It seemed like a dream too good to be true for Caylee Hammack, to actually have country music superstar Reba McEntire sing with her on her freshman If It Wasn’t For You album, but that’s exactly what happened. After listening to Caylee’s song, “Redhead,” Reba gladly agreed to sing on the song, especially after hearing how well the rising star could sing.
“Our managers got together,” Reba recalled to Circle All Access. “Caylee’s manager asked my manager, ‘Would Reba sing with Caylee?’ I said, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ She’s a blast to sing with. She’s so talented and I love the song. I’m just thrilled to death that she asked me to.”
If It Wasn’t For You, which includes her current Top 40 single, “Family Tree,” came out on Friday, August 14. It’s hard for Caylee to believe that not only did her record actually get released, but that one of her biggest musical heroes is included on the project.
“This album is about years of dreams and hard work and wishful thinking,” Caylee noted. “Getting Reba to sing on ‘Redhead’ is just a manifested wish of mine that my team seemed to pull off. I told my manager that one of my biggest dreams is to have Reba someday remix ‘Redhead,’ because I never imagined that she would just, out of the gate, be willing to sing on this debut album.”
Now that “Redhead” is available for the world to hear, having the Country Music Hall of Fame member singing with her has taught the 26-year-old an important lesson.
“Even if you think it’s impossible, you better ask if Reba wants to sing on your record before you count it out,” she said with a smile.
“Redhead” is just one of 13 songs on Caylee’s debut project that is both personal and honest.
“I wanted every single song to have a direct story, a true story behind it, that happened to me,” Caylee told PopCulture.com. “I wanted a plethora of feelings and emotions to be evoked when people listen to this. I wanted to be able to give them like a safe place sonically that they can just dance or laugh or cry or scream about some boy that did them wrong, whatever it is that they needed to feel, I want people to feel it.”
“I think that’s so important in this day and age where so much bad is happening around us that we disassociate ourselves and we pull ourselves back and we kind of put this wall between us and the world,” she continued. “I want, in my music, to give them a space where there’s no walls. They just listen like they can listen by themselves in the kitchen and dance to it. I want that kind of sound. I wanted to give them enough songs so that they could do that.”
If It Wasn’t For You is available for purchase at CayleeHammack.com.
