Savannah Keyes has done many things in her career as a musician. From making an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the age of 13 to moving to Nashville a year later and competing on Real Country, it seems as though the girl has done it all — until now.
In late 2018, Radio Disney Country revealed Savannah and her BFF (who is also an amazing country singer) Kaile Shorr were tapped to host their own show on the station called Let The Girls Play, which strictly highlights women in country music.
“It’s amazing,” Savannah says when describing the support she’s been getting from Radio Disney Country. “They’ve been so good to me since before I even released music. I was just a girl with a guitar in her bedroom, and they let me do corresponding for them, which turned into hosting a stage, into then having a radio show with my best friend in the entire world.”
We sat down with the budding artist to talk about her new music, radio show, as well as the importance of female representation in the genre on the last day of the 2019 CMA Music Festival in Nashville last month. Take a read at the full convo below and make sure to give Savannah a follow at @SavannahKeyesMusic to learn more.
Savannah Keyes host the Radio Disney Country Stage at Xfinity Fan Fair X on Saturday, June 8 during the 2019 CMA Music Festival in downtown Nashville. (Courtesy of CMA)
CS: Can you talk to us about your new single?
SK: “It’s called ‘Ghost.’ Let me break this down for you — in relationships up until recently I’ve always been the girl that’s like, ‘I’m going to dip out of this as soon as I feel anything stronger than a like-like situation.’ So I was like, ‘I need to write about this’ because I think I’ve always only heard the outsider’s perspective of the guy ghosting the girl, and that happens so often, but have you ever been like, ‘oh my gosh this is starting to get real, I need to dip out fast.’ I think people are relating to it because it’s kind of my first ‘real talk’ song that’s not social commentary. I think people are like, ‘oh yeah I felt that too, I just didn’t know how to put that into words.’ So it’s just been kind of a fun experience to see it do its thing.”
CS: Can we hear a little more about the radio show with Kalie Shorr?
SK: “It’s been super fun. We basically get together once a week and we record 10 or 15 segments, just basically what we would do in our bedrooms catching up on a Friday night talking about the wonderful female artists coming up in country music and all the highlights they’ve had because its something that we look up to and hope to be in that place at some point. We also get to talk about what’s going on in our worlds, too. It’s a very intimate situation when you tune listen; you’re going to feel like you’re just talking and hanging out with us. Our set set up and looks like both of our dream apartments and we will actually have people come in for interviews soon. I just can’t wait for you guys to see all the video content we’re about to put out.”
CS: And this is all happening in Nashville?
SK: “Yes, we’re going to have our own studio in Nashville where people can come. We’re hoping it catches on like wild fire and it makes it a safe place for girls in country music to come and talk about their career and to highlight them and have some fun.”
CS: You guys really advocate for ‘Let the Girls Play’ and Song Suffragettes.
SK: “I’m just lucky. Kalie has been there since the first show. I went as a fan the first time; I was only 16 and had just moved to town. She kind of created this thing and it’s become a monster. It’s so wonderful to watch it grow and I’m just lucky that they asked me to start playing with them years ago. It feels like the perfect time to have a platform like that taken into a radio format, especially considering what’s happening with country radio.”
CS: How important is it? Women don’t get radio play and you girls are the faces that are spearheading the women in country music.
SK: “Thank you so much, that’s a huge compliment. I think it’s really important. When I was a little girl listening to country music, there were so many females on the radio that I could look at them and say, ‘I want to be like Faith Hill or Martina McBride.’ As the years have gone on, we just haven’t had that. I just really hope that Radio Disney Country, Song Suffragettes, and the whole collaboration helps little girls who are also in their bedroom wanting to be singers when they grow up. It gives them an opportunity to turn on their radio and hear that and go, “okay I can do that.”
CS: What’s next thing you really want to tackle?
SK: “There are so many things. I’m about to put out a music video shortly. We don’t have a date yet but I’m really excited. I would love to tour with some killer female artists and grow as a musician, a writer, and an artist. I’m just hoping I can write better songs than I’ve written before.”
