Kylie Frey has used both her passions for being both a singer and a Rodeo Queen to shape her into the woman she is today.
The 25-year-old Opelousas, Louisiana native first made waves for becoming a regular on the Texas rodeo circuit, eventually earning the crown of Louisiana High School Rodeo Queen nearly a decade ago. Using guitar playing and songwriting as her mechanism to unwind after a competition, Frey found herself even singing the national anthem before competing, and has put her experiences to a melody with the release of her new single “Spur of the Moment.”
“I grew up rodeoing and roped calves and was rodeo queen, so that rodeo side of me always comes out in my songwriting,” Frey tells CS Country. “When I heard the phrase ‘spur of the moment,’ it immediately sparked something in my mind like, ‘wow that term could be used in a song and have a double meaning,’ and I brought it to my co-writer and we wrote it very quickly — in like 45 minutes — and it sort of just fell out of the sky.”
Just last week, it was revealed that “Spur of the Moment” officially topped the Texas Regional Radio Report! “Spur” marks her fourth #1 hit on the Texas Regional Radio Report and now holds the record as the fastest-rising #1 by a female in chart history.
“I’m thrilled, so happy that my friend, and fellow songwriter Bri Bagwell and I are the first back to back female #1’s in the history of the chart,” she said in a statement. “I’m pretty pumped about it!”
Rachel Mason
Also known for catching the attention of Shania Twain on USA Network’s Real Country, Frey is hard at work crafting new music with an EP dropping later this fall. Celeb Secrets Country caught up with Kylie to talk about her best “spur of the moment” decisions and more.
Take a read at the full Q&A below and make sure to connect with Kylie by following her on Instagram at @kyliefrenchfrey.
Celeb Secrets Country: Can you talk about the the inspiration behind your single “Spur of the Moment?” The music video was so cute!
Kylie Frey: “Yes! So I grew up rodeoing and roped calves and was rodeo queen so that rodeo side of me always comes out in my song writing. So when I heard the phrase ‘spur of the moment’ it immediately sparked something in my mind like, ‘wow that term could be used in a song and have a double meaning,’ and so I brought it to my co-writer and we wrote it very quickly — in like 45 minutes — and it sort of just fell out of the sky.”
CSC: So it’s a spur of the moment song that lives up to its name?
KF: “I’ll tell you what, this song has totally lived up to its title. The release was such a spur of the moment thing. It’s been sitting in my inbox for a year and we’ve been in quarantine and I had nothing better to do so I decided to put it out and it’s been the best decision. The video was also thrown together last minute. It has totally lived up to its name.”
CSC: The music premiered on CMT recently. What was the most memorable part of the shoot?
KF: “It was just so much fun getting to film it. Shooting music videos is either like, I wouldn’t say a painful experience, but we’re songwriters and artists, we’re not actresses so it can be kind of a tough thing when it’s not right. But the team was so great and we had so much fun doing it and I got to be back on the horse so I was just in my natural element. Probably being on the back of the horse was the best thing about it for me.”
CSC: What do you hope fans take away from both the song and the video?
KF: “I wanted to tell the story about how you’re always hearing about the cowboy riding away and all of that which is great, but very rarely do you ever get to hear the woman that gets left behind. You don’t get to hear her perspective so I just wanted to give that perspective. That frustration of being left behind is a real thing and it’s okay to feel that and it’s okay to wait for your cowboy to come home or it’s okay to pack your bags and head out.”
CSC: You were on USA Network’s ‘Real Country’ and hand picked by Shania Twain! What was the experience like being on a TV show for music?
KF: “It was one of the best experiences for me. Of course it was reality TV and that was a taste of something I have never been exposed to before and just the experience that came along with it. I wish that show would have kept going because it was so unique in the way that it was specific to country music and it was less of a competition. A lot of us that came off of the show all have the same sort of outlook about it being less of a competition and more of a just a stage to showcase what we all did and do. So it was really cool. We all got to spend a lot of time together and got to know each other and pick each others brains like, ‘hey you’re doing this and this is working’ and vice-versa. It was a lot of camaraderie and a lot of lessons I learned about being on camera and being on stage. Getting to be in front of my idol (Shania Twain) was definitely a confidence boost, that didn’t hurt at all. So it was a great experience.”
CSC: At 14 years old, you became a Rodeo Queen and appeared in Vogue Magazine, and at 15 years old, you were state champ at goat tying at the Louisiana State Rodeo. How did you get into rodeo and how old were you when you first started?
KF: “I was born into a rodeo family so I always tell people country music was never really a choice, it’s just who I am. My grandpa is in the hall of fame for rodeo and my dad was a saddle bronc rider and so it’s just sort of in my blood. Of course my sister and I chose to do it, but it kind of chose us as well.”
CSC: What it’s like being so involved in rodeo while also trying to pursue a music career?
KF: “Trying to be a country music artist is a full time job so I don’t get to do it as much these days as I would like to. I’ll go teach goat tying clinics and help out and give back where I can, and I’ll go rope some calves in the practice pin, so hopefully when I reach certain level I can get back to actually competing again. They don’t let horses into apartment complexes apparently.”
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CSC: Has the pandemic and the down time with quarantine given you more time to pursue rodeo or are you still pretty busy with music?
KF: “I got to come home for a couple months back in Louisiana and I got to rope calves and just hang out on the farm that I grew up on and really just get back to me and why I fell in love with music in the first place, and my country roots so it was really nice. There’s definitely been some positives for me throughout this whole thing.”
CSC: Do you have any exciting things coming up like any new songs or an EP?
KF: “I’ll have an EP coming out in the fall so sometime around mid-late September or October. I’ll also have songs coming out. I don’t have official release dates yet but that is our goal right now. It’s all sort of getting its finishing touches.”
CSC: Is there a special song on the EP that’s the most personal to you?
KF: :I have a song called ‘Rodeo Queen’ on the album. It was really strange going from rodeo every weekend and it being my whole world to my heart just switching up on me after high and just going to full time musician. So I wrote a song and the hook is, ‘I’m a Rodeo Queen without a crown cause once a Rodeo Queen, always a Rodeo Queen’ and so it’s just a really special song to me. The recording came out way better than I could have ever imagined and I’m just really excited for that one to come out into the world.”
CSC: Since we’re Celeb Secrets, can you tell us an interesting fact or behind the scenes secret that fans wouldn’t know about you just by listening to your music?
KF: “My favorite talent of mine is that I can stick a skittle in my dimple. So that’s fun.”
