(photo credit: Jessie Addleman)
Over the past three years, singer/songwriter Lauren Watkins has emerged as a talented, young country artist who seems ready to reach a higher level of success. She has a strong, expressive voice, and she writes appealing, melodic songs which have personal and thoughtful lyrics. Notably, Watkins has collaborated with many of the top songwriters in Nashville, and she has toured steadily, opening shows for Luke Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and other stars.
This week, Watkins will be releasing her third album, If I’m Being Honest, which is on Big Loud Records/Songs & Daughters. Songs & Daughters is the label owned by hit songwriter & music exec Nicolle Galyon, who has co-written big hits for Morgan Wallen, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney.
If I’m Being Honest is an excellent step forward for Watkins, and the album displays a heightened level of creativity and confidence. She shows a willingness to not only write about her own life, but to explore and convey the thoughts and experiences of her friends and family, and the people she meets. The album contains several highlights, including the colorful song “Heartbreakaholic,” which Watkins wrote with Galyon, hit songwriter Rodney Clawson (who is Galyon’s husband) and her husband Will Bundy (who is a hit songwriter & producer).
Other key songs on If I’m Being Honest are “Daydreams,” a heartfelt, acoustic song which Watkins wrote by herself, plus “Better Love Next Time, “Sunshine and Daisies” and “Curtains.”
Watkins grew up in the Nashville area, and she attended the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) before focusing on her music career. Early on, she was discovered on Instagram by Rodney Clawson, who liked her singing & songs, and he told his wife (Nicolle Galyon) about her. Soon after, Galyon reached out to Watkins, and they started to connect and established a working and creative relationship. Eventually, Watkins signed a music publishing deal with Big Loud, and she later signed as an artist to Big Loud Records/Songs & Daughters.
In 2023, Watkins released her first two EPs, and then in 2024 she released her debut album, interestingly titled The Heartbroken Record. Then in 2025, she released her second album, In a Perfect World.
In addition to writing & recording her albums, Watkins has been busy performing her live shows. In recent months, she has been the opening act for country star Luke Bryam, and this fall she will be playing her own shows as the headliner.
Here’s the lyric video of Lauren Watkins’ song,
“Heartbreakaholic.”
We are pleased to do this new Q&A interview with Lauren Watkins. She tells how she got started in the music business, and she discusses the making of her new album, If I’m Being Honest.
DK: I read that you grew up in Nashville, and you attended college at Ole Miss. When did you decide that you wanted to focus on being an artist and write songs?
Lauren Watkins: I grew up doing music and playing shows in Nashville. It was a huge part of my childhood. I have an older sister who is also in music, and we grew up singing and playing together. And my parents went to Ole Miss, so I grew up going down there, and I was dying to get there for college. It was the biggest dream I had at the time, to go to school at Ole Miss.
So I left Nashville and didn’t look back. I was like…I am so excited to be here. And I sort of thought I was leaving music behind. I don’t know why I thought you had to pick one or the other, but I quickly realized that it was perfectly reasonable for me to go to college and then come back and do music. So about halfway through my time at Ole Miss, I decided…You know what? I really miss doing music. I’m gonna pursue it as a career. And so I started writing songs when I was there and playing shows again. Then as soon as I graduated, I moved right back to Nashville and hit the ground running.
DK: In 2023 you released two EPs, and then a year later, you released your first album, The Heartbroken Record. Can you talk about these early records? And when did you sign with Big Loud?
Watkins: I first signed a publishing deal with Big Loud around 2022. Then shortly after I was offered a record deal. So it all happened in the same year. And I had been already writing for those first projects, but I didn’t know it yet. I was writing as much as I could, because I loved it and wanted to get as much practice as I could, and learn the ropes and learn how to write and learn to get better. I started collecting songs over time, and I would keep going back to certain ones, which ended up being the songs on those EPs and my first album. They all sort of found their way to each other, and I’m thankful for the team at Big Loud because they helped me put that all together, and figure out who I was at the time. I mean, my favorite thing about creating those projects was they just loved who I was, and they wanted to help me be that person. They weren’t trying to push me towards anything else. They were like, “Let’s gather up all of this stuff that she is, and put it into a record.” And so they helped me figure out how to do that, and I think it’s prepared me for the future, and how I create and put albums together.
Here’s the lyric video of Lauren Watkins’ song,
“Daydreams.”
DK: You’ve written several songs with hit songwriter Nicolle Galyon, and you’ve signed with her record label, Songs & Daughters (through Big Loud). How did you first connect with Nicole, and how has she helped you with your career?
Watkins: Nicolle is a huge part of my story, and she was at the very beginning of it professionally. When I was at Ole Miss, I would post videos on Instagram of me singing cover songs in my bedroom. And back then, you wouldn’t go viral…TikTok wasn’t a thing yet. The only people that would see it were my followers, and somehow her husband, (hit songwriter) Rodney Clawson, came across one of my videos. I think we have some mutual friends, and he showed it to Nicolle, and he was like, “Hey, do you know about this girl? Snce you’re trying to sign people, you should take a look at her.”
So Nicolle sent me a message over Instagram, and that’s how we first connected, and then we met in person. And right off the bat, she was a mentor and kind of a protector to me. She introduced me to a lot of people while also asserting that, “Hey, I care a lot about this girl, and I’m not gonna let anyone take advantage of her.” And she showed me a lot of the ropes in my early days on Music Row, and I’m so thankful for that, and not to mention that we’ve written many songs together. I’ve learned so much about writing from her. And I take so much influence from her, and how she does things and how she runs her business.
DK: Your second album, In a Perfect World (released in 2025), had key songs like “I’ll Get Through It,” “Pretty Please,” and “Marlboro Man.” Can you talk about your second album?
Watkins: That album was so much fun to make, and it was like coming from a bit of a different place than…This is my first album. I’ve never done this before. I felt like…Okay, I’ve done this once. Now I’m gonna take what I’ve learned and be a bit more progressive and creative with my writing. And I like to think of it as, it’s a deeper look into myself and who I am, a step deeper than the first album. My life changed a lot over a short amount of time. And I had so much fun, learning as I lived and writing about it all, and making new friends and meeting new people. So it was a very interesting and exciting period. I was also grappling with balancing tour life and home life, because I was on the road a lot, and at the same time I was building a house and a life with my now husband. So it was a lot of adjusting and figuring out balance, and I tried to include as much of that as I could in that record.
Here’s the video of Lauren Watkins’ song, “Better
Love Next Time.”
DK: You’re about to release your third album, If I’m Being Honest. Can you talk about making your new album?
Watkins: I feel like this album is another step deeper into who I am as an artist and the music that I love and songwriting that I love. And without trying to overthink the branding or the theme of this album, the one thing I realized was, honesty is the biggest through line. Throughout each song it’s extremely honest and for better or worse, I was very blunt about either myself or my surroundings. And one thing that I tried to challenge myself with as a songwriter, was to not just write my own story, but to write about things that I saw around me and be a better listener too. Like my friends and my sisters and the people in my life, and use that as songwriting ammo. ‘Cause I can write about myself forever, but I also wanted to look outside of me a little bit. So I think I did that with this record. But more than anything, I am putting it all out there. It’s very genuine and honest.
DK: On your new album, I like your song “Heartbreakaholic,” which has a unique title and it’s fun to listen to. What inspired you to write this song?
Watkins: That was one I wrote with Nicolle (Galyon). And funny enough, we wrote it with both of our husbands. On that song it’s me, Nicolle, her husband Rodney Clawson, and my husband, (hit songwriter) Will Bundy. And we say whenever the four of us write together, it’s like couples therapy. Obviously they are a million steps ahead of us (in their writing careers), but we have shared experiences being couples and in the music business. So we wrote that on a writing retreat with them. Rodney came in with that song title and we immediately latched onto it and thought it’d be fun to write. And we went with the angle of heartbreak being an addiction, and I think I’m someone who really resonates with that.
DK: I also like your new song “Daydreams,” which is more acoustic and sounds heartfelt and personal. And I read that you wrote that by yourself. Can you talk about writing that one?
Watkins: Yes I did write it by myself. I don’t know if you remember, but Nashville had a big ice storm at the beginning of this year. And we were all literally trapped in our houses for a week. So basically I had a week of boredom to do nothing, and towards the end of the week I was like…I’m gonna try to write a song. And I had this idea of daydreams, and I had the last couple lines of the chorus. I got the idea from an honest experience of when I was first starting out, my daydreams looked like being on the road and playing these crazy shows and partying and all the glamor that comes with the rock star lifestyle. And now I’ve gotten to live so much of that, and I’m so grateful for it. But naturally when you’re living one life, your daydreams start becoming about something else. So I find myself, while I’m on the road living this crazy life, I daydream about sitting on my back porch with my husband (laughs). So I think it’s this weird push and pull, and a lot of women relate to that. Like you’ve chase this fast-paced lifestyle, and then once you get a taste of things being slower, that you’re like…Wait, why am I yearning for this? So I had been hearing many conversations of other friends feeling the same way, and so I almost felt like it was my responsibility to put words to that and give for myself, but also to give someone else, like almost a reason to say…”Hey, it’s okay to feel this way. You have permission to be confused about what you want, or want something that maybe you didn’t think you originally wanted.” So I’m really proud of that song.
Here’s the lyric video of Lauren Watkins’ song,
“Ceonvenient.”
DK: On your new album, besides the two songs we’ve discussed, what are your other favorites on your new record?
Watkins: I’m excited about every song, so it’s hard to even pick just one. But I particularly like “Sunshine and Daisies,” and then a song called “Curtains,” which is the last one on the record. I’m excited for people to hear these songs.
DK: I want to ask you about your live shows. I read that you’ll be doing headline shows this fall, and you’ve also been opening shows for Luke Bryan. Can you talk about your headline shows, and going on the road with Luke?
Watkins: We’ve been on the road with Luke pretty much all summer, and we’ve got one show left. I’m so grateful for every show we’ve gotten to play with him. And it’s funny though—it’s like building a show for that crowd and playing for 25 minutes, which is very different than building a show for my headline shows, which we’ll be playing about 80 minutes. Touring in general has taught me so much about so many different things, such as learning about different crowds and what different crowds are going to want from you. So I’m really excited to bring that to my headline shows. I feel like it’s going to be a place where I can just be myself, and I don’t necessarily have to fit into any other artist’s world. I can just create my own world, and that’s probably what I’m most looking forward to.
