UCN Interview at CRS 2013 – Kaley Caperton: “I truly understand what a second chance means.”

11 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on UCN Interview at CRS 2013 – Kaley Caperton: “I truly understand what a second chance means.”

Texas native Kaley Caperton is definitely not your average young singer-songwriter. The 20-year-old already has quite a story to tell, and is using her experiences, and her writing talent, to help inspire other young people. Her current single, ‘Red, White and Beautiful,’ was inspired by the National Guard Youth Foundation’s ChalleNGe Program Gala in Washington, DC, and half of the sales from this song are going to benefit the Foundation.

At CRS 2013, Kaley talked about writing the song and how it relates to her own story, and her journey so far in the world of songwriting.

UCN: Let’s start with the new song, ‘Red, White and Beautiful,’ which you wrote it with Billie Austin and Dave Robbins.
Kaley Caperton: Yes, it was such a fun day. Any session we have is like half a torture fast, because we make fun of each other all through the whole thing, and the the other half is an inspirational and motivational therapy session. [smiles] The song hold such a special place in all of our hearts. You know, I’ll tell you a little bit more about myself than I’ve told anybody today… I, myself, have a crazy story. I was in high school and I didn’t fall in love, I fell in stupid. I moved out of my parents’ house and moved in with my boyfriend at the time, you know, for six weeks. But my family is so close, and I thought ‘I can’t do this I have to move back.’ And my mom said “here is the deal if you’re going to live at home you have to graduate from high school, and that’s the rule.” So I started getting back in school and about a week later I’m sitting at dinner with my mom and she’s like ‘I’m glad you’re back home, glad you’re safe, there could’ve been other consequences.’ Because you can’t pick your consequences, nobody ever tells you that, you can do something bad, but you don’t get the pick what’s going to happen. So we’re sitting there and my mom looked at me and says “you know, at least you’re not pregnant.” And I burst into tears because I was like ‘you know mom, I don’t know if I am or not.’ And immediately she’s like, ‘well we’re going to find out!’ [smiles]

UCN: So, here’s a stick, and there’s a bathroom? [smiles] KC: Yes! [laughs] That’s exactly what happened! It came out positive, so we all boo-hoo’ed for about two hours. And it’s not that it’s a sad thing, but at that moment you realize that what was high school is suddenly, ‘I’ve got to grow up and figure out my life. Right now.’ I could not be where I am right now without my parents, they’re incredible people. So I truly understand what a second chance is to someone. You know, I got to go home. I started planning a wedding and all that stuff, but of course none of that worked out. I’m a single mom now. But you know, I’m proud to say that. A lot of people look down on that, they don’t understand. I have learned that what people don’t understand, they immediately look down on. But as soon as I tell them my story, they’re like, ‘oh okay, now I get it.’ I have a 19-month old son now, and he is awesome! He’s the coolest thing in the world! So, this song, it means a lot to us. Billy and Dave have been with me since I was about 13 and so they’ve written with me all through this time. They were in my life for all the things that I’ve gone through, so they know how important this is to me. My parents were my second chance, I didn’t actually go through the Challenge program myself. But seeing the kids, and seeing them go through the program and coming out a totally different person, with confidence in themselves, and just the drive where you see then say ‘you know what, my dreams and the things that I want to, it’s not out of reach, I can really do this.’ That’s what this program gives to these kids. That’s what my parents gave to me, and not everybody has a family like mine, so I want these kids to have that family. After we wrote the song, we presented it to the Youth Foundation and they loved it. I was so excited because I thought, you know, this is what I can do for you guys. We gave it to them and told them that we would do whatever we needed to to help them raise awareness. The program is in about 27 states now, and it’s such a great thing. Over 100,000 kids have graduated now and have gotten their GED and their high school diploma. What’s cool about the program is that when it’s done, they mentor these kids and they help them. I had that, and I want to these gives the same thing. It’s cool that I have something in my career that I can use to help them. It’s not just a self-focused career, I can help people. Just two days ago the youth foundation had the 20th anniversary Gala, which was actually also my 20th birthday.

UCN: How fun!
KC: Yes, and then Dale Earnhardt Jr introduced me on my 20th birthday…

UCN: That must have been a little surreal.
KC: Yeah, I had a blast getting to know these people, and getting to work with this foundation is just incredible.

UCN: Have you been able to spend time with the kids in the program?
KC: Yes, absolutely. These kids are so cool! I met kids like me who didn’t really care, who had everything handed to them, and didn’t appreciate it. And I’ve met kids where there was abuse in the family, or alcohol problems, or drug problems. But every kid that comes out of the program is changed. I’ve never met a kid who went to the program and was just kind of like, ‘you know, it didn’t really do anything for me.’

UCN: I understand second chances too. People don’t expect it of me but I left high school too.
KC: Oh really?

UCN: Yes, when I was 17. I was just over it.
KC: Oh I know it! [smiles]

UCN: A lot of people think that kids who leave high school are just lazy, but with me that wasn’t like that. The way we were taught, it’s just not how my brain learns and it was incredibly frustrating being stuck in the system.
KC: Yes, I understand. School was so boring to me, and I was sitting there thinking I would rather be on a stage somewhere.

UCN: For me, I was more about working backstage somewhere, because what I wanted to do. But where I grew up there is a program called second chance education. You get your high school diploma through independent study and then take your exams in front of an exam committee. It was probably a harder road but it’s how I learn and I went on to do really well at University and got a Masters degree. Leaving high school is not always about being lazy, and I think programs like this will help people understand that when they see how great these kids are.
KC: Yes, I think for these kids, to know that there is an option outside of being forced to graduate high school, it makes it even better. There is a program you can go to that will let you be yourself. And it’s great!

UCN: Back to the music. Aside from Billy and David who else do you write with?
KC: I also write with Brice Long, who is the coolest dude ever. He’s written stuff with Gary Allan, Casey James, Randy Houser. He wrote ‘Today’ and ‘Nothing on but the Radio’ for Gary Allan. He’s a great guy, he’s really funny and very focused. He grew up in a rodeo and he still team ropes. And my family, we all do that. So it’s a blast working with him. There’s also Rodney Clawson…

UCN: You wrote with Rodney? He is all kinds of great.
KC: Oh yeah, he’s a really great guy. I also wrote with Jennifer Wayne, who is John Wayne’s granddaughter. She’s like my big sister so it’s really fun. When I come to Nashville, I stay with her sometimes. I don’t have a big sister, and thank God that I don’t, because we would’ve never gotten along. [laughs]

UCN: You’ve been writing here for how long now?
KC: For about seven years now, jeez, I’m getting old

UCN: Don’t you dare! What does that make us then? [smiles] KC: I know! [laughs] I started writing when I was 13.

UCN: What was your first impression of writing here?
KC: The first song I wrote was with Billy Austin, this was before he wrote ‘Leave the Pieces.’ We sat down and he said, “Kaley, let’s write what we know.” So I’m 13 years old and I’m going, ‘I don’t know very much dude.’ [smiles] So we literally wrote a song called ‘That’s What I Know.’ It was a very simple thing. But from then on I was like, ‘you know, I really like doing this.’ I think the next song we wrote was called ‘Unloved.’ That was actually on hold with Carrie Underwood for a while and then with Wynonna Judd. And I was 14 years old at the time! I didn’t really know what’s going on. I guess I didn’t even really know understand the song we wrote. [smiles] I’m like, ‘what are you talking about, “unloved,” I’m 14, my mom loves me, I don’t know what you guys are talking about.’ [laughs] And this is a really in-depth song, so it was kind of hilarious. But from then on I loved performing, I really have a blast doing that. I grew up doing gymnastics and dance, so I’m crazy on stage.

UCN: How did you get into writing originally?
KC: I had been singing for a couple of years. The first time I sang was in church, when I was five, I was surprising my mom singing ‘Silent Night.’ After that I said “I want to be on a stage,” so by the time I was 10, I was singing 75 times a year in churches, mostly on Sunday mornings. So after a couple of years my dad was like ‘okay, can we do something else this weekend besides haul you to a different church every week?’ [laughs] My parents would always ask ‘Are you sure this is what you want to do?’ They were never pushy. They always taught us that anything you want to do, if you want to work hard enough, we’ll be right there behind you. It was always us pushing for what we wanted to do instead of her parents telling us ‘you need to do this.’ I always like being on stage and making people laugh and smile. It’s a good thing being able to bring joy to people’s lives. The writing kind of flowed from that, and I just went with it all. Not everybody is a natural writer, but it’s something you definitely have to work at.

UCN: Where do you pick up ideas?
KC: They always come cool times. I can drive past the stop sign and think, ‘oh, I just came up with something cool because of that sign.’ And in conversations, I love talking to people. But then you have to rudely pull out your phone and type your ideas down. [smiles]

UCN: How did you develop the writing, because I agree, you have to have the talent initially but then you have to develop that into a craft.
KC: Co-writing! It is impossible for me to write a song by myself. That’s not happened yet. I think I’m too hard on myself so I’ll start, and get a verse and a chorus, but I can never get more than that. I just get stumped. So I record what I have, and then when I get back to Nashville from Texas, I’ll bring it in. I walk into appointments saying ‘I have half of this done, if you hate it, we’ll forget it, if you love it, we can finish it.’ Unless you have a writer like Brice Long who can just constantly come up with something on the fly. That’s always fun. I try as much as I can to take a few minutes every day to review and go what happened today that I can take something from. And I can get a cool line or maybe a chorus. That’s something I try to do, take 5 minutes every day.

UCN: Have you written with people who were in the Texas scene?
KC: No, you know, not really.

UCN: Because there is some serious writing talent down there.
KC: I know! I spent about half of my week in Waco and half outside of Austin, and I’ve been trying to figure out people to write with in Texas, but I haven’t done that yet. There is a very big difference with Texas country and Nashville country.

UCN: Yes, that’s part of the reason why I am wondering about this because your stuff really belongs here.
KC: Yeah, definitely.

UCN: But then you have Pat Green and Jack Ingram, and they can do both.
KC: Exactly. It is a little frustrating because I haven’t really found anybody in Texas that I can write with, who is okay with not strictly writing Texas country. I’m still working on that. But it’s funny in Texas sometimes you get these guys who go ‘Hey, I just wrote this on a bar napkin, I’m gonna play it tonight!’ And then you get Nashville writers where occasionally that happens, but usually we have to sit in a room for half a day with no coffee and no food.

UCN: No coffee?! That’s not acceptable! [laughs] KC: I swear that’s what it’s like with Billy and Dave. When Dave writes, he’ll bring his own snacks. He brings this bag and he’s constantly pulling stuff out like trail mix, and apples, and bottled water. [laughs] It’s just such a fun process, I really do love the writing. I work with great people. And sometimes it’s like high school again, with the little cliques.

UCN: I think that develops naturally, you’re going to gravitate toward the people you always have good writes with.
KC: My suggestion for any writer who is starting, I would say write, write, write. Just keep writing. Whether you like it or not, it doesn’t matter, it’s one more song.

UCN: And even if you don’t like it somebody else could love it.
KC: Exactly! It may not be home to you, but it may be home to somebody else. Definitely always write with everyone. As frustrating as it can be sometimes, it is so rewarding.

UCN: One of my friends told me he has to write every day, literally seven days a week. He says that as soon as he lets go of it and doesn’t write for two or three days because he thinks is going to take a vacation, when he then tries to get back to it it’s so much harder.
KC: It’s like when you workout, if you take a break for a week, you then have to figure out how to do this again. It really is a full-time thing. If you have another job and then want to be a songwriter, you’re not a songwriter. It’s a full-time job, seven days a week, and you really have to give it it’s time. You have to help songs grow and develop, and not just be like, ‘oh well, that line is good enough.’ You never want to finish something and just say it’s good enough, you want to give it its time and give it its effort to make the song what it needs to be. You want it to be like ‘I want to perform this, I want people to hear this.’

UCN: Somebody said to me last week that whatever gets written for him to cut himself, it has to be a song that he would be okay with singing the rest of his life.
KC: Exactly!

UCN: Because you never know what’s gonna be the hit.
KC: My mom always said that to me. She said “don’t put anything on that album that you wouldn’t be okay with singing for the next 20 years.” It’s really a good point.

UCN: I know an artist here in town who was pitched song a few years ago and he hated it, and he didn’t want to cut it. But his producer was like ‘well, that’s too bad dude,’ so he cut it and it became his very first number one song. So now, he’s gonna be singing that song for the rest of his life.
KC: Well exactly, you just can’t risk it.

UCN: This is so interesting. It was so great to meet you!
KC: Yes, you too. Thank you so much!

 

To find out more about Kaley Caperton, please visit www.kaleycaperton.com

 

Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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