Meghan Patrick, a three-time CCMA award-winning singer-songwriter with Anthem Entertainment, captivates listeners with her skillful songwriting and high-energy performances. She burst onto the country music scene with her debut album Grace & Grit. After relocating to Nashville full-time, Meghan released Country Music Made Me Do It, featuring her first #1 single, and followed it with Wild As Me, which earned her the JUNO Award for Country Album of the Year.
What’s your favorite part of the songwriting process?
When I am co-writing and you find the missing piece to land the hook, or the perfect melody and everyone in the room locks in and knows you’re on the right track.
What’s your biggest session highlight so far?
I’ve had so many great sessions, but I would say a lot of the sessions where I wrote the songs for my album Golden Child, were my favorite. I had a very clear vision for what I wanted to write, and the confidence to assert myself to make sure that vision was executed. I was in a place where I was ready to be more open and vulnerable than I’d ever been before, and I was writing about some of the hardest moments in my life. It was a little scary, but also very cathartic, and I felt really grateful to be in rooms with songwriters I could trust to put in the same passion and care into getting it right. It felt like a really exciting new chapter where I was finding great chemistry with these incredibly talented writers who were giving me their best but also giving me the space to say what I needed to say. I also got to write for that record with one of my musical heroes, Caitlyn Smith, which led to having her sing on the record as well, so that was a huge highlight.
How much do current market and track trends impact your creative process?
They don’t. Haha, at least not anymore. I spent a lot of my younger years feeling like I needed to chase whatever was “working” or fit into a box of what others thought would make me successful. It was exhausting and just not really fulfilling for me creatively, and was keeping me from tapping into my full potential as a songwriter and artist. I was playing it safe and being led by trying to be successful instead of being led by the need to tell a story only I could tell. I realized that all my favorite artists and songwriters had blazed their own trails, instead of sticking to the road more travelled, and what made them so great was that they were unique… one of one.
So now the only thing I consider when creating is; “is this honest? Is this authentic to me? Do I genuinely love what I’m creating, or do I just think it will be successful based on what’s already worked for other artists?” I’m older, wiser, braver, and more confident in my own creativity now, and it has been the most rewarding chapter of songwriting in my life so far. Of course, I will always be inspired and influenced by the songs of my favorite artists and musicians, but I never want it to be derivative. I’m not interested in making “trendy” music, my goal is to make music that feels simultaneously fresh and “classic”, and can stand the test of time.
Listen to Meghan Patrick on Amazon Music, Apple Music or Spotify.
