Following the release of OurVinyl Live Session EP in March 2018, country artist Kate Pruitt’s been building up to a breakthrough… and with the release of her debut album Expectations, she has it. With its mix of southern soul, sassy pop, and sharply observed lyrics, it’s set to send the Nashville artist to the top of all our playlists. Find out more with these ten fast facts.
1. Key influences
Pruitt was raised in the south and spent her college years in Athens, Georgia. The musical heritage of the south had a huge impact on the young star, with the folk and country influences of the region soon making their presence known in her songwriting. The pressures of growing up gay in a small town also found expression in Pruitt’s musical development, giving her the drive and desire to express herself openly through one of the few channels she could.
2. Award Winner
At the age of 22, Pruitt won the first-ever First Annual Nashville Songwriting Scholarship. Pruitt, who at the time was studying a songwriting major at Belmont University, was awarded the $5,000 scholarship during a glittery reception at Broadcast Music, Inc.’s (BMI) Nashville offices. As expected, Pruitt was suitably humbled by the honor, saying “Receiving the BMI Foundation’s very first Songwriting Scholarship was an incredible honor, to say the least. Being recognized for something I devote all of my heart to is super encouraging. And to have people pay to support my education is a huge blessing, all because of a song I wrote. Not many people at 22 years old get to say ‘Yep, I got paid 5,000 dollars for writing a song.’. It’s the first milestone in what I hope will be a very long career in music.”
3. Igniting the Fire
Pruitt’s passion for songwriting and performing began in high school when an informal jam session inadvertently sparked her desire to see just how far her talents would take her. “I would always go to my friend Teddy’s house to jam before school,” she recalled to All Access. “I remember the first time I played him an original song. His face lit up and kept telling me how good he thought it was. That was all the confidence I needed at the time to keep going. I just kept wanting to relive that feeling of playing someone a brand-new song for the first time.”
4. Rolling Stone Favorite
The seal of approval from Rolling Stone might not guarantee a long and successful career, but it doesn’t exactly hurt your chances. In October 2018, Pruitt got exactly that when the publication named “Loving Her” to their list of the “10 Best Country, Americana Songs to Hear Now”. Pruitt, whose poppy take on southern soul earned her a favorable comparison to Bonnie Raitt, was joined on the list by, among others, A Thousand Horses with “Drinking Song”, The Panhandlers with “No Handle”, The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow and Devon Gilfillian with “Unchained”, My Sister, My Brother with “Nothing Without You”, and Payton Smith with “Creek Don’t Rise”.
5. NPR’s One to Watch
If Rolling Stone earmarks someone out for glory, you can bet other publications will soon start doing the same… as, in Pruitt’s case, they did. Fresh from earning a place on Rolling Stone’s 10 new country artists you need to know, Pruitt was honored with a mention on NPR’s 20 Artists to Watch in 2019. Joining her on the roundup of fresh new talent was trumpeter Arnetta Johnson, Fontaines D.C, CAAMP, Duncan Fellows, Hurry Up, Jean Deaux, JúnÃus Meyvant, and Kelsey Lu.
6. Express Yourself
For Pruitt, songwriting has always been an outlet. Growing up in a small town, the singer felt obligated to keep her sexuality firmly under wraps. In music, she found her freedom… even if it took leaving her hometown for her to finally realize herself fully. “I definitely remember having crushes on girls in high school and writing the song to a girl, or about a girl,” she told WUWM. “But then when I played it for people, I obviously wasn’t out, so I would just change the pronoun and kind of hide behind that – just ’cause I wanted people to hear the song more than I cared at the time about being out. But it still did feel a little bit inauthentic, because I’m like, ‘I wonder if they knew what it was actually about if I would feel better understood.”
7. The Main Goal
If Pruitt hopes her music achieves just one thing, it would be for her listeners to feel less alone; to believe, for the duration of the song at least, that there’s someone out there that understands. “I guess my main goal is to make people feel less alone,” she explained to All Music. “Whether that pertains to a specific struggle or just in general. I just want them to feel like they are listening to a friend give them advice or relating to them. That’s what music does for me anyway.”
8. The Prizes Just Keep Coming
Despite her relatively short career, Pruitt has already been garlanded with more awards and honors than artists twice her age. In 2017, her “rising talent” status was cemented when she won the highly prestigious Holly Prize, an annual award to recognize talented young singer-songwriters whose work displays the same greatness and originality as its namesake, Buddy Holly. Previous and subsequent winners have included Adia Victoria, Sylvan Esso (Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn), and Shun.
9. Nashville Convert
Like legions of country artists before her, Pruitt has made her home in Nashville — and it’s clear the spirit of the city has worked its way into her heart. As well as being awed by Nashville’s long affiliation with the great and the good of country, the singer has found it’s had a profound impact on her songwriting. “The musicianship and the love for crafting a song, I really fell in love with that aspect of Nashville where people just take songs, it’s like the most important thing in their life. It’s all about chasing that song and expressing yourself in that artistic way that you at the end of the day can look at and be proud of,” she’s explained.
10. Facing Challenges Head-On
One of the biggest challenges Pruitt has faced in her career is learning how to separate music from the music business. “The music business is necessary but when it comes to being creative, you’re better off pretending it doesn’t exist,” she’s explained. It’s not all hard work and graft though. For Pruitt, music most definitely has its rewards, with the biggest two being “getting to make music with my friends,” and “hearing people’s personal stories about their relationship with my music.”
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