Karen Waldrup

One great co-write can change a career, but only if you understand what actually happened in the room. We sit down with Louisiana country music recording artist Karen Waldrop to get specific about the songwriting process behind “Me Again,” including what it was like writing with hit writer Danny Wells, how the melody and structure came together, and why the best collaborators know when to lead and when to get out of the way. If you’re a songwriter, an indie artist, or just a listener who loves the story behind the song, this conversation is packed with real craft, not mythology.

From songwriting we move into the studio, where Karen shares what she learned working with producer Garth Fundis and what it takes to track a record in iconic Nashville spaces like Sound Emporium, Soundstage, and BMG Studio A. We also talk about making music that holds up in 2026 listening environments, including Dolby Atmos mixing for immersive audio and why she’s pushing for the best possible sound. Karen breaks down a bold independent artist strategy too: touring songs before releasing the full project, using real-time audience reaction to guide what comes next.

The emotional center is her new release “Keeping the Faith,” a hopeful country song rooted in belief, prayer, and the decision to keep moving even when life hits hard. Karen opens up about going through divorce while finishing a positive record she calls “No Way Back,” why honesty with fans matters, and how her community showed up through a Mother’s Day video built from fan-submitted photos and stories. We also zoom out to the bigger legacy she cares about most: her long-term charity work supporting Haiti through homes, clean water, and music-driven fundraising.

Subscribe for more artist interviews, share this with a friend who loves country music storytelling, and leave a review if you want more conversations like this. What helps you keep the faith when the plan falls apart?

Episode Links

• Karen Waldrup: https://karenwaldrup.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Good evening, Jay.

Jay Franze 0:42

If you are source for the latest news, reviews, and interviews, and if you'd like to join in, comment, or fire off any questions, please head over to JFriens.com. All right, my friend, tonight we have a very special guest with us. I have said it once. I will say it again. We have a very special guest. We actually have a country music recording artist hailing from the great state of Louisiana. We have Karen Waldrop. Karen, my friend, thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

So happy to be here. What a peaceful evening to get to hang out with you guys. Thank you for having me.

Jay Franze 1:16

It is our pleasure having you here. We got so many things we want to talk to you about, so we're just going to go ahead and jump right in,

Co-Writing With Danny Wells

Jay Franze 1:22

all right? Can you tell me what it was like writing with Danny Wells?

SPEAKER_02 1:27

Oh my gosh. Danny Wells, what a fabulous writer. I absolutely love him. He's such a dear friend. Danny Wells is more than just a co-writer. He's a really good friend to me. And I always say, you know, living in Nashville, there's the nice ones, and and the ones that are nice, we stick around and we're still here and we still support each other. And it's beautiful and it's wonderful. And Danny Wells is one of the nicest guys in town. He is constantly kind. He is very loving. Funny story, actually. I wanted to write with him for a long time. He's very busy because he's got a lot of hits. And uh I wanted to write with him and he was going to a Titans football game, and he said, Hey, Karen, you want to go to the Titans football game with me? And I used that as my chance. So I said, sure. I said, I'll go to that Titans football game with you, no problem. I said, But you're gonna write with me next week on Tuesday. And he said, All right, fair enough. And so we went to the Titans game, we had a blast, and then he lined up a co-wright with him and Philip White, and we all got to sit and it was beautiful at his house. He actually lives near the lake in Hendersonville, and actually, it's actually on the Hermitage side. And so we actually got to sit and we were right on the lake, and the three of us got to sit and write together, and we wrote a song called Me Again, and it was just a beautiful song. It was very uh simple, peaceful. Actually, we wrote two that day. We wrote Me Again and we wrote another one, which I never ended up recording. And then I went on to write multiple songs with Philip White. So he introduced me to Philip White, I ended up on the Philip White record, so I ended up being friends with Philip White, working with Philip White, going to muscle shoals and tracking a song with Philip White. So it's pretty cool that you know it all starts with just people being nice to one another and him having an extra Titan sticket.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

I like the way you open the door to conversations.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

I'll be there.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

And then we'll write. And then we'll write.

Jay Franze 3:17

So tell me about the the day in a little bit more detail. Who took the lead? What type of part did you play in it? What type of part did he play in it? What type of part did Philip play?

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Yeah, so that specific day, I had gone through a really tough period of my life, and I had dealt with some security issues that were really affecting me. And I said, Hey guys, you know, there was this friend that was really there for me, my friend Chris Schaffner. And I said, And I have this idea, and you know, it's it's something that you would say to a friend for being there for you during a hard time. And Philip grabbed his guitar and he started finger picking the groove, and he just immediately started singing it. I mean, the melody, the lyric, everything. And it just kind of flowed. So I think Philip was really instrumental in the verses. I think I was instrumental in the hook, and I think Danny was instrumental in the structure and the lyrics. Yeah, and then the melody, I think we were just all kind of throwing things out. Try this, try this. I mean, that's that's how any good co-write works. And it's not necessarily who did what, it's more the energy that's in the room because we're all a part of the song, regardless of who's bringing more. And and a lot of times I've learned, and and that's actually a perfect example that I learned this from Ed Hill. Sometimes it's best to just stay out of the way, you know. Like, you know, if you brought something cool and there's a cool melody brewing, like, you know, you don't want to be just for the sake of input, you don't want to step on somebody else's idea. So I've learned that skill from Ed Hill is you know, he's been in songwriting sessions, he says that somebody was just flowing, and he just says sometimes the best thing to do is just step out of their way. And when their juices kind of slow down, that's when you come and say, Okay, well, now what if we tried this or tried this? So I I think that's I think uh less is more in a lot of things in life, and I think it's also in songwriting.

Jay Franze 5:13

No, that's a very good point. And the reason why I asked that question, I know some people really have a focus on lyrics, and some people are music people, some people are melody people. But in a situation like that where everybody can do a little bit of everything, that's when magic really truly happens.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

Absolutely.

Jay Franze 5:30

So, how long did it take from the time you guys finished writing the song to putting it down?

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Okay, me again, we tracked uh we wrote that song, and I would say we were in the studio with Dave Brainerd in a couple months, edited in the studio with Dave Brainerd, and Dave Brainerd was the one who said, Hey, you know, I could hear a male vocal on this track. Who do you have in mind for a male vocal? Well, I am good friends with William Michael Morgan. Shout out to my boy William Michael Morgan, love him. And so I just texted him and I was like, Hey, you know, would you want to be on this track with us? Dave Brainerd's producing it, he's amazing. And uh he just said sure and came by and sung what he felt. And the song ended up being a song that we made a music video of, and we're proud of it. And I think it's one of the most beautiful songs that I have in my catalog.

Jay Franze 6:26

Well, I was very pleasantly surprised to see Danny's name listed in your credits because I've had an opportunity to work with him on several occasions.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Yes.

Jay Franze 6:34

However, if you don't mind me hanging on production for just a little bit longer, you have a series

Producing And Tracking Me Again

Jay Franze 6:40

of people that you've had an opportunity to work with that are very impressive names to have on your catalog of work. So can you tell me what it was like working with with Garth, Garth Fundus?

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Oh my gosh, a dream come true. I learned so much from Garth Fundus. He joked and came in one time out. I was in the studio, and he said, the more water that I could drink, the better. He's like, just get down on the water. I mean, get he's like, just be over the top. Just drink as much water as you possibly can. Your vocals sound better for it. And uh, and I and I practice that a lot. You know, I do the whole gallon, I bring the gallon in now, you know, and I'm just throwing it back, going to the bathroom a million times. Like, the more water you can drink, the better. And he laughed one time because I took it so serious. I had like my tea, my water, my energy drink, my gallon. Like I had all these drinks lined up, and he walks in, he's like, dang, girl, you really took that to heart. Um, he is just he says, he's a song guy, he's a funny guy, he's he's easy to work with. He was such a pleasure. I went over to his house one time, his wife brought us espresso, and we sat and listened to all the songs together as a team. And he's just such a beautiful soul, and he's incredibly talented. And it was just really cool hearing all of his stories about Trisha, Trisha Girwood, and Don Williams, and some of the artists that he's worked with, and and just the incredible stories of him, you know, working with Trisha while she was meeting Garth Brooks, and just funny, incredible stories that are just that I just cherish forever. And getting to work with him was he was the first to believe in me. He was the first one to put his. You know, we always say, they always say in Nashville, it's like being in a classroom. It's like everybody wants to put their hand up as long as one person puts their hand up. If one person puts their hand up and says Karen Waldorf's a good singer, everybody else puts their hand up. Uh, and he put his hand up first.

Jay Franze 8:29

Well, you can't have a better hand to go in there.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Thank you.

Jay Franze 8:33

He is very impressive. And once again, it's that relationship you were talking about earlier where you get to go, spend some time at his house, get to know his wife. You're getting to know more than just the actual time in the studio or writing songs. But speaking of studios, what studio did you work with him out of?

SPEAKER_02 8:50

We tracked that record at a Sound Emporium on um Belmont Boulevard at the time, and uh, it's still there, Sound Emporium. And then we tracked the vocals at that. Yeah, that whole record justify was all at Sound Emporium.

Jay Franze 9:04

All right. Well, very

Learning In The Studio With Garth

Jay Franze 9:05

cool. Well, you mentioned your new record and you have a new release out, Keeping the Faith. Can you tell us what that's about?

SPEAKER_02 9:10

So Keeping the Faith just came out. It's brand new, it's my newest release. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the song and about the song, and that's been awesome. And keeping the faith is about continuing to believe that good things will happen. And it's so hard to do that, you know. It really is. It's hard to keep the faith. It is, it's hard to, you know, you ever notice like you wake up some days and like everything is just going right? Like it's like, yeah, like life is good, everything's gone great, like it's a great event. It's you made all these great people, and there's all these great things going on, you had a great show or whatever. And then there's some days that you wake up, and I feel like today actually was one of those days when I first got up. It's like, okay, the song's out. I I gotta make a video. Okay, we gotta do wardrobe, I gotta go to the gym. It's kind of like, all right, maybe I'm feeling a little like, but when you keep the faith and you go to the gym and you you do your prayer and you say, Okay, Lord, uh, this is all in your hands anyway, then you are able to execute that good workout, and you're able to go and jump on a uh Zoom like this and and share it on Instagram and hope that people are watching and hope that people are affected by what you're saying. So I think keeping the faith is really important in everybody's jobs and in everybody's lives. And I think for me specifically, it's really important in my life because there is no guarantee every single day. I just wake up and that's really all I have is the faith, is the hope, is the dream. And so by keeping the faith, you're basically telling yourself that everything is going to work out. You're gonna keep the faith, you're gonna keep the faith in God, you're gonna keep the faith in your fans, you're gonna keep the faith in your friends and in your family and in your fan base, and you're just gonna keep doing what you're doing. So keeping the faith is that my favorite part of the song is the bridge. It says, I've seen mountains move, prayers come true, even when they don't. I'm still trusting you. There's a reason I'm still standing here stronger than I ever knew. And for me, that's my favorite line of the song because there's a reason I'm still standing here stronger than I ever knew. I went through a divorce in the fall of 2025, and it was just heart-wrenching. And we were tracking this record, and I was in the studio, and I had to just keep the faith. And that's why we chose this song as the first release, because it was the song that got me through it. It was the song that kept this record moving and kept things moving in a positive direction. And ironically, keeping the faith is the very first Dobe Atmos mix of any song I've ever released in my career.

Jay Franze 11:44

How was that?

SPEAKER_02 11:46

It's amazing. People are like, oh my gosh, this sounds incredible on Apple. I'm like, I know. Like you can only listen to it in Dobe Atmos on Apple. So people, you know, the other platforms are coming around and they will. But right now, when people put it in their brand new 2026 cars on Apple, they're just like, whoa. So that's really cool.

Jay Franze 12:06

Ver very small group of people get to enjoy it, but the ones that do fantastic. The more you say, the more things that I want to mention or talk about, but let's step back for just a second. You talked about going through a divorce in the fall, and it was during the process of putting your record together. Correct. How do you feel that affected you in

Keeping The Faith And Divorce Healing

Jay Franze 12:25

the process of putting that record together?

SPEAKER_02 12:27

You know, I had to um move into an Airbnb and live in an Airbnb during that period because I just could not do my job. I had to focus on my job. I had to establish keys. You know, it takes a long time to sit and establish a key in the song. Like, you gotta run it in all these different keys. You gotta make the structure, make sure the structure's there, you gotta make sure you're sleeping right, you gotta make sure your players are booked, yeah, you know, you're on time. Like there's so many things that go into making a record. And I think the record because it's a it's a hopeful, feel-good record, I think that because of how much I was going through, I was able to deliver even more because I was able to really step into the emotion of it more than I ever have on any other album. And I was also singing positive songs. So the songs and the music and the catalog and the collection of work was all positive songs. There's not a single song on that record that's negative. Everything is about faith, hope, believing, dreaming, being a good friend, prayer. There's it's all about that's why I've named it No Way Back, is because ain't no way back now, like you're gonna make you're gonna say something positive, and that's that's that's it. I'm not going back. I'm not saying singing negative stuff. And so I think the music healed me during it.

Jay Franze 13:55

I was just gonna ask you, do you feel as if that session, that time was therapy for you?

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Yeah, I do feel like it was therapy for me for sure. That's a great way to put it. Um, yeah, I was leaning into the songs, I was leaning into the team, I was leaning into the producer, I was leaning into the fans, I was leaning into the songwriters, I was leaning into the music, and we tracked it at uh Soundstage, and then we uh and then we went across the street and did all the vocals at BMG Studio A. And that was with Jeff Huskins, who's a really incredible producer. He just won a Grammy for immersive album of the year for Zach Top. And so he is the best when it comes to Dolby Atmos, and that's why we wanted to work with him because we wanted to create the best audio product that we could.

Jay Franze 14:44

Soundstage was Chuck Ainley's studio. Well, at least he owned a piece of it. He owned Backstage. So, what did you think about the studio itself and which room did you record in?

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Oh my gosh, what a beautiful studio. Ugh, it was absolutely a joy. I I'm not sure exactly the name of the room, sorry, but it's the one all the way in the end to the right.

Jay Franze 15:06

Yeah, that's Chuck's room.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

Yeah, okay. And uh, you know, just the couches and the vibe and and all the players being in there and the way that we all just were very creative together. Austin, the guitar player, was he just listened so well to what I wanted. Like everything that I said, can we, you know, can you just be like ridiculous on this guitar solo? Can it just be the dumbest thing you've ever done in your life? And stuff like that. And they were very open. And like anytime I had a structure change, or I'm like, I need two beats here because I want to be able to perform the song live. Well, people always try to argue with you. They're like, oh, don't worry about performing it live. It's supposed to be a great record. I'm like, I am worried about performing it live because if I can't breathe, you need air, you need oxygen. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

You know, you're so high maintenance, Karen.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

I'm like, please give me two bars right here. Come on. So there were a lot of times like that that I felt like the players were really, really open. And Janae, man, what a great fiddle player she is. And then the acoustic guitar player and Scott on steel guitar. And I had my favorite keys player in Nashville. His name's Jeff Roach, and he's just the guy's just ridonculous. I mean, the guy is he was ripping some organ parts that will just blow your mind on Stunt Double. I mean, Stunt Double hasn't come out yet. So the record's done, and all the songs are in Adobe Atmos, and they're all done, and we're doing something that I've never done before, and people have been really receptive of it, and we're doing it backwards. It's no way back. So we're

Building A Dolby Atmos Record

SPEAKER_02 16:40

doing it backwards. Instead of releasing the record and touring it, we're touring the record and then releasing it. And that's been pretty cool because I think it's like a scarcity effect, right? When they know they can't get it, that just makes them want it more, and that's been pretty fun, actually. And then when the song drops, they're like even more excited because they've already heard it live, a lot of them, or they've already seen a video of it live. So I'm doing the very TikTok approach. I'm doing take a listen now and get it later. You know, do you like it? Is this something that you think I should release, or should we release this next? And I don't know. I do a lot of things sometimes that are not conventional, and I am an independent artist, so I can kind of take risks and do things that are a little different, and and so I do.

Jay Franze 17:20

It's cool that you're doing everything in Atmos, first of all. Very large undertaking. So the fact that you can do that is pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

Thank you.

Jay Franze 17:28

Now, you also mentioned working with Jeff for this project. So is there a reason why you're choosing each one of these producers, or how much of a hand do you have in choosing these producers?

SPEAKER_02 17:38

Great question. You know, I think God, people always ask me, How do you book your gigs, God? How do you build your fan base, God? How do you find a producer, God? You know, we're I'm going to the Grammy block party tomorrow night, and I could run into somebody at the Grammy Block Party who puts me on an Apple playlist and all of a sudden I've got a two million streams. I mean, it's just all God. It's just, I don't know. I, you know, I don't go to the Grammy block party looking for the guy who's gonna get me streamed. I just go to the Grammy block party, have fun, be nice to people, and God opens the door. So I say the answer to that question is I had I had been uh listening to Ed Milet, a podcaster that I really love.

Jay Franze 18:18

Oh, yeah, I love Ed.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

Love him.

Jay Franze 18:20

Bostonian, by the way, Tiffany.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Oh, I know who it is.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Yeah, he's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

He is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Yeah, he's very inspiring. And I'm actually glad we brought him up because I want to listen to him tomorrow while I'm getting ready and driving downtown and stuff because he really is inspiring. But anyway, I'd listen to a podcast and it talked about touching the dream. And this is my favorite Ed Milet podcast called Touching the Dream. And it's basically about like if you want something, then you should just go and touch it. It doesn't matter, like if even if it's just I want to be able to have a condo on the beach, okay? So go and buy and get one night condo on the beach and and feel that and touch that and and smell that and experience that because that's gonna make your brain want that and gravitate and work really hard towards that. So there was an event on the rooftop for 4th of July, and it was very expensive. And I just got a ticket and I was like, okay, like I want that kind of lifestyle. I want the lifestyle where I can go and not have to deal with all the crowd and be able to watch the fireworks show on the river. That's the kind of life I want to live. And I want a bathroom and a seat and an open bar that I can go grab a cocktail, and I don't have to wait and fight crowds, and that's that's where I want to get in my life. So I got a ticket and my friend Chris Schroffner and I went, and sure enough, on the rooftop, I met Brian A. G., who's a talent executive for BMG, who works with Jeff Huskins. And the next week I was in Jeff Huskins' office at BMG, and I just loved his work. And he played the Adobe Atmos audio work that he was working on at the time, and I was sold. Yes, girl. All you do is just listen. It's all you need. Just you just need two ears. That's it.

Choosing Producers By Showing Up

Jay Franze 20:01

Tell me what it was like writing with Darcy.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

So, Darcy, man, she is incredible. She is from Maryland, and she is a friend of mine, and it all came from her creative spirit. And she had this idea called Best Friends in Lemon Drops. And it was inspired by She and I Love Lemon Drops. So it all started the very first time I ever met her. The promoter of that night, he had a tray and he got a tray of lemon drops and brought it to everybody who had stayed

Writing With Darcy And Fan Connection

SPEAKER_02 20:31

and treated everybody to a little lemon drop. And if y'all don't know what it is, it's like a martini, has a sugar rim and a little lemon on it. And that was very generous of him to do that. And so she and I had that moment where we were cheers, whatever. And so every time she would come to a show, she would buy me a lemon drop. Well, then we would take a picture with it. So now we have like all these pictures of her and I with a lemon drop before the show, which is really sweet.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Don't these girls do anything but drink lemon drops?

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Hello? Is there even another cocktail? Just kidding. Oh, there's a Louisiana hurricane. Anyway, so she kept coming to the show and she kept doing that, and that kind of became our thing. And so she created this song called Best Friends and Lemon Drops. Well, she sent it to me, and I was like, This is really cool. Like, what? I didn't even know you wrote songs. So I was like, keep writing. And so my manager at the time was kind of walking her through that, like, hey girl, like you don't really have to be a songwriter. You just have to write songs. Like, you don't have a ticket. There's no ticket. Like, just write a song. And if Karen wants to track it, she will. So she came to us with Keeping the Faith. And then she came to us with another one called All That Mess. And these are all songs that she had. And I kind of went in and tweaked them and changed the structure and the key and kind of manipulated the lyrics and changed them into the place that I wanted them to be. So working with Darcy's really cool. She has another one right now called Angel on Earth that we really love that we may do a similar thing with. And she's very open to writing with me. She's she's a good friend of mine. She's been hands on and very supportive of what I've been through the last year. So shout out. Darcy.

Jay Franze 22:01

Darcy, if you would like to chime in, if you would like to dispute anything that Karen has said, we are more than welcome to have you on here. But she does start by saying it was more than one lemon drop. That's awesome. So if she is the non-traditional songwriter, does she go into the studio with you? Is she part of that process?

SPEAKER_02 22:26

That's a good way to put it, non-traditional songwriter. I think she'd appreciate that too. Um, I think she would have totally loved to go in the studio with us, but she lives in Maryland. So she's not necessarily, you know, she she if she comes to a show up in the Northeast or comes to a show wherever's fast. She actually came to one in Tennessee. She's Louisiana. So she's willing to travel. Well, I think it's just a matter of her schedule, my schedule, where we're playing. I mean, and I'm very busy, you know. I'm I'm very busy. My phone is blown up all the time. My friend was joking the other day. He's like, your phone is a melody. It's like ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Like, I know. So my phone is like ding like all the time. It's just, you know, it's just part of it. It's part of, it's part of what I do. It's part of having so many people in my life. It's part of, it's part of it. And so that can be challenging, quite frankly. It can because there's so many people who have so many expectations, and somebody is every day of my life, somebody is mad at me. Every single day.

Jay Franze 23:23

We'll wait till tomorrow.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

I'm just like, okay, who is it today? Because I'm my pissed at me all the time.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Well, I think if you have that huge following and you have a lot of pride in the integrity of being transparent and honest, it makes me think you probably have integrity in getting back to people.

unknown 23:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

Yes. And another thing I've learned is to let the text messages pile up. Like let them, let them, because that's something that I wish I would have done earlier in my career, honestly. I told this to my dad recently. He said he was really proud of me because I left my phone inside at our family get together all weekend. Didn't have it outside at all. He said, I'm really proud of you. He said, I'm I'm really proud that you left your phone inside. And I looked at him, I said, Dad, I am not a slave to that phone. I am not. Okay? I'm not. So if I'm swimming with my nieces and nephews, I don't care who's calling my phone. It doesn't matter. It's we're in the music business. Nobody's gonna die. Okay. We'll be all right. And so I I've learned the power of letting the text go. I mean, sometimes they'll be up to 60.

unknown 24:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

And I'll just let them go. And then I'll go walk on the greenway and just do all 60 at one time. So that's been something I think has been really helpful.

Jay Franze 24:36

Bobby says you always get back.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

I love you, Bobby.

Jay Franze 24:42

And just to cap this off, Darcy says you're her best friend and she stands behind you 100%.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

Thank you, Darcy.

Jay Franze 24:50

She's proud of you.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

I'm proud of her. She's come a long way in her writing and she's amazing.

Jay Franze 24:55

She says there is no one more generous.

SPEAKER_02 24:58

Well, thank you.

Jay Franze 24:59

Genuine. Genuine. Oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

There are people more generous, I can promise you.

Jay Franze 25:05

Miss Tiffany knows I can't read, so yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

I have to help them sometimes. That's fine. You

Boundaries With Phones And Expectations

SPEAKER_01 25:12

said that you leaned into the fans and in making the video, you had them submit some of their pictures.

Mother’s Day Video And Honest Posting

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Can you tell me about some of those stories that were sent in with those pictures and maybe the additional encouragement that you got from their pictures, possibly?

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Yeah, absolutely. We did a uh video slideshow for keeping the faith, and we actually put it out on Mother's Day, specifically because there's a lyric in the second verse that says, Mama says the storms will pass, and I gotta let go of the past. Every word of the Bible is a promise made that love's still stronger than the weight we face. So we were like, okay, well, releasing it Mother's Day weekend. Music is about everybody else anyway. The song is for everybody else. I don't make music for me to sit in my room and listen to it. I make it for everybody else. So we thought, well, what if we made a video that showed my mom? My mom's been there for me. Honestly, the divorce actually made my strength strengthened my relationship with my mom because she really was an advocate for making sure that I was set free of the trauma that was in my life. I will always look back at that time of my mom being there for me, and I will always smile at her at her strength. And I think that's why we wanted to do the video with all these other people and their moms that were there for them. A lot of those people had lost their mom, and the mom wasn't even alive to even see the video, and then a lot of them gave it to their mom as a Mother's Day gift. So the video came out on Mother's Day. It was a special way to celebrate Mother's Day. It was a special way to celebrate my mom, special way to celebrate everybody's mom. And I think we've we all, every one of us go through hard times. So knowing that the fans go through hard times with me, you know, I think that makes me more empathetic. I think that makes them more empathetic for me. And I was very, very, very afraid to tell the fans about the divorce. You know, I really was. I waited until it was totally final. I gave it a couple months. I didn't say anything. I did our whole holiday project, knowing that I had I'd been divorced for almost two months, and I still didn't say anything. And I waited until I found the amount of strength that I needed by going to Mardi Gras. You know, being at Mardi Gras, being a part of my heritage, being a part of the Mardi Gras parades and the joy and the festivity, and that just kind of built me up enough to where I finally was able to make a post. And I was very surprised by the support of the fans. I I don't really recall anyone ever during my process of coming out and telling them. I really don't remember anyone really being negative. Everybody was like, we trust you, we trust your decision, we trust your knowledge and your ability to make good decisions for yourself. And we are behind you. And that was cool.

Jay Franze 28:07

Did you think that that announcement would change the way the fans feel about you?

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Uh it's not necessarily that I felt like it would change the way that the fans felt about me as much as it was a heavy weight that I was carrying, knowing that I wasn't being honest. And I credit my following on social media to one thing, and that's honesty. So I don't ever deceive them, I don't ever lie to them. Whatever I say I'm gonna do, I do it. I'm very serious about my business and my merchandise. If you order a t-shirt, you're gonna get that t-shirt. And I know, you know, I forgot. You know, it's it's very much it, I take it very serious. And so it was weighing on me that I wasn't being honest. It was weighing on me that for the first time in my career, I was hiding something from my fans. Not because I was trying to hide it, but because it was the holidays, and it just felt very like a joyful time. Like I should be singing Christmas songs, I should be lifting people up, I should be joyful. So I kind of excused myself from telling them until after the holidays.

Bolo Tie Stories And Gift Culture

Jay Franze 29:12

Oh, that would make sense.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Well, speaking of your fan base, I love your bright red hat, and I noticed your bolo when you first came on. And you said that you, speaking of generosity, have never had to go out and actually grab a bolo for yourself. So let's talk about this bolo collection.

SPEAKER_02 29:29

Thank you. Yeah, and uh Tiffany actually, right when we were backstage before we came on, she made a comment about my bolo, and I said, Girl, she said she had shopped for one, and I said, Girl, I have so many bolos, but I've never bought one. They've all been gifted. So this one, I it's funny because I remember who gave me what bolo. So I went up right before we started, I actually grabbed them. So I want to show y'all. But this is um a bolo that I got from Don Groton and Laura, his wife, gave me this one, and then let me just show you all the other ones.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Girls love fashion, bring it on.

SPEAKER_02 29:59

It's amazing. This one came from a fan in Europe that got me this one, and he got Lainey Wilson the exact same one with an L. So now Laney matching bolos. Hers is an L, mine's a K. And he's amazing. His name is Steve O. This one is from Michelle and Keith Dormini from her uncle who had passed away, and this was his. Uh-uh. And same with this one. Yeah, I wear this one a lot. Yeah, I really like them. They're they're really fun. This is the same, Steve O, different gig, same guy in Europe. Gave me this one. He was wearing it. I liked it. He took it off and gave it to me.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

That's fun.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

Yeah, and I like to do that. Sometimes people compliment me and I'll just give them whatever it is. This one is um uh uh pink one that I got from he's gonna kill me. Um, this one I need to look up. I do need to look that one up. This one's same from Keith and Michelle Dormini's uncle that passed away.

Jay Franze 31:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

This one is a blue cowboy boots one that has blue cowboy boots.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Yeah. Is that one of your signature colors? I saw your Christmas tree. You had the blue all over it, and there was something else with blue all over it.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

Yeah, well, that was our color last year. This year's green, like an emerald green. Like this, yeah, for no way back. So I try to do a color theme each year. This year has been like a tr like an emerald green, and so that's been cool. But uh, you know, blue cowboy boots, that was like our theme last year. So our Christmas, we did a blue cowboy boots Christmas, Christmas box project. That was from the video. I saw your KW boots. Yes, that we did the boots. Yeah, this is from Don and Laura Groton. They gave me this one um at a fan dinner that they took me to after our Valentine's Day night, and then these two are both Keith and Michelle's late uncle. So yeah, they're all just amazing. They're all amazing gifts, and it's quite the bolo collection. And I I'm very thankful for it. And uh it's cool to have so many different colors.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

It's cool to have such great background to it, too. Like it's not just like some random that you picked up, you know, at the store. Like it was a gift, it's got memories and a story to go with it. Yeah, love that.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

Every one of them are important to me.

Jay Franze 32:14

Darcy says between that and sparkly stuff, that's you.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Yeah, yeah, sparkle and fringe, that's me.

Jay Franze 32:22

She also has a bone to pick with you. She says anytime that you tell her to be down in Nashville, she'll be there.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

All right, I have no doubt. I have no doubt.

Jay Franze 32:30

Bobby says great.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Was that a threat or a promise from Darcy? Better be a promise.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Oh, and here's Rika. All right, my new,

Rika The Rescue Dog Story

SPEAKER_02 32:40

my new dog. She was a strange. I just got her, and she's sweet. She loves the press interviews, y'all. I'm telling you, she loves it. When I'm doing these little interviews right here, she is right next to me. She's like, Are y'all talking about me? Yeah. She's so cute and she's so sweet and wonderful and the perfect dog. How'd you come up with her name? Well, I was in Puerto Rico, and uh before I left, I had prayed and said, Hey God, you know, if there's a dog or an orphan child or anybody that needs a home, I will step up. I'll take care of your people. And so I prayed, and God, she ended up on the street, and my neighbors were trying to find her owners, but I was in Puerto Rico, and so they texted me, they're like, Do you know whose dog this is? And I'm like, No, I don't know. I've never seen that dog. You know, I just assumed the family would come back around. Well, I was in Puerto Rico for a week, and a week later, you know, no, nobody showed up. We tried Facebook, we tried next door.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

She was waiting on Mama Karen.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

She was, and so when I came home, I named her Puerto Rica because Puerto Rico is where I was, and Puerto Rico is the female A is the Spanish way to say, and then Rika stands for abundance, so she's Puerto Rica waldrup. I call her Rika. He's a good girl.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

That's such a sweet story.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

The somebody told me on an airplane because she likes to run away. Uh, he had a mouth current German Shepherd, and he said they love the whistle. So I I did my own little whistle. And she's really she really loves that whistle. He was right.

Jay Franze 34:10

Well I used to have a dog that would react to someone playing the the harp or an anything with that kind of pitch to it. Okay. So he he would jump on the the highest point in the house he could find, so the back of the couch usually, and he would sit there and howl like a wolf. And I'm thinking it's the cutest thing ever, and then look at this dog is participating in our writing session or whatever we're doing. But come to find out when they howl, it releases the pressure in their ears because the sound was hurting them. So I was like, oh, that's not good.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Not what you thought.

Jay Franze 34:45

Either way. All right. I mentioned earlier that you've had an opportunity to work with some of the best of the best.

The Team Behind An Indie Artist

Jay Franze 34:52

So I'm just kind of curious what kind of team do you actually have behind you and who is doing the marketing for you?

SPEAKER_02 35:00

That's really a great question. And people rarely ask about the team. I have a very large team. There's a lot of people that it takes to go into this. I cannot take credit for it all. There's no way I could do it all. So, my manager, Robin Roberts, he's amazing. He works so hard. Bonnie Bostik, she's my director of public relations. The girl is just such a liaison to the fans. She cares so much about the fans. A lot of times she cares more about the fans than me because she has more connection to them because she's communicating directly with them. Whereas I might be in the studio or tracking or working out, doing whatever I'm supposed to be doing for packing my bags or loading my guitar on an airplane or whatever. So she is like totally direct with the fans. She has such great relationships with the fans. She does my merchandising, she's amazing. I have my business manager, Brian Sonny, my CPA, my um director of charity, Scott Doherty. He's always making sure that we're, you know, we're on pulse with Haiti and doing the charity efforts we're supposed to be doing. My booking agent, Michael Kelly. We've got my band, so Chris Schroffner, Debbie Flood, Yada Graves, John Pinero, Jimmy Miller on Steel, Reeves Johnson on Keith. Um, I mean, I just that was 13 people just like that. Todd Schmidt, my videobiographer, Hunter Jurgens, my my marketing girl. She does, if you say marketing, that's that's Hunter Jurgens. So just off the top of my my head, you know, it's 15 people who are just work tirelessly. And that doesn't include, you know, my attorney and my producer and my, I mean, Brian Agey, my talent scout. I mean, it's really unbelievable how many people it takes to do this. But what's cool is that we all love it and we're all connected. We just got a new team member, Matt Combs. He's our driver. I mean, literally, he is my driver. Like, it's so cool to like have a driver, you know, and and he's just so great. I mean, he drove me to the uh Big D and Bubba show, parked right in front, so my hair didn't get gross with the sun. And you know, it's just it's really cool to have so many loving and supportive people who care so much about what I do. And yeah, it's it's it's really mind-blowing, truly.

Jay Franze 37:17

As an independent artist, how did you develop such a team?

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Um, I think I would say that I developed the team that I have because of one solid thing that I stay true to, and that's doing what I say I'm going to do. When you do what you say you're gonna do, and when you when something comes out of your mouth and everybody around you knows that they could take it to the bank, that makes those people want to work with you more. Even if you don't pay them the rate that some other artist might, if you say you're gonna do it and it always is, then I can always tip. I'm a firm believer of underpromise over deliver. So if I tell you I'm gonna pay you X and then I come in and pay you X plus 100, all of a sudden you're like, whoo! I mean, you know, X 100 bucks. But if I tell you I'm gonna pay you X and then I come and pay you X less 100, now you're looking for other artists to play with. And so I always try to lead with underpromise overdeliver. And whatever I say I'm gonna do, I do it unless I'm sick.

Jay Franze 38:22

All right. So with such an impressive career and so many things, we can all look at your career and we can all say, Oh, that's the most impressive thing you've done, or this is the most impressive thing you've done. What do you feel is the most impressive thing you've done?

SPEAKER_02 38:35

I would say my partnership with Haiti, you know, working with Haiti, making an impact in Haiti, uh, building homes in Haiti,

Haiti Work As Real Legacy

SPEAKER_02 38:42

sending fresh water to Haiti, you know, getting to stand in front of a room in Naples, Florida, and because of my music and because of my fans, $23,000 in four minutes. You know, that is it, that is power. That is legacy. And I think you could sit here all day and talk about the producers I worked with, or the session players, or the writers I worked with, or the fancy dresses that I wore, or the Grammys I got to attend, or all these great things. And those things are great. I loved being on the voice, but nothing is better than my efforts in Haiti. I mean, they just aren't. It's just not like going there and being affected and seeing their faith. Seeing somebody who has no food or shelter have stronger faith than the people that I know, that's life-changing, you know, and so my faith was really enriched in Haiti. And when you go to a country like that, it just changes your life because you really realize how bad people have it, and it starts to become a little bit embarrassing that you have so much. Like I have all of this, I have this nice home, I have air conditioning right now, I have a shower, I have like literally everything. I have a washer and dryer. Like, that's amazing. Like, if you really stop and think about how cool that is, I mean, if you stop and think, all I have to do is throw this stuff in and press a button, that's amazing. These ladies have to pile these clothes, they have to, they have to go walk two miles, they have to wash it in the water, then they have to pull it back wet, then they have to hang it. It's like you start to realize like, okay, if I want to take a bath, all I have to do is just twist a knob and the bathtub gets filled, and I get in it. I don't do anything, I don't walk to the water, I don't bring buckets of water back. It's just unbelievable. And and I think that's where my partnership with Haiti is lifelong. You know, people trust me, they try to get me to they try to get me to pivot. They try to say, well, you should help this charity or help this charity. I'm like, no, my heart is for Haiti. My life was affected, my faith was restored because of the Haitian people. I'm not ever gonna turn my back on them. I will always support them.

Jay Franze 40:57

So where do you stay in and what's your life like while you're there?

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Well, I was very grateful because I was part of Mission of Hope Haiti, and they have a compound. And so it's a very humble house, but it had two twin beds in it, me and one, and my friend Mel and the other. We had like a common shower that we all shared, and I had a little mirror to get ready and an outlet for my hair and makeup. So my life was it was comfortable. And then they would take us and we would be in a vehicle, and then we'd have a second vehicle following us that was armed. That way, if we broke down, we could all run and get in that one and go. So we were very safe. I never felt like I wasn't safe. They took us to orphanages, they took us to elderly assisted centers. We went and just played music. You know, that that was the part about it that was really made it really fun. Is that my mission was music? It wasn't, I wasn't over there trying to be somebody I'm not. I was over there playing music. I was over there doing the same thing I do here, just playing music for kids, playing music for elderly, playing music for orphans, and they were taking video content of that and creating a video, and the video was used to raise money.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

Who would you attribute to instilling your faith in you?

Faith Roots And A Huge Family

SPEAKER_02 42:07

My mom is definitely who I would say instilled my faith in me. She was always uh we I grew up Catholic and I grew up with a strong discipline for going to mass every single Sunday. And mom was very, she took it very serious, you know, we weren't late. She always made sure we didn't have our chipped-up fingernail polish, and I had to dress modest, and I had to go to the adoration chapel afterwards, and and I still a lot of those things that she instilled in me then really are something that I value now. And I I try I tried many times to be like, oh, I'm not Catholic, I'm gonna go try this with that. And I think when you grow up one way, and especially being in South Louisiana, and you grow up like that, and and it's just such a peaceful place and it's such a calming place that I think that's why I have stuck with the roots of my faith, which now are really special to me, that continue to be special to me. But my mom was very much, you know, she was praying with us every night, she was doing her catechism, she was making sure that we were, you know, understanding what was right and wrong. And she just, my mom just was a really good mom. She really was. My mom is a good mom still. My mom is an amazing mom, and especially when it comes to faith, you know, she was she was when I was a teenager, just over the top, trying to make sure we were good.

Jay Franze 43:44

How big's your family?

SPEAKER_02 43:46

Um, my grandmother had 18 children, and so yeah, my grandmother, yeah, a Catholic woman in New Orleans. Mm-hmm. She did. She had 18 children, and um, I don't know. I thought my dad had a lot with 10. So you have a ton of cousins too, I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 44:01

Yeah, a ton. It's cool, huh? I love it. Like 40 some cousins.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

And I I don't say the reason I made the finale of the voice is because of my family. They were voting.

SPEAKER_01 44:13

Because they were the ones voting.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

They were voting.

SPEAKER_01 44:16

How long ago was the voice?

SPEAKER_02 44:17

Um, it was uh summer of 2024. So in the finale. Not long ago. In the finale of the voice, yeah, season 25. Yeah. And that was an incredible experience. Yeah. And the family was behind me, and they were just so cute making videos and submitting them, but it was just really cool. So I have a very large family on my maternal side, and then on my paternal side, my dad was one of four. So that side is, you know, relatively large. So when you put those two together, it's a huge, it's a huge family.

Jay Franze 44:44

One of four is large. One of eighteen is extreme.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

Is extreme. I know. One of eighteen is Catholic. That's it. Okay, okay.

Jay Franze 44:54

I'm Catholic. There's I'm one of three boys. My grandmother was one of eight. I thought that was a lot.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

Yeah, and uh, and I'll tell you a funny story. My grandmother said when she was dating my grandfather, they met down in Canal Street or something, and she he said that she told him the first night that they ever met that she wanted to have 18 children. And he said, Okay, right, that's never gonna happen. And he said, touched it. Right, yes. She got that life she wanted. Yes, yes. And she said that uh when she got pregnant with the 17th child, that my grandfather, the name was Maurice, looked at her and said, Well, Rosemary, I'm starting to think you were serious. And she did. She had 18 children just like she wanted. I know.

SPEAKER_01 45:45

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 45:46

Incredible.

Jay Franze 45:48

You mentioned the voice, and Darcy says you should have won. Before we have to wrap it up here, can you tell us what that experience was like?

The Voice Lessons From Reba

SPEAKER_02 45:56

Being on the voice was awesome. You know, I will never utter a single negative word about either the voice or Nashville. Like, I just I can't. Those Nashville's been so good to me. The voice was so good to me. I mean, just a well-old machine. Working with Dan and Shay, working with Reba, studying music under artists like that. You know, they work singing with Dan and Shay forever changed my timing. I mean, my band will, if they're watching, they'll probably laugh and they'll say, Yeah, right. I mean, that's I still got room to grow. But but timing, you know, taking timing seriously, you know, it's really hard to do when you're on stage because you're just trying to have a good time and point to people and get down, but you've got to keep your timing in the pocket. And that's something that I learned from the voice. And also stepping into the song, you know, you got to step into each song, and Reba taught me that. So I would say from the voice, the number one most important thing that I got out of the show was learning the skill that Reba taught me, which is if I'm singing a song about a heartbreak, I have to step into the heartbreak, and then I have to step out of the heartbreak and then step into the song about the mothers, and then step out of the song about the mothers, and step into the song about the veterans, and step out of the song about the veterans, and then step into the song about the best friends and lemon drops. You have to literally become the song. And I think before the voice, I didn't know that.

Jay Franze 47:21

What was Jodi Messina

Jo Dee Messina And Staying Hungry

Jay Franze 47:23

like?

SPEAKER_02 47:23

Oh my gosh, she was so nice. She was so nice and so supportive. And another thing about Jodi Messina, I think singing with Jodi Messina backstage, meeting Jodi Messina, taking photos with her, she showed me through her example what true zest for music looks, smells, and feels like. When you love music like Jodi Messina, I'm not speaking negatively about other people, but I am saying sometimes when people do this for a really long time, they get like jaded and they get like negative and they like they like think that they're worthy of it. You're never worthy of it. It's always a blessing, it's always a gift, it's always a beautiful thing. And to watch Jodi Messina be that far in her career and still have the zest for music enough. I witnessed, I went back to stage because I had left my tea up there, and I saw the video guy on FaceTime with Jodi Messina, and Jodi Messina, her, not her team, was being like, Hey, can you guys try this lighting? Like, I kind of like this lighting better. Like, I really don't like those colors. Like, she still cares, she still wants to be involved. And for her to come to my dressing room and surprise me like that and take pictures with our team, she didn't have to do that. I didn't pay her. Nobody paid her to do that. Nobody put it on her schedule. Nobody said you need to go talk to the opening act. I think that's an impact that will affect me forever because it doesn't matter how busy you are. If Jody Messina can go and hug and kiss the opening act, I can.

Jay Franze 49:04

Okay, you were quite a bit taller than her. Now, did you have heels on or you are you truly taller than her?

SPEAKER_02 49:10

No, I think I had heels on because I was about to walk on and she was in her sound check outfit. All right. Because she still had like an hour and a half because I had my whole show. So she was like, Yeah, that I think that's pretty normal. You know, the opening acts dressed before you. So I think if you were to put her in her stage shoes and my stage shoes, it wouldn't have been as as difference in height. But yeah, I was I was ready to go on. And and it was funny too, y'all, because it was like, I think I walked on at like 7:30 or something. It was like 729, and she and I are still talking. We were like, you need to go. I was like, oh yeah, put my pack on, like, didn't even fix my lipstick. I was like, I don't care. I got to hang out with her. But she was such a huge influence to me as a young teenager that I didn't care. I was like, I'll be late.

unknown 49:54

What are they gonna do?

Jay Franze 49:56

We talk about her all the time, and she's somebody that I have not had an opportunity to work with, so I'm always glad when somebody you know has had an opportunity that they say nothing but nice things.

SPEAKER_02 50:06

Yeah, and I think she gets it too when it comes to the general understanding and and and appreciation for social media. She gets that. And for someone that's that didn't grow up with that, that didn't have that when their first records were coming out, that's very impressive to me. That shows me that she's innovative.

Jay Franze 50:25

Yeah, she's awesome. I love her.

Shout Outs And Closing

Jay Franze 50:28

All right. Well, we'd like to give you an opportunity to recognize somebody who's worked behind the scenes or somebody who may have supported you along the way. Is there anybody that you'd like to shine a little light on?

SPEAKER_02 50:38

Yes, I would like to shine a little light on. Scott Docherty, our director of charities. He is absolutely amazing and he is from Pennsylvania, and he is uh just the nicest, funniest, lighthearted. The guy is silly, y'all. He dresses like Santa Claus and hands out hams all over Pennsylvania. He is the most funny character. He sends us the most ridiculous photos of him doing the dumbest stuff. He is the most generous person. Uh Darcy said earlier, and you accidentally said generous, that is Scott Doherty. He is the most generous person. He is so kind and uh very understanding and is behind me, has a lot of passion for what I do.

Jay Franze 51:23

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 51:24

Shout out, Scott Doherty.

Jay Franze 51:27

All right, folks. Well, you've done it. We have reached top of the hour, which does mean we have reached the end of the show. And if you have found this show enjoyable, fun, worthy of anything, please tell a friend. And if you have not, Miss Tiffany. Tell two. Tell two. You can reach out to all three of us tonight over at jfranzi.com. We'll be happy to keep this or any other conversation going for that matter. It was a pleasure having you, and we would like to leave the final words to you.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate y'all. Follow me at Karenwalder.com.