HunterGirl has a bold and personal new song, out now. The Season 20 runner-up of American Idol just released “Dirt,” a song she wrote with Warren Garrett that celebrates her rural upbringing in Winchester, Tennessee.

“’Dirt’ is an homage to where I grew up,” HunterGirl tells Everything Nash. “The first verse, ‘Gas station biscuit, thermos of Swiss Miss,’ when I was a kid, and my dad took me hunting, he’d make hot chocolate for me and coffee for him. We’d stop at a gas station called L&L’s, and get a biscuit every morning. I was just talking about that, and that’s how the song began. It wasn’t sitting down to write, it just kind of happened.

“Those are my favorite songs,” she adds. “It speaks to all the kids who grew up country like I did, running through the woods with my cousins after school when my Nana and Pa would pick me up. Those little things you don’t know you’ll remember forever.”

HunterGirl Reveals Plans For More Music

HunterGirl released her debut EP, Tennessee Girl, in 2023. She is eager to share more music with her fans, with “Dirt” the exciting introduction.

“There’s a lot of new music on the horizon,” the singer hints. “This year,  I wanted to lean in and figure out what I wanted to sound like. I started working with Trent Willmon as my producer. I love him. He’s the best. I’ve never had a studio experience like that. Everything I said, he would listen. We’d change things, put things back. He really built the songs with me and took the time to listen. I appreciated that.

“The band was awesome,” she continues. “It felt like they’d played together their whole lives. Working with Trent is one of the most special parts of this year for me. I’ve looked up to him. I can’t believe he’s producing me. The new music coming after ‘Dirt’ feels like the most me I’ve been in a long time.”

HunterGirl Looks Ahead After ‘American Idol’

Few artists get the experience that HunterGirl did, of being able to perform on national TV. Not only did HunterGirl make it to the finale on American Idol, but she was a favorite among the judges, with Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Katy Perry giving her one of three Platinum tickets.

“It was awesome,” she recalls. “I remember watching the show growing up. My Nana and Pa would come over and we’d make a big deal out of it. Being on the show was incredible. Playing with the band, being in L.A. for the first time. I’d never really been to California. The nonstop of it all was so fun. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have a trailer. Somebody’s doing my makeup for the first time, curling my hair.’ I didn’t even look like myself. I loved it.”

HunterGirl loved being on the reality TV talent show, but especially the chance to perform her own songs.

“Getting to sing my original songs on the show was special,” HunterGirl recalls. “I sang two originals, and hearing the response… even now at shows, people say, ‘When I heard this on Idol, I immediately added it to my playlist and knew I had to see it live.’ Idol gave me the platform to be myself and sing my own music. They really encouraged that.”

Find “Dirt” and all of HunterGirl’s music at HunterGirlMusic.com.

Photo Credit: Katherine Mills