Although Meghan Linsey’s claim to fame first came as part of the duo Steel Magnolia, who won the duet singing competition on “Can You Duet” with her singing partner and then boyfriend Joshua Scott Jones, Linsey strongly refutes assumption that the winners of those "made for tv" types of talent competitions are overnight success stories. Although their win did get them a huge recording contract with major label Big Machine Records, whose leader, Scott Borchetta, was one of the judges on the show along with Naomi Judd and Big Kenny Alphin (of Big and Rich), a tremendous amount of work went into her career both before and after the show and that contract.
Linsey said they were able to cut their first single during the taping of the show, and filmed the video shortly after they were announced as the winners, what followed was a whirlwind tour and a tremendous amount of work.“Once it (the show) ended, we were basically GONE for three years.” This took some time for adjusting as Linsey, a self-proclaimed bit of a homebody, said “The bus became our home, and in the beginning we were sometimes doing 2 or 3 radio tours during the day and then a show that night.”
“Keep On Loving You” was the first single from Steel Magnolia’s debut album in 2010, and peaked at #4 on the country music charts and was also the highest charting debut single from a male/female duo in country music history. The album sold almost one million downloads and physical albums, and the duo was nominated for the Academy of Country Music Duo of the year as well as 17 major awards from the ACM and CMA as well as the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Country Artist.
The tour gave her experiences and she learned from the artists they toured with, so Linsey has no regrets about the time between “Can You Duet” and the transition to becoming a solo artist. “It was REALLY hard. It is definitely work. But I feel really blessed and grateful for the experience.”
According to Linsey, she learned a great deal from Reba McEntire while Steel Magnolia toured with her. “I am all about empowerment for women, and I think that’s what I took from Reba. I learned so much about not only music and performing, but about taking an active role in my career. Especially the music business itself, as far as being involved in every aspect of my career including the business part. I learned so much from Reba about treating it like a business, because it is, and about interacting with people.”
Linsey believes this is important because many artists don’t come to the table with that mindset, and once they start letting other people control certain aspects or make various decisions, before long you lose some of the power and control you CAN have over your career. “I think Reba is a great example of someone who has taken control of her career, made decisions about what she did or did not want to sing and has stayed consistently involved in a number of aspects of her career, from music to television to branding,” Linsey said.
McEntire was actually the first country artist Linsey sought out on her own. “One of her cassette tapes was one of the first I bought with my own money,” Linsey stated. Linsey’s work didn’t begin when the tour after “Can You Duet” started by any means. At a very young age, her mother played a very active role in the early years of her singing experience. While Linsey started singing in church just like many country singers, she progressed from there to Talent Shows and to County Fairs and other events, “and even a few bars” Linsey laughed, by the time she was 14 years old – pretty much anywhere her mom could find for her to sing.
By age 15, she was opening shows for artists like Toby Keith, Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton, thanks to some fast thinking and a number of hours on the phone for her mother, who was also her first “promoter”. “My mom would check around and see what events were coming to our area, mostly close in Louisiana and in Texas, and she would call to see if they needed an opening act,” Linsey said. “Once I had opened for a big name or two, she would call the venue to see if they needed someone, and by then she could say I had opened for them before, or I had opened for this name or that name,” she added. “We would get a show booked and we would just get in the car and drive,” Linsey recalled.
By that time she was making regular trips to Nashville and playing early sets at the legendary Bluebird Café, but she didn’t leave after her set. She would stay and listen to all the singer/songwriters, and eventually got to know many of them and started writing with them. Once Linsey graduated from high school, she headed to Nashville and to the prestigious Belmont University, where she continued to write songs and play sets. It was while she was regularly hosting a Karaoke night at a bar in Printer’s Alley in downtown Nashville that she met Jones. While Linsey was primarily a country singer/songwriter, and has always had a fascination for songs that tell stories, which she found to be “most true in country music, Josh played more in the rock genre and together we played some Indie Rock and wrote some songs in that vein,” Linsey said.
While fans may feel a “newness” to both Linsey and Jones’ solo careers and miss what they had come to know as “Steel Magnolia,” Linsey said the personal part was over almost two years before they stopped touring together, but she and Jones continued to work together until the end of 2013 when they decided to officially part ways. Fans continued to see them perform together, while they were learning to live apart in their personal lives.
“Sometimes I think the fans feel sadder about it than we are at this point. We are both in a really good place in our lives. That’s not to say it wasn’t painful, but I don’t think you can be with somebody as long as we were together and not care,” said Linsey. Although she has experienced some personal heartache and disappointment, she feels the emotions that come with those feelings make for “Realness, and some great songwriting. When it’s real, and from the heart, people can feel that, in the song and in your performance,” she said.
“I wrote some about the breakup, and some about the picking yourself back up again. This whole process has been amazing. It all came from a really pure place. I’m not worried about getting personal, I just make sure I believe I am writing good music,” Linsey emphasized.
While it has sometimes been a difficult process, both have made the transition from Steel Magnolia to their solo careers, and Linsey urges fans to support her solo career as well as Jones’. “We are both very supportive of each other, and happy for each other’s successes, and we hope fans will be as well.”
Most of all, Linsey hopes, and believes, that her fans will be able to relate to the personal experiences she has shared in the album, from personal heartache and disappointment to the growth she has made as an individual and as a songwriter in the last two years. “I’ve never been one to think about what is going to be big as far as radio. The music loses integrity when you focus on getting radio play, Linsey said. “These songs come from a very real place, and I think that will resonate with people,” said Linsey. “I really poured my heart and soul into writing. I’ve been through a lot, I’ve lost a lot and it’s really been hard. But those are things everyone can relate to,” she added, stating that her songwriting and creating has been a kind of therapy during this time.
Linsey’s producer this time around has allowed her freedom to write and record the songs she wants to sing.” “I went into the studio with basically no restraints and was able to set out to do the music I wanted to do,” Linsey stated about going from being independent, to being a major star on one of the biggest labels in town, and now back to being independent. “There are definitely pros and cons to both,” she said.
“A lot of the music is done at her producer’s studio, King Productions, and it has some different sounds,” Linsey said. “I’m really grateful for this opportunity. He has been willing to take chances, and not question what I want to do or tell me how I need to do it. I feel like that it’s been through this whole process that I’ve found myself, and found my voice,” Linsey added.
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