The rising star also hinted that a new project is in the works.
Rising singer-songwriter Erin Kinsey is no stranger to wearing her heart on her sleeve through her music.
One of her latest singles, “I Ain’t Crazy,” is a testament to her artistry. The sassy breakup anthem, inspired by Kinsey’s own relationship, tells the story of being called crazy by a partner after accusing them of infidelity. She ultimately discovers the truth about his betrayal and realizes she was right all along. The song debuted with over 900,000 streams in the first week and has continued to grow and resonate with listeners.
This track follows the popular Valentine’s Day release of “Matchmaker,” another song Kinsey wrote after discovering she was right in her relationship.
Kinsey recently took part in Restless Road’s Last Rodeo Tour, serving as the opening act and collaborating with the group on their song “Most Nights,” where she is a featured artist. She’ll be joining the trio again later this year for an overseas leg of the tour.
Country Now sat down with Erin Kinsey to discuss the story behind her buzzed-about single, touring, what’s next, and more. Check out our exclusive Q&A below.
Your song “I Ain’t Crazy” has absolutely blown up online and amassed over 55 million streams. What’s the story behind the track?
Well, the story behind “I Ain’t Crazy,” I did, unfortunately, get to very much live it out. I wrote the song with two big writers in Nashville, Casey Brown and Travis Wood and they’re both super, super talented, but I brought in this idea of the song because I suspected that my ex-boyfriend, but boyfriend at the time, was maybe talking to one of my friends. I brought it up to him, my ex, and he was like, “you know, I have good news for you–this is all in your head, you are just overthinking this.” And I looked at him, and I was like, “you know what? If this is really all in my head, then I have absolutely lost my mind.” So we wrote this song, and then another song of mine that I recently released, “Matchmaker,” I wrote a year and a half later after finding out that I was right. So, you know, they’re in love and it’s great for them and I got some good, fun music out of it, which is great. But, yeah, it’s definitely a story that’s close to home.
Can you walk us through the creative process of crafting this song?
Totally. So this one was one that I definitely leaned into the more country and Texas roots that I grew up on. At the time that I wrote the song, I think it was 2021 when I wrote it, maybe 2022 actually, but I was not doing that kind of music in other spaces. So we really leaned into the swampy, sassy country world and it felt very far away from the other music I was putting out at the time, but it’s funny because I really leaned into that now.
This track seems to really resonate with listeners and your social media presence has grown dramatically since the release. What is it like to connect with fans over a song as personal as this one?
You know, you write a song like “I Ain’t Crazy” and it doesn’t go into every single detail of the situation, but it definitely felt specific. To learn that I was far from being the only person that had been through something like that, there’s almost a comforting part of it. And especially playing the song live, it feels like every girl in the room and I instantly have a trauma bond which is kind of fun.
Is this track part of a bigger project?
I haven’t announced anything, but I definitely have more music in the works, and I’m trying to piece together something that I think will be pretty special.
How did your latest single “Wild” come about?
“Wild,” I wrote with Sarah Buxton and Josh Kerr, who are two of my favorite writers in town, and I came in with this idea. Sometimes you think of doing something or liking someone in a way that you haven’t before and it seems crazy, but then a little time goes on and it feels less and less like a very crazy idea and something that maybe you should do. So it was based off of that, but also we wanted to get all of the imagery of the different things that were wild, like the tornado, horses running and just painting as much of a picture through lyrics as we could with having that darker, kind of swampy, sassier feel with a love song. So it’s definitely something that I walked in with a very clear vision on and I feel like we definitely brought it to life.
You’ve been releasing music on a larger scale for a few years now. What has changed about how you approach releasing and writing music in that time?
The more recent music that I’ve been writing, I definitely feel like I have a sound for the first time, which is pretty cool and little melody trends or musical things I’m leaning towards and I haven’t had that in the past, so it’s been fun to lean into that. But as far as releasing music, it’s never been more fun for me. I feel like at first I wanted to make sure I released the exact right songs at the right time and did everything perfect and then I think at some point, I realized nobody really knows what they’re doing. So I just started to try to have a lot more fun with it and it’s been more lighthearted. I feel like I’m closer with the listeners and it makes the live shows more fun.
You’ve been out touring with Restless Road this year. What do you enjoy most about being on the road?
I think one of the most fun things about being on the road is that every night is so different. Another little fun fact is my sister styles me, so she picks out all of my outfits, which even though she lives in Texas, it’s a way for me to be close with her when I’m on the road. And just getting to tell the story behind the songs, and meet all the listeners and realize that if I was in those towns, most of those girls, I probably would get my nails done with them. It’s just really fun. Being out with Restless Road has been special too just because of their audience being so much fun.
What’s your favorite song to perform live?
Right now, it’s probably either “Matchmaker” or “I Ain’t Crazy,” just because I definitely air out all the drama before both of those songs. And it’s funny to get to explain all of that to the audience and then sing the song and see people sing it back is so much fun.
What advice would you give to other aspiring artists?
I feel like the only advice I really have is to just keep going, keep writing all the songs, keep posting. I feel like just in a matter of time, the dam breaks and things start connecting, you start writing better songs, you learn more about yourself, and more about the craft. With posting, I know it’s scary, I know it can be embarrassing, but literally nobody thinks about it near as much as you think they do. So just keep doing it because it’s getting your music out there and you never know who it might connect with.
What goals do you have to round out the year?
One of my big goals was getting to go on another run, tour-wise, and I recently found out that I’m getting to go with Restless Road overseas in December, so I’m really, really excited for that. But just to release more music, keep having fun with it, and keep connecting with people. I feel like it’s easy to get numbers that you want to hit, but what I’ve learned in the last year or so is that what is much more fulfilling is just getting to enjoy every step of the process, so definitely just trying to keep doing that.
Fans can keep up with Erin Kinsey on Instagram.
