Christie Huff

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christie Huff.
Christie, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.

I am originally from Mesa, Arizona and grew up loving music and singing. Growing up, in school I struggled because I have dyslexia. The one thing that really helped me overcome my learning disability was music. I found a true passion for singing and it became my outlet and the one thing I was talented in. It really helped me with my self-esteem and helped me gain confidence, even in my struggles. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I started writing songs and gained a new passion. I would come home from school and write a song, sometimes even 2 songs a day. That became a whole other way I could let out my emotions. It was after gaining a passion for songwriting that I decided to not attend college and pursue my dream in music.
Just 2 months after graduating high school I attended The Kauai Songwriting Festival and met my producer, Jeff Dayton. He is from Nashville and I ended up recording my first 2 albums with him in The Music City. I moved to LA shortly after recording my 2nd album and that is where I truly began to grow as an artist. I began playing as many shows acoustically as I could making the relationships with different songwriters, bookers, and producers. I got my band together about a year and a half after moving to LA and began performing around town and went on my first tour around the southwest.
Flash forward to this year, I have been in LA coming up on my 4th year and because I made that move this has been the most rewarding year in my career yet. I have released 3 singles this year, one of them produced by Avi Kaplan formerly of the Pentatonix, I got to play at SXSW for my 2nd year in a row, play at Coastal Country Jam opening up for Toby Keith, won 6th place in the Pop Star Magazine Rising Stars Competition and was featured in Pop Star magazine, and am now about to embark on my 4th month long tour, but this time to play at CountryFest in Wisconsin to open up for Jason Aldean.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?

I write songs so that people who are going through something similar can relate and maybe be comforted. In my songs, I take inspiration from real life experiences. In real life, there is happiness, heartbreak, and adversity. I just try to be as honest as I can be in my songs, most times I write songs as an outlet for me so the more honest about a situation I am the easier it is for me to let it out. They say write what you know, and I truly believe that if you write from real life experiences that’s when the most emotional and raw songs come to life. I also love to tell stories in my songs. I am a dreamer and a hopeless romantic so I think that definitely comes across in my songwriting.
Being a dreamer, creating is the best way for the visions in your mind to come to life for me as an artist songwriting has become something I need to do to let out emotion. Artists are already very emotional people and I think that’s why we turn to our art to express ourselves and let that emotion burst. I hope people come away with feeling something from my songs, whether that be happiness or chills from the story. I want to make my listeners feel something and escape from their troubles when they listen to my songs.

Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?

Yes, there are definitely financial challenges, but most of us don’t pursue art for the money we do it because we love it so much we can’t do it. With that being said, I truly believe and have found in my career that the longer I stick with it the more opportunities come up where I make money doing music and don’t have to get a day job. It definitely takes a long time to find those opportunities, but my advice would be to endure because those opportunities will come.
It takes a lot of thinking outside the box at times and constantly finding different ways to earn money doing your art. But that is what’s exciting, as a musician you can earn money by playing shows, writing songs, film and tv, YouTube, teaching lessons. There are lots of ways to earn money pursuing your art, it just takes time to build a brand. It’s a hustle!

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?

You can listen to my music on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, basically anywhere you can stream music! I am also on Twitter, Integral, and Facebook as Christie Huff Music. You can also check out my YouTube channel for my music videos and my weekly series “Christie’s Couch Sessions”. Each week I meet up with an LA or Nashville artist to collaborate on a cover or original song. Definitely, subscribe to my channel if you’re a fan! -

Christie Huff is currently based in LA, but makes regular trips out to Nashville to co-write. Huff performs locally in L.A., and she will be opening for Jason Aldean this June at Country Fest. She’s a country artist with a hint of pop who recently released her single "Dream Catcher," along with a music video.

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

This song starts off with nothing more than a simple guitar progression, but it builds and builds with Huff’s powerhouse of a voice. The chorus hits and is so satisfying. To me, it has a feel close to Carrie Underwood’s "Blown Away." I had the opportunity to speak with Huff about the new single and the project as a whole.

Continue reading to learn more about Christie, read an interview where we talk favorite artists, what it was like to work with Avi Kaplan (formerly from Pentatonix) and Kristie's upcoming EP. You can also watch the music video for "Dream Catcher" below!
Q: Your single, "Dream Catcher," was awesome! I definitely could hear some similarities with Carrie Underwood in your voice and sound. Who are your biggest inspirations?

A: Thank you! My biggest musical inspirations vary. But definitely Carrie Underwood, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry, and Adele. I love them all for different reasons, but I really admire Ed Sheeran 'cause he writes all his own songs.

Q: When did you write your first song and what was it called?

A: I wrote my first song in junior high when I was 13 before I knew how to play any instrument and used beats from GarageBand. It was called "Crawling Back." I wrote my first song on guitar when I was 17, and it is called "Soldier Song."

Q: What do you want listeners to know about the single? i.e. the story, what the recording process was like, etc.

A: This single is really dear to my heart. From the recording process to the theme of the song, it is all very special to me. I got to record this song with my amazing producer, Avi Kaplan from Pentatonix. That was a great experience working with somebody who I am a fan of and look up to.

Avi respected my creative opinion and that doesn’t always happen while recording so that was a really great experience to have my goal for the song met. The main theme of the song is not knowing what you have until it’s gone. In love, often times we find ourselves regretting what we didn’t do, and the song is about that idea that there is never turning back.

Q: If you had to pick just one line from the song to frame, which would it be and why?

A: If I could frame one line from the song it would be from the bridge, “You didn’t know that what you had was all you wanted.” I think this is a good reminder in love and in everyday life to enjoy the moment and the things you do have because you never know when it will be gone. Don't take things for granted!

Q: Will this single be part of a larger project, such as an EP or album, and if so, how does this track set the tone for the rest of the project?

A: Yes! I will be releasing an EP. But I am releasing this EP differently from my last two albums. I will be releasing one song at a time every two - three months. In today's day and age, I feel that people grasp onto a song at a time and not whole albums. This song definitely sets the tone for the rest of the songs. This EP is very much about what it’s like and how it feels going through love in your early 20’s as a millennial. - MacKinna Hart