Being from a small town and trying to make it big—it’s a country-music cliché. Well, clichés sometimes become reality.
Hailey Whitters, one of country music’s biggest stars, is indeed from a very small town: Shueyville, Iowa, which, as of the 2020 Census, had a population of 731. But since releasing her album The Dream in 2020, she’s made waves with her mix of ’90s country pop and Americana exploration. Hit single “Everything She Ain’t” taps into the classic narrative lyrics that have dominated country music for decades, while modern production and unforgettable hooks make the song a 21st century gem. As of this writing, the song has amassed more than 100 million streams on Spotify.
You can catch Hailey Whitters perform at Stagecoach on Friday, April 26.
“Stagecoach is one of those bucket-list festivals,” Whitters said during a recent phone interview. “It’s a really big one and one that I’ve always wanted to be a part of—and this is actually my second year. I got to play it two years ago, and I’ve just been waiting for the call to go back. I had so much fun the first time, and I was so excited to get the call again to come back this year.”
Whitters said the festival is special because some of country music’s biggest stars can hang out together for a weekend.
“I didn’t get to hang out a lot at the last one I was at, but the backstage atmosphere feels fun,” she said. “There’s a lot going on backstage. They’ve got a lot of artists and vibe spaces where you’re seeing your friends, and we get to hang out and have a cocktail. We had great weather the day we were there, so it’s all really fun and good vibes in the air.”
Her 2022 performance at Stagecoach marked the beginning of a frenzy for Whitters. “Everything She Ain’t” was exploding, landing her spots in other music festivals, tours and TV spots, while her album Raised was named the top country album of the year by Rolling Stone. She even took home the Academy of Country Music Award for Best New Female Artist. At Stagecoach 2022, she got an early time slot on the SiriusXM Spotlight stage—while her 2024 spot is near sunset on the Mane Stage.
“It doesn’t even feel like two years,” Whitters said. “It’s all been such a whirlwind. It seriously feels like it was just yesterday we were out there at Stagecoach. I can’t even remember the stage we played, but I remember me and Lainey Wilson were playing back to back, and it was really hot—but it was an awesome day.”
Whitters’ 2022 Stagecoach appearance also marked the beginning of her then-new brand.
“I think that was the first time I ever wore my Cornstar bloomers onstage and my patchwork skirt set,” she said. “I did a little flash of the Cornstar bloomers to the audience. It was a special moment in history.”
Being proudly from Iowa, Whitters has often been referred to as a “Cornstar”—so she embraced it and created a pair of ’70s-style running shorts with the “Cornstar” emblazoned on the booty.
“It’s sort of a signature outfit, and that started a signature name and brand,” Whitters said. “People had always called me the ‘Corn Queen’ and ‘Cornstar’ and stuff like that. There’s actually a photo on my Instagram where I’m leaned over the fence hugging a fan at Stagecoach—and my stylist had slipped up the skirt so you could just see my Cornstar bloomers and boots, and it was really cute. That shot was just so epic and cool, and I think that was the definitive moment of the ‘Cornstar,’ I guess.”
The ‘Cornstar’ title has nothing to do with Whitters’ lyrics being corny: The songwriter’s success has been due in large part to her ability to craft strong narrative stories within her music. A great example of her ability to blend poetry and storytelling can be found in the song “Heartland,” where she writes: “And it don’t matter how high / You’ve been floatin’ in your blue sky / Nothin’ gets you like goodbye can / When life is out of your hands / Yeah, you gotta let your heart land.”
“There’s a song I have called ‘Janice at Hotel Bar,’ which is a very specific experience and story and moment in time, but I feel like the way that song was crafted, it’s something that could last for a long time,” Whitters said. “With my songwriting, I’m really trying to just write about my experience. I draw a lot of inspiration from my friends and family and their lives and what they’re going through and stuff like that, and I think my goal is definitely to be writing about the human experience and things that we’re all going through. The details may change, but those deeper things—love, loss, things like that—those are always going to be around for all of us.”
Another facet of Whitters’ success is the range of sounds in her work, from modern styles and instruments back to ’90s anthemic country jams. Whitters said she chooses to wear her influences proudly on her sleeve.
“I feel like I grew up on a lot of story songs in the ’90s, so that’s definitely influenced my writing,” Whitters said. “Production-wise, there are a lot of really pure sounds in the ’90s, and I think those records still sound really great today. They’re just kind of classic, and that was something that I wanted to achieve with my music. … I hope that it can transcend, like, a decade or an era of music, and people 30 years from now could be listening to my record.”
Alan Jackson and The Chicks are both obvious influences for Whitters, but the artist is also drawn to some of the best narrative songwriters and hit-making artists of today.
“I’m a huge Phoebe Bridgers fan; I love all of her records,” she said. “I listen to a lot of Billy Strings. I listen to a lot of Khruangbin. I love them. A lot of times, especially when I’m on the road, I’ll pop them on, and it just helps me kind of mellow out. I listen to them a lot when I’m getting ready. It just kind of puts me in a good mood.”
Whitters promised fun surprises during her Stagecoach set.
“I always want to try something a little different, something a little new,” Whitters said. “I’m already plotting my next outfit—like, what’s going to be the outfit at the moment? I always see it as an opportunity to try to have fun with it. (I like to) break up the tour set and try to put in a wild card or try something fun or something different, and just make it its own moment, its own day, its own set.”