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I'm from a little bitty town called Drummonds, Tennessee. I grew up on a 100 acre produce farm with my two older siblings. I can remember my dad playing guitar and singing for us in the living room, and that's what started my obsession with music. When I was five years old, I sang for the first time at this Country and Gospel Hall, called The Strand, that was in the next town over, Millington, Tennessee. I sang "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, got a standing ovation, and made twenty-five bucks. I knew then that I had to do this for the rest of my life!
I wrote my first song with my mom, dad, and aunt. It was a fun, upbeat, Country song called "Red Limousine." After recording it on a shoe string budget, my folks and aunt worked hard to pass it along to whomever had a set of ears. Finally, a friend of a friend who knew another friend got the song into the hands of the then CEO of Virgin Records, Matt Serletic (Matchbox Twenty, Gloriana, Collective Soul). The label flew us to New York, where I sang in an office for a few suits and before I left the building, I had signed my first record deal at age fourteen.
It took four long years to complete the Pop/Country album, Hope Partlow - Who We Are, and in 2005, it was released. The label put together a band for the upcoming promotional tour, as the opening act for Jesse McCartney. We began rehearsing night and day, yet I didn't seem to mind too much, due to the curly-headed, blue-eyed, rhythm guitar player, Ryan Wilson. We immediately hit it off musically and personally. I decided that I loved him when my parents decided that they hated him. After being a musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, kissing Zac Efron (High School Musical) in one of my music videos, and touring the country with the Jonas Brothers, I finally felt like all of the hard work was paying off. However, the fairy tale was short lived after I got a phone call from my manager at the time, Larry Rudolph (Brittany Spears), telling me there had been a major overhaul at the label and that I was being dropped, along with a few other artists.
My folks and I went back home and began life as we knew it. I pretty much gave up and tried a few other avenues, but it always came back around to music, one way or another. When I turned eighteen, I decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia for a new, fresh scene. Plus, Ryan and I had kept in touch through the down time and I was really looking forward to hanging out with him again. We started a Pop band called The Love Willows, and self-recorded & produced an album entitled Hey! Hey!. It caught the ear of some record execs and, what do you know, we inked a deal with Decca Records. However, just as quickly as we got the deal, we got dropped just as fast. I once again found myself wondering which way to turn.
All of my life, every song I've ever sang, I have been told by everyone that I should be singing Country music. However, I'm what my mama calls, "hard-headed." It runs in my family. I think the turning point for me was when I was asked, "If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?," and my response was, "Patsy Cline." To me, she was and will always be my inspiration for what I want to be. She was before the days of Auto-Tune, music politics, and daddy's money, therefore, she was pure talent.
My goal for this new album is to be a record full of favorites. It's an extension of my personality and my life. Writing this album was such a breakthrough, emotionally, for me, my marriage, and my family. It all seems to make sense now, why I've been on this crazy whirlwind of a life since I was fourteen. The good times gave me inspiration and the bad times gave me knowledge. I have faith in this album simply because it's real, as real as you get.
I wrote my first song with my mom, dad, and aunt. It was a fun, upbeat, Country song called "Red Limousine." After recording it on a shoe string budget, my folks and aunt worked hard to pass it along to whomever had a set of ears. Finally, a friend of a friend who knew another friend got the song into the hands of the then CEO of Virgin Records, Matt Serletic (Matchbox Twenty, Gloriana, Collective Soul). The label flew us to New York, where I sang in an office for a few suits and before I left the building, I had signed my first record deal at age fourteen.
It took four long years to complete the Pop/Country album, Hope Partlow - Who We Are, and in 2005, it was released. The label put together a band for the upcoming promotional tour, as the opening act for Jesse McCartney. We began rehearsing night and day, yet I didn't seem to mind too much, due to the curly-headed, blue-eyed, rhythm guitar player, Ryan Wilson. We immediately hit it off musically and personally. I decided that I loved him when my parents decided that they hated him. After being a musical guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, kissing Zac Efron (High School Musical) in one of my music videos, and touring the country with the Jonas Brothers, I finally felt like all of the hard work was paying off. However, the fairy tale was short lived after I got a phone call from my manager at the time, Larry Rudolph (Brittany Spears), telling me there had been a major overhaul at the label and that I was being dropped, along with a few other artists.
My folks and I went back home and began life as we knew it. I pretty much gave up and tried a few other avenues, but it always came back around to music, one way or another. When I turned eighteen, I decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia for a new, fresh scene. Plus, Ryan and I had kept in touch through the down time and I was really looking forward to hanging out with him again. We started a Pop band called The Love Willows, and self-recorded & produced an album entitled Hey! Hey!. It caught the ear of some record execs and, what do you know, we inked a deal with Decca Records. However, just as quickly as we got the deal, we got dropped just as fast. I once again found myself wondering which way to turn.
All of my life, every song I've ever sang, I have been told by everyone that I should be singing Country music. However, I'm what my mama calls, "hard-headed." It runs in my family. I think the turning point for me was when I was asked, "If you could meet anyone in the world, who would it be?," and my response was, "Patsy Cline." To me, she was and will always be my inspiration for what I want to be. She was before the days of Auto-Tune, music politics, and daddy's money, therefore, she was pure talent.
My goal for this new album is to be a record full of favorites. It's an extension of my personality and my life. Writing this album was such a breakthrough, emotionally, for me, my marriage, and my family. It all seems to make sense now, why I've been on this crazy whirlwind of a life since I was fourteen. The good times gave me inspiration and the bad times gave me knowledge. I have faith in this album simply because it's real, as real as you get.
