KRYSTAL KEITH FOLLOWS DAD INTO FAMILY BUSINESS
With confidence, commitment and a crystalline voice, Krystal Keith stands a good chance of following her father, Toby, into the highest realms of the country music world. She gained recognition for an EP that included the single “Daddy Dance With Me,” which she had written to surprise her father at her own wedding. Now singer-songwriter Krystal Keith has released her debut album, “Whiskey and Lace.” Toby Keith contributed several songs and co-produced with Mark Wright. Prior to heading out on tour with her father, Krystal talked with Pop Culture Classics. PCC: You’d been building towards the debut album for quite some time. There must have been a great deal of satisfaction in actually holding the finished product in your hand. KEITH: I might have slept with it under my pillow. [Laughs] It was pretty amazing. It took three years to complete it. We really wanted to take our time and write and pick songs that fit the project that I wanted. And I wanted it eclectic. And I wanted it to be a journey of emotion and experiences, where no song sounded just like another one. So we really took our time. We didn’t have any reason to rush. It was an amazing feeling, when I finally got to to release it. PCC: I guess every song is meaningful to you, in it’s own way? KEITH: Absolutely. People ask me which song is my favorite. And it’s such a hard question to answer, because you get so emotionally invested in each one as you’re recording it. You kind of live with it and decide if you want to change it or if you want to leave it on the record. And you really put your heart into choosing them. So it’s a really hard decision to pick one over another. PCC: You must have had your own vision for the album. With your Dad’’s participation as co-producer, along with your other producer, Mark Wright, were you able to voice your own opinions and make sure it was shaped the way you wanted it? KEITH: You know, Mark and my Dad knew my vision. They knew what I wanted out of the project. With this being my first project, I trusted them to bring my vision to life and know what was best for me. If something was going in a direction I wasn’t a fan of, I certainly felt like I had a right to be vocal about it and that’s one of the blessings of working with my father and having him be, not only my mentor, but my producer, my label head and then, my Dad is in the studio also. I have such a great relationship with him, I probably vocalized my opinions more to him than I would have, had it been me and another producer that I didn’t have a personal relationship with. PCC: You started out writing solo. You’ve been doing a number of co-writes lately. Is that a learning experience, working with different writers? KEITH: Absolutely. You know, I’ve written since I was about nine. I wrote my first little song-poem, when I was nine. And then I wrote my first completed song at 15. So I’ve been writing pretty much my whole life. And my Dad called me in and had me co-write with Bobby Pinson one day. And I loved the experience of having another creative soul to bounce your ideas off of. And it’s a completely vulnerable process, because it opens you up to having ideas and sharing ideas and brainstorming. And some of those ideas are stupid. Some don’t rhyme. Some of them don’t even make sense. But you’re putting yourself out there, through this creative process, trying to come out with a creative project... and a product. And I think that it’s one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. As vulnerable as I feel within the co-writing process, I have fallen in love with it completely. PCC: Starting to write at such an early age, did you always know that music was going to be your path in life? KEITH: A hundred percent. I think I was three, when I threw a fit to get on stage with my Dad. I just wanted to sing on stage with him. My house is full of music. So I got up there and I completely froze. But that’ s the first time I had expressed any interest in doing what my Dad does and being on stage and singing with him. From then on, I just always said, “I’m going to be a singer.” In second grade, everyone’s like, “Yeah, right, honey.” And in high school, when I had to do job-shadowing in career class, I went and shadowed a veterinarian, because I was like, “My job that I want to shadow is not on this list you gave me.” So it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and it’s always been my plan. My Dad fostered that as much as he could in a way that I didn’t feel pressured to be in the industry. He wasn’t a pageant dad and I didn’t have a pageant mom. But they gave me the tools and prepared me for the industry, in case I did go into it. But they just wanted us to be kids and live a normal life. He always said, “Music can come later. just be a kid. Don’t focus on it right now.” PCC: Growing up in Oklahoma, do you think that helped you have a normal childhood? KEITH: Absolutely. My entire family still lives within 10 minutes of us. They say it takes a village to raise a child. And we certainly had a village of family. My Dad was on the road so much. But I don’t remember my Dad being on the road. I just remember the happy, fun times we had, when he was home. And he was always a phone call away. We read the bible every night. We did tickle time and prayers together. And that’s my memory of my childhood. And I think a lot of that was my Mom working overtime to ensure that we didn’t miss out on anything, just because we only had one parent to shuffle us around. PCC: As far as your Dad’s job, did it seem glamorous? Or did you also see that there was a lot of hard work involved?
We did not realize he had a cool job at all. I knew that he was a singer. My sister, because she’s a little bit older, it was a little different for her. I thought that was just a normal job that anybody’s dad could have. And it wasn’t until “Should Have Been A Cowboy” came out, he started really rising and people started recognizing him out in public and they started treating us differently. I’d have 10-year-old girls asking questions about my Dad. And it started to feel weird, like “Why do you care so much about my Dad’s job? I don’t ask you about your dad’s job. This is weird.” And I started to realize that he has an extraordinary job that not everyone gets to do And, for me, being a music lover, it was always inspirational to me. And I was like a little sponge. I would stand side stage and look out at the crowd. And in my mind, I was like, “Someday. Someday this is going to be me.’” PCC: You mentioned that your Dad wanted you to have the tools, in case you ever did go into music. What were those key tools that you can apply now? KEITH: Well, he didn’t hide any of the negative sides of the industry, the politics that go on. He always had open conversation and discourse about that. So I learned a lot about that. He was focused on ensuring that we stayed grounded. We didn’t do red carpets with him. We, as children, weren’t shoved in the limelight, just because he was in the limelight. So one of the things I learned that is really valuable to me is the protection of privacy within your personal life. So now that I’m going into this, I’m having to protect my husband and his family and the family my Dad’s always protected, my own family. Being grounded, not forgetting where you came from, because this industry has a way of eating you up and making you feel bigger than the people around you. You start to feel like you’re on a pedestal. So remembering where you came from and feeling grounded, just to keep myself level, those are the tools he made sure I had. PCC: Your husband’s not in the business? KEITH: He’s not. He’s in the energy industry. PCC: Growing up, who were the other artists who inspired you? KEITH: First of all, I’m a fourth-generation singer, so my great-grandmother, my grandmother and my Dad and myself were all singers. So that was my core inspiration. But just having the amount of music in our family, we listened to a lot of Patsy Cline, a lot of Skeeter Davis and Loretta Lynn. In the 90s, when my Dad came out, Shania Twain, Reba, Faith, Martina. Any woman that is an incredible vocalist. Like Martina - I just went to her concert last year and I was on the second row and I was in awe of how strong and incredible her voice is. Listening to that, I always told myself, if I can sing a Martina McBride song, then I must have some pipes, because her songs are hard to sing. They’re really challenging. So I sort of looked at everyone as an inspiration to take something from, whether it was stylistically or the strength in their voice or inflections that they put into their vocals. I listened to a lot of old stuff. PCC: You certainly do have the pipes. So was it a matter of having the natural gift and then having to hone it and study how to make it work the best? KEITH: Sure. When I was little, I always used to say that Shania Twain taught me how to sing. My Dad’s first tour was the Triple Play tour and it was my Dad and Shania Twain and a guy named Jon Brannan. And they were all on the bus. And I was up there singing and she came on and just gave me a couple pointers and sang along with me. She was so beautiful and such a great singer that I went home and told everybody that Shania Twain taught me how to sing. But I did spend so many years, just singing around the house. And my Dad would give me pointers on pitch and tone. I never had any vocal lessons. It was all just conditioning my voice to do it, over and over and over again. PCC: What about the performing? After that experience at age three, did it feel natural on stage? Were you always fearless after that? KEITH: Pretty fearless. I’m not a shy girl. I’m pretty outgoing. And I’ve never met a stranger. So the first time I got on stage to perform a song, it was a competition, I think I was 13, I was a little nervous going on the stage, but as soon as I went on there, I had watched my Dad do it so many times that I kind of just decided, “Well, I’m going to just kind of mimic the way that he works the crowd.” And so I went from person to person in the crowd and kind of pointed at them and smiled. It was probably a terrible performance, but it got me through the fear of going on stage and I didn’t have stage fright once I was up there. I just kind of had fun with it. And since then, I’m not nervous ever. The bigger the crowd, the more on fire I am. And it’s definitely a passion of mine to perform. It’s one of my favorite parts. PCC: Going to college, was that your own decision? Was that your parents feeling that it was something you should do? KEITH: Neither one of my parents had the opportunity to go to college. Neither one of them had the money to go to college. So they both went right into the working industry. And my Dad said, “We worked so hard to give you the opportunities in life that we didn’t have and one of them is college. And it makes no sense not to take advantage of the opportunity to have the education.” And I’m thankful now that they made me go to college and get my degree, not necessarily for the education, although that’s valuable, but it’s more about taking the time to grow up and gain some life experience and a good world view. It really gives you an opportunity to find who you are and to find a good center for yourself. And that’s kind of the platform on which you live your life. So it was really valuable to me, just to get some life experience to write songs about. My songwriting improved, just because I had a better understanding of how the world works. PCC: Are you continuing to grow as a songwriter? KEITH: I hope so. I’m just getting started. I’m three years into the industry. It took me three years to do my album. So this is kind of my starting point. So I hope that I have many, many years to come. And I love learning new things. So I hope that, over the years, as I progress and take more in, that my songwriting skills just get better. PCC: Going into a business where your Dad is such a success, have their been advantages and disadvantages? KEITH: I think the advantage and the disadvantage is that I know a lot about the industry. I had a lot of information coming into the industry that new artists don’t typically have. A lot of the behind-the-scenes. Like I said, the politics of it, you don’t usually find out until you’re in the industry. I’m lucky enough that I had a base understanding of how the critiques were going to work. And a lot of people get a record deal and think that now they can just sit back and relax, because their career is going to take off. And they don’t realize how much hard work is still ahead of them. So I think that I was better prepared. But I wish sometimes that I was a little more blind and a little more naive, because I over-think things sometimes. So it’s kind of a double-edged sword. PCC: Do you think you had to face greater expectations, because of your musical heritage? KEITH: Five years ago, I would have said yes. I would have said that I’m probably going to be critiqued more so, because of my Dad. I’ll be heavily critiqued, because maybe they’ll say that I’m just here because of my Dad. But I think that we’ve spent so much time on the album and I wrote some of the songs and just the process that we followed, I think that that has helped to show people that I have a really strong work ethic. We take these great songs and we really made sure that each song was different and that each song showed my personality. So I think that now, I haven’t had to deal with a lot of criticism just based on me being my Dad’s daughter. And that’s a really good sign for me, because that means that people are enjoying the work that I’m putting out and enjoying the album. And they’re not seeing just the cover of my Dad being a celebrity and being in the industry. PCC: And touring with him, will that be another learning experience? KEITH: Yeah, it’s really exciting, because, whereas most artists come up in the bar circuit and they do a lot of small venues and then they have to get comfortable, when they go on their first big tour in front of 25,000, whereas, I grew up on a stage, where I was looking out at 25,000 people. So I had to get comfortable in the smaller bar settings, when I started doing my radio tours and started touring. So it’s really kind of coming full circle for me. I grew up on this stage and grew up on my Dad’s tour. So my first big tour being my Dad’s is really fitting and really special for me. And I can’t wait to get to back on the stage that I grew up on, that I started out on. PCC: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from him? KEITH: Well, aside from him just showing us that it’s really important to stay grounded and not forget where you came from, with the tour coming up, I’d say the performance side of it. He always said, “Give ‘em hell.” That was his phrase. By that, he meant, don’t hold back, don’t be shy, don’t feel nervous about putting it out there. Perform like you’re never going to get to perform again and like every person there is only there to see you and they bought this ticket and they expect to be entertained. Give them their money’s worth. That’s what I think about, when I perform - these people, when they have a night off, they came out and they want to spend it with us. So I want to do everything I can, if they’re not a fan, I want them to leave a fan. If they were a fan, I want to let them know that it’s a good thing that they’re a fan, because I’m going to do my part to hold onto them. PCC: At this point, early in your career, what have been the biggest rewards and the biggest challenges? KEITH: I think the greatest reward is working hard and putting out the project and having such a great reaction from it. Especially, the only two songs we’ve actually released, have been songs that I wrote or co-wrote. So as a songwriter and singer, that’s incredibly gratifying. It’s so rewarding, having people enjoy your work as much as you do. The challenge, just managing my time, getting everything I can done throughout the day. There’s a lot of little things that go into this, from doing interviews to photo shoots and flying in and out of town and just putting in the time and making sure that I sleep well enough, stay healthy, keep myself ready for the next day. It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s completely worth it. PCC: And your long-term goals? What do you hope to accomplish through your music? KEITH: As long as I can stay in the country music industry, as long as I can still produce music and put it out there and have people enjoy it and I have the opportunities to perform, I know how this industry is, so that’s all that I ever ask for. That’s all that I can pray for. Obviously my hopes and dreams are that I reach my Dad’s level of success in this industry, although I’m aware that that level of success is few and far between. He’s incredibly prolific as a songwriter. He’s always had a top-selling tour. Things like that are goals of mine, although, I’m aware that his level of success is a very, very hard goal to reach. PCC: It’s good to have the bar set high. KEITH: It sure is. I don’t plan on having a fall-back. So it’s just up from here. For all the latest news on this artist, visit www.krystalkeith.com. |
