attitude, I mean you truly become a role model and especially for women in country music and I’m just loving that there are so many talented, amazing, inspirational women in country music like yourself. I’m excited that things are going well for you.
Christie Huff:
Thank you. That means a lot. Especially like being a woman in country music, there’s plenty of room for us and we just have to scream a little harder and work and honestly yeah, work a little harder and it sucks, but the only way that it’ll get better is if we just keep on going and keep on working.
Sue Bonzell:
Exactly. If you had to choose a country big time star to open up for, who would that be?
Christie Huff:
That’s a good question. Well, okay, my top two favorite country artists. Okay, fine. I’m going to narrow things down. My top three Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, and Kacey Musgraves. I love them all so much. It would just be so fun to do kind of like a female empowerment show, a lineup. I love them. I would kill to open up for any of them.
Sue Bonzell:
Well how about we just create that festival and we invite all of them.
Christie Huff:
Let’s do it, I think it’s a good idea.
Sue Bonzell:
Let’s just do it. You don’t know if it could happen unless we ask, right?
Christie Huff:
No, it’s so true. DM them, Hey, do you guys want to [inaudible 00:12:21]
Sue Bonzell:
Right, exactly. That’s how I connect with everybody. I just stalk everybody on Instagram. I’m like, Hey.
Christie Huff:
No, literally stalking is how you find the bookers or the people, I don’t know, anybody. That’s how you do it. You know.
Sue Bonzell:
I know too. I got to work hard too. It’s all good.
Christie Huff:
Yeah, we’re all just grinding. That’s what this industry is all about.
Sue Bonzell:
Exactly. Would you mind playing us one of your songs?
Christie Huff:
Of course.
Sue Bonzell:
Yeah. Okay, good.
Christie Huff:
I’m going to play for you guys my most recent single. This one is If I Fall.
Christie Huff:
Do you imagine when you’ll be moving on. Do you think about it cause I do, I do. When the attraction is not so shiny new. Do you think about it cause I do, I do. I try to tell myself I got nothing left to lose. Deep down I really know I’m so scared of losing you. If I fall, will you notice? I’ve been alone so I’m cautious cause I’m afraid I’ll stumble on my broken past. If I fall, will you, will you ever look back?
Christie Huff:
Will you ever look back? Do you remember our trip to Malibu. I wanted to say that I think I love you. I try to tell myself I got nothing left to lose. Deep down I really know, I’m so scared of losing you. If I fall, will you notice? I’ve been alone so I’m cautious cause I’m afraid I’ll stumble on my broken past. If I fall, will you, will you ever look back? I’ll be waiting here for you and you know it and there you go again. If I fall, will you notice? I’ve been alone so I’m cautious, cautious. If I fall, will you notice? I’ve been alone, so I’m cautious cause I’m afraid I’ll stumble on my broken past. If I fall, will you, will you ever look back?
Sue Bonzell:
New song If I Fall Christie Huff. Oh my gosh, you’re amazing girl.
Christie Huff:
Thank you. Thanks for having me. Guys, go listen.
Sue Bonzell:
Download, download, download.
Christie Huff:
Download, like, subscribe, follow.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. All right, so you’re here in California, you’re in LA. I’m in Northern California in wine country. I always have to ask, do you like wine and do you have any favorites?
Christie Huff:
Okay, I think I would have to say Rosa, a sparkling Rosa. It’s like juice pretty much.
Sue Bonzell:
Goes down easy, right?
Christie Huff:
Exactly. Yeah, exactly.
Sue Bonzell:
A nice sparkling Rosa, if you had a glass of that right now, it would match perfectly with your background.
Christie Huff:
It would. I’m on brand.
Sue Bonzell:
Totally on brand. We’ll get you an endorsement deal with some sparkling Rosa or something like that.
Christie Huff:
Done.
Sue Bonzell:
Of course, I would love to have you come up and visit us here in the wine country too.
Christie Huff:
I would love that.
Sue Bonzell:
Let me know, come up and see and maybe we’ll get some gigs up here too so we can expose Northern California to your amazing music.
Christie Huff:
That would be awesome. I’ve been wanting to make my way up to Northern California. It’s a plan, I’m going to plan for it.
Sue Bonzell:
Okay. We just said it, we just spoke it into existence.
Christie Huff:
Exactly.
Sue Bonzell:
That’s awesome. Well, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me a little bit.
Christie Huff:
Thank you so much.
Sue Bonzell:
Our viewers get to know you a little bit more. What’s the best website for you where we can get your music and find your shows?
Christie Huff:
Well, you guys can go to my website, it’s just Christiehuff.com. There there’s a calendar of my shows as well as a link to all my social media platforms. If you just look up Christie Huff anywhere, you’ll be able to find me.
Sue Bonzell:
Awesome. Okay, now I’m going to go stalk you even more. Thank you so much and hope to see you in person soon.
Christie Huff:
Yes, let’s plan on it. Thank you.
Sue Bonzell:
Thanks for tuning in to Up N Country where we have new episodes every Tuesday. Be sure to visit upncountry.com for all of the episodes and information about our VIP club, where you’re going to get exclusive backstage access. If you’re on Instagram or TikTok, make sure to follow me Sue Bonzell. I’ll see you next week.
Recent Comments