From Coyote Ugly to American Idol 👀 | Emily Elgin Interview + Sphere Trivia

What starts at Coyote Ugly… ends with a road trip to American Idol 👀

This week on The Morning Brew with Chris Bennett & Best Friends, we sit down with our Country Climb Star of the Week, Emily Elgin. From singing in bars to piling into a minivan and auditioning for American Idol, her journey is as real as it gets.

⭐ This week’s Country Climb artist comes to us from Austin Burke and The Playlisted Podcast, where we get to discover incredible new country talent each week.

We also talk about:
 🎤 Her musical influences and Nashville journey
 🎶 The powerful story behind her song “Having Babies”
 ⭐ What fans can expect from her live shows

Plus, we had some fun on the show:
 🤔 “Sphere Fact or Fake Fact” trivia
 🎯 A listener wins their way into our Anniversary Bash cornhole tournament

🎉 Don’t miss the Morning Brew Anniversary Bash on May 16th—details at:
 chrisbennettcomedy.com

📲 Listen, follow, and share with a Best Friend!

Transcript

Audition Road Trip To New Orleans

SPEAKER_04 0:00

We all piled into another friend's mom's minivan and went to New Orleans, and that's where I auditioned.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hello, best friends. It's me, Chris Bennett, and welcome to the morning brew with Chris Bennett and best friends. And that was our country climb star of the week, Emily Elgin, and that story only gets better. Here's what you missed on today's show. Let's get it started. Chris Bennett and the Morning Brew. Chris Bennett's Country Climb, Star of the Week. And we got another amazing artist sent our way from Ostenberg and the playlist podcast. This week's guest is someone who's bringing Grit Soul and straight-up real country storytelling to the table. Originally from Oklahoma and now making waves out in Nashville. She's been building a name with her powerful voice and high-energy live shows. Please welcome this week's Country Clive star of the week, Emily Elgin. Welcome aboard.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Rapid Fire Icebreakers

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Our pleasure. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, we'd like to start with some fun. Rapid fire icebreaker questions. You ready? Yeah, let's go. Coffee or energy drink?

SPEAKER_04 1:12

Uh decaf coffee.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Small town or big city? Small town all the way. First concert you ever went to.

SPEAKER_04 1:21

Oh I think it was Dina Carter, maybe? Oh heck yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

What is your go-to road trip snack?

SPEAKER_04 1:32

Ooh, uh, go-to road trip snack. If we're going by a Bucky's, I gotta get the little Bucky's like corn thingies, or whatever those are called.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

And uh who's your uh uh favorite country country artist growing up that made you think, man, this is what I want to do.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

All of the women of 90s country.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

And who's your dream duet partner?

SPEAKER_04 1:58

Oh Chris Stapleton.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Hmm, he's great. And last question, hardest question you'll get asked all day. If you could only request one country song for the rest of your life, radio, parties, all that, what country song are you requesting and why?

SPEAKER_04 2:14

This is such a hard question. It's such a hard question. Uh I would say anything by Tom T. Hall, probably something like how I got to Memphis, the year Clayton Delaney died, uh Old Dogs and Children in Watermelon Wine, probably that one. That's a really good one.

Finding Music Through American Idol

SPEAKER_01 2:32

We had some fun, but now we're gonna talk about your country climb. When did music become your thing?

SPEAKER_04 2:40

You know, I've grown up singing my whole life, but I never thought that singing was something that I could do for a living until I competed on American Idol. And that was really kind of what lit the fire of okay, I think I could do this for a living. That's kind of where it started. Because before that I was just doing karaoke around Oklahoma and singing in bars and and stuff, but doing something on that level really kind of put me on you know, over that edge, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

And how did you get involved and asked to be on American Idol?

Coyote Ugly Stories And Lessons

SPEAKER_04 3:18

So I used to work for a bar called Coyote Ugly. I don't know if you're familiar with that, but yeah, so I worked for that company for seven years and I was a singer, so I traveled with the company all over to different locations and trained new girls and opened new locations. And uh obviously, since I sang, they knew about American Idol, and they were like, You need to go, you need to go down there. So they let me and all my girlfriends off for a few days, and we all piled into another friend's mom's minivan and went to New Orleans, and that's where I auditioned.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Oh, that's awesome. It was so fun. Is there one crazy moment that sticks out in your head from working at Coyote Ugly?

Oklahoma Influences And Her Sound

SPEAKER_04 4:02

There's no way to narrow it down to just one. That time in my life, I I still that we there's a saying, we call it coyote land, and it's once a coyote, always a coyote. I will always be a coyote. I always will. It is just a wild, free-spirited time, and I I have a lot of really amazing memories there. I mean, like, just tons and tons of stuff. I I fell off the bar a couple times, actually, while I was working there. Holy! But I would fall off occasionally.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

And you grew up in Oklahoma. What kind of uh music were you surrounded by growing up?

SPEAKER_04 4:47

Uh my mama loved music, and so she growing up, I was really inundated with a lot of stuff like Tom T. Hall, Hank Williams Jr., um country music of the 90s. But then also there was a really heavy influence of Leonard Skinnard, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ravon, Janice Joplin, um, all of that. So that is really contributed to the way that I write music in my melodic structure.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

And uh what uh give me, it might be hard to do, but give me uh one or two pinch me moments in your career so far where you had to pinch yourself, be like, is this happening?

SPEAKER_04 5:29

And waking up every day to just be able to do this full time for a living is definitely a pinch me moment. I'm constantly like, how the what is going on? Crazy. But I I think, you know, I got to open for Ward Davis, and that was incredible at Third and Lindsley in Nashville. That was amazing. I've sold out shows in new markets where I've never been and nobody knew me at all. And that is just phenomenal, you know. Just when people are coming to my shows and they're driving four, five, six hours to come see me, and they they buy my merchandise and they spend their harder money to come see me, and that's how they want to spend their night. It just blows my mind. It blows my mind.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

And how would you describe your sound to someone uh that's being introduced to Emily Elgin for the first time?

SPEAKER_04 6:23

Yeah, my sound it's it's country, but it's got a uh bluesy southern rock influence.

The Story Behind “Having Babies”

SPEAKER_01 6:29

We are back with today's Country Climb star of the week, Emily Elgin, and we've had some fun, found out about her country climb, her time on American Idol, her time at Coyote Ugly, and now we are going to hear one of her songs played here on Q Country 925 for the first time. Uh, this song uh that we're playing is having babies. Uh, tell me where did the idea of this song come from and uh uh give us a little uh story behind it.

SPEAKER_04 6:57

Yeah, so I had a very major surgery seven months ago. I had a hysterectomy, and going through that as a woman that does not have any children, it was a really difficult transition. And it to be honest, it still is, but through that, I I knew that I wasn't the only one to experience this, and so many women go through this, and that is how the song came to be. And and I was laying on the couch and I still couldn't like get up and do anything, and uh I started kind of working on the idea, and then once I was able to get out and about and start working again, I took the idea into a songwriting session with two of my favorite writers in town, Jake Arthur and Michael Saleta. And I was like, y'all, I've got this idea, I think it's really good. And I told them and kind of you know wood shopped it, and they both loved it. And we cried through the session together and and wrote this song. And since then, it's just received such a great response. It's gotten quite a bit of radio play, and the the message, the messages that women send me about like, hey, I've gone through this too, it has just been really phenomenal, you know, and it is a sad song, but I think um it's okay. It's okay to be sad. And it's it's important to have those emotions and not have somebody constantly say, oh, well, it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. It's also okay to be sad and be in that emotion for when you need it.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Absolutely. Well, I love this song, and we're excited to play it here on Q Country 925. This is today's Country Climb Star of the Week, Emily Elgin, and this is her song, Having Babies, on Q Country 925.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

Or if they'd have my running wild side, there'd be tiny hands to hold A million kisses from head to toe, single eyes as the sun sits. Wonder if we would have put money down on that three-bedroom wide far house. We plant flowers by the drive where you teach them to ride bikes. I know we could have given them a thought I had more time. But sometimes life goes a different way. After all, the what is a babies? All I have are stars while my friends are having babies. I'll never get to paint that nursery. The list of names I save just hurts me. There'll be no T ball games, no little Bose Laves, no chance to say I love you every. I thought I had more time. But sometimes life goes a different way. After all the what is a baby, all our skulls. Get the two pink lines. No, there's nothing I can do to make that change. After all, the what is the babies? All I have are scars. While my friends are having babies, that was Emily Elgin with her song Having Baby.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

She's today's Country Climb Star of the Week. Such a uh a beautiful song, so raw and uh just uh just beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

SPEAKER_04 13:03

Thank you for having it. It I think, you know, I think it's an important song because you don't people don't write about that kind of stuff very often. You don't hear about it, and it's something that so many women and and families go through, and I think that's really important. John Rich told me one time that the thing about writing songs is you can put anything in a song, and that's what I love about it.

More Tracks And Live Show Energy

SPEAKER_01 13:29

And uh I absolutely love that song. I've been listening to a lot of your music. For those that are just meeting Emily Elgin, what other two songs should they check out to get to know Emily Elgin a little bit better?

SPEAKER_04 13:42

You know, I think a lot of people really like Doc Holiday. It's really upbeat, it's high energy, it's a lot of fun. And then um if if they're in the mood for, you know, something maybe more like a power ballad or something a little slower, should have been raining is also a good one.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

And I understand your live shows are electric. What can people expect from uh an Emily Elton live show?

SPEAKER_04 14:08

You you know, we we try to keep it uh high energy. For for me, the thing that I really try to accomplish is giving the the fans an actual experience. The show is not just something that you come in and you pay a ticket and you sit at. I I want you to to feel like it was money well spent and that you get an actual performance. So that's what we really strive to do.

New Music And Road To The Opry

SPEAKER_01 14:30

That's awesome. And what uh what's next uh from you? What should we be on the lookout for?

SPEAKER_04 14:37

I've got new music coming out. So yeah, well, we're gonna be rolling out new music. I also have a series that we're launching on YouTube called Road to the Opry. And it's just a series documenting my journey as I try to get to the Grand Ole Opry and have my grand old Opry debut. And it just is all by all the behind the scenes of what it really takes to get there.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

And uh for people to follow you and uh follow that on YouTube, what are your uh your social handles?

SPEAKER_04 15:07

Yep, just my name, Emily Elgin, or my website is Emily Elgin Music.com.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Make sure you go ahead and stream all her music. And uh thank you so much for being today's Country Climb, the star of the week.

SPEAKER_04 15:20

Thank you so much.

Listener Call And Anniversary Bash Details

SPEAKER_01 15:23

You are first caller. Who's this? Boo. Boo! Heck yes, it's Jolo's own Dave Ramsey calling to uh win a free entry into the Cornhole Tournament on May 16th at our anniversary bash, brought to you by Horn Auto Center at the house. Uh it is Fun Fact Friday, so we're gonna play a game called Fun Fact or Fake Fact uh using some Las Vegas sphere uh facts. Okay, Dave, you gotta get two right, you win uh an entry into the tournament. You get uh three wrong, you're gone. Sound good? As always. All right. The sphere in Las Vegas is the largest spherical structure in the world. Real or fake? Fake. Uh, you got one wrong. Oh no. Yeah, it is the uh largest spherical spherical structure in the world. Um the sphere can display images so bright that they can be seen from airplanes miles away. Real or fake? Real. That is real. All right, you got one right. There you go. Um The Sphere has seats that vibrate and simulate movement during shows. Real. There you go. Ding, ding, ding. He got two right. Congratulations. You just got entered into our cornhole tournament and our anniversary bash, May 16th at the house, brought to you by Horn Auto Center. And if you weren't as lucky as Dave, registration is$25. 50% of that goes to help out great nonprofit 3e snacks. Just go to my website, Chris Bennett Comedy.com, and it'll take you to the Scoreholio uh site for you to sign up and register today. What station hooked you up, best friend? As always, 92 5. You know it. Good morning. It's the morning brew with Chris. Who's this?

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Good morning, champion Chris Bennett. Holy moly. I'm back from Florida.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

He's back from Florida. It's Brian from Pinedale. What do I owe the pleasure of your juicy phone call today?

SPEAKER_00 17:25

I would like to request a song.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Oh, what song you want to hear?

SPEAKER_00 17:29

I Found You by Nate Smith.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Oh, going out to uh the cheeseburger you're about to eat or to your wife? My wife. Oh, wonderful. You got it, buddy. Did you hear about our big uh Android? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

We already mark marked our calendar for the parties.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Yeah, May 16th. It's a free event for everyone in the house. It's just an awesome restaurant to come eat. They'll have live music all day, so we're gonna be jamming out. Are you gonna sign up for the cornhole tournament?

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Uh we me and somebody were talking about it last night. Oh, perfect. We haven't decided yet.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

So it's blind draw, so you don't get to pick your teammates. So you yeah, so that way it makes it a little fair. So uh can't get no ringers in there, though. Exactly, exactly. So I'll be blind draw, and it is double elimination, so you get second chances. And who doesn't love a good second chance?

SPEAKER_00 18:23

Yeah, everybody likes everybody needs a second chance.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

That's right. And then after the Cornhole Tournament, the anniversary batch will be headlined by our best friend, Nashville recording artist, Austin Burke, baby. So yeah, the one you got on Friday morning, right? Yeah, you the one who sends us all these amazing artists, yeah, his uh podcast. And and uh yeah, so it's gonna be a lot of fun. And uh can't wait to see you there. So mark your calendars.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

Yeah, we already marked ours.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

All right, perfect. And it starts at noon, right? Uh yeah, so the uh the practice for the Cornhole Tournament starts at noon, live music starts at eleven, bags will fly, the tournament starts at one, we'll go to about five, and then uh Austin Burke will start at seven.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Okay, so plan the afternoon, right? Yep, yep. Got it, got it.