Country Star Mackenzie Carpenter on Why You Have to Be ‘A Little Cringe’ to Make It

Country artist Mackenzie Carpenter has written some of your favorite Megan Moroney’s songs, released her debut album Hey Country Queen, and made her Grand Ole Opry debut. But before all of that, she was camped out at her grandma’s piano, cranking out dramatic, teenage-emo breakup songs she was positive were “smash” hits. Delusion? Maybe. Iconic? Absolutely.

On House Guest, Carpenter sits down with Kenzie Elizabeth to revisit the early days, the unexpected turns that got her here, and why a little embarrassment is basically the entry fee for success. Whether you’re chasing a big dream or still figuring out what that even looks like, this convo is for you. 

Below are highlights from the conversation, adapted from House Guest.

What does it mean to learn how to write a song?

“I think it takes being a little cringe and a little shameless. And I’m glad that that stage happened so early for me. Not that I’m never going to do anything cringe or like whatever again, but like my grandmother passed away—that was like the poet, and she sang—and we inherited as a family her grand piano. And so I would just go like after school, sit in this room that was just a grand piano. And I would just be like, ‘you broke my heart, yeah.’ Like I would just sit there and play these chords and write these songs…

…I was so obsessed with Adele. And I remember this one song I thought was like such a hit. And it was like, ‘we’re breaking up, this, that and the other.’ And then I ended it with like, ‘and now my love for you is dead.’ And I was like, smash, smash.”

Do you think you have to be willing to embarrass yourself to succeed?

“If you have this dream of something that you want to do, I think it’s pretty rare that you can get there without embarrassing yourself…My friend and I were just having this conversation about being an opener on a tour. And like you see these videos—like literally yesterday I saw this video of Sabrina Carpenter and somebody posted it, and it’s like, ‘this cost me $50 to see her’ like however many years ago. And it’s like some random club, you’re right there, like completely different look, completely different vibe, and it’s like now she is who she is. And you never know who that’s going to happen for. But she had to show up to those first shows and dates and play them and like get the reps and learn herself and learn her voice and keep exercising the muscle to get to where she is…

…I’m not saying those shows were cringe, but it’s like, you’re in that phase where you have to show up and just keep growing and learning, even if it comes off as cringe at the time.”

How did you get discovered?

“I wrote this song with an artist named Lily Rose called ‘Villain.’ And she was literally working night shift at the Under Armour at the time. And we were just like writing whenever we could. And then she put her song on TikTok and it popped off. She got a record deal. Like her whole life changed. So I was like, I got to start posting on TikTok. So then I’m like, okay, I got to post these clips of my songs and see what happens. And I had like a lot of songs kind of like get some good numbers, start to pop off, but it was kind of like, now what? You know? And then I had this one song called ‘Can’t Nobody,’ and it was kind of like my biggest, most viral song. And once you kind of, I feel like hit a certain number on [TikTok], somehow people just like get your phone number. They just find it somehow…

…I literally remember picking up my phone one day and being like, ‘Hey, this is Scott Borchetta, and I want to meet with you. I heard about this song that you have, like, do you want to get together?’ And I literally was like, I’m being pranked. I’m being pranked…

…But it was real. And here I am today. I just got to release my debut album. And ‘Can’t Nobody’ ended up being the very first song that I ever like professionally recorded, professionally released. And it made my Grand Ole Opry debut with me. So it definitely made its mark.”

How did you and Megan Moroney start writing together?

“So I grew up a little bit outside of Athens in a town called Hull and Megan went to UGA. I went to this one high school. My brother went to a different high school. And at his high school, there was this guy named Kyle Clark, and Kyle was like the music guy at his high school, and I was like the music girl at my high school. And so somehow we meet up…

…And then he knew Megan, and I don’t know how him and Megan met, but one day he’s like, ‘oh, you know, we should all write together.’ And so they literally came over to my parents’ house on the back porch and we like wrote this song. That was the first time that we met, and me and Megan just like really hit it off. We became friends. And so we kept in touch.”

Do you deal with comparison?

“Of course. I mean, the thing is I do really try to block it out. I feel like I internalize a lot of it and I just like, I’ll feel it and then I’ll just like move on because I don’t like to say things out loud that I don’t want to come true…I like don’t want to give it power at all…

…So I think there are a few people in my life that I know I could tell anything to and I can go to them and be like, oh, this is how I’m feeling. But then at the end of the day, like I think that it sounds a little cheesy, but I feel like gratitude always just like combats comparison for me because it’s like, I could sit here and be like, this person has this or this person has done that. I’m like, I’m never going to get there. Like I haven’t made it there yet. But it’s like, oh, I look back this year, I got to release my debut album. I got to send my debut single to country radio. I got to play Red Rocks for the first time. Like I got to record and write some of my favorite music ever. I got to spend amazing time with my family and like travel. It’s just like, you got to just take what’s for you and believe that what’s for you is not going to pass you by, you know?”

Have you ever met Dolly Parton?

“Fun fact, I am in one of her music videos. I’m in the BGVs…I did get to meet her and I got to sway behind her…I mean, she was perfect. She was everything that you expect her to be. She was in those heels that I don’t know how she walks in, fully done up, looking like a beautiful, beautiful angel. And just like, it was probably like, ‘hey, like thanks so much for having me.’ And she’s like, ‘oh girl, like of course, we’re so happy to have you.’ Like she was just perfect. She’s everything you think she is.”

Want to hear the full conversation? Tune into House Guest, streaming now wherever you get your podcasts.

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