Chords for Maddie & Tae - Artist Stories - Interview

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[E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
[Dbm] So I grew up in Sugar [Gb] Land, [A] Texas, and in Oklahoma [E] and Texas there's this big Texas country scene.
My first [A] concert was the Soul to Soul tour, you know, with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
That was the first time I saw a [E] full-blown production concert, and I think that's kind
of what sparked it for me.
And then my parents bought me a [Dbm] karaoke machine, and that was the biggest mistake [A] of their life.
I grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, [B] and you know, for me, I just remember [A] seeking out music.
I started singing in [B] church at a young age, and talent shows, [A] everything I could get involved
in I was [E] trying.
And then my brothers played baseball, so I [A] sang the national anthem a lot for them.
[Dbm] I just, I loved everything about singing.
[A] My whole dad's side of the family, they play [E] flute, they play trumpet.
I grew up playing trumpet like my dad, [A] because I wanted to be like my dad.
And so just [Dbm] instruments were everywhere, and [B] that's all I knew.
[A] _ _ _ [E] _
So I'm going to apologize to my sweet dad before I say this, but he could not hold a
[Dbm] tune in a bucket.
My [E] mom, to get money, she'd go sing at [A] weddings and stuff, and so I [E] think that's where the
voice came from.
I just remember [A] always having that vision.
It was, I [Dbm] was either going to do it or do nothing at [A] all.
For me, music was my end [E]-all, be-all.
At the end of freshman year, I came home and I told my mom, [A] I wanted to be homeschooled
and pursue [Dbm] music 100 percent, learn how to write, learn how to [A] play, just dive in.
God [E] sent me this man.
He had a home studio in [A] Kingston, Oklahoma.
This was at Godson, [Dbm] and I did two cover CDs with him.
[A] He was the first person outside of my family to [E] really, really, I could truly see that
he believed in me.
It [A] wasn't until I met Maddie [Dbm] that I started really pursuing, because [A] we met the same vocal
coach, and [E] I went to him when I was 16, and went [B] to him for about three months, and then
I [E] met Maddie.
My thing was like, okay, I'm going to graduate and go to college, but I really want to do
music, but I just, I don't know if that's realistic, you know?
But Tay was like_
[A] Realistic is not in my vocabulary.
Exactly.
[E] So she's like, I'm going to do this, and [A] it's going to work, and da-da-da, and like, that's her mindset.
[Dbm] I feel like I was born with [A] this mindset that just ignored [E] everyone saying negative things
and went for it.
[A] That's when I started asking my mom to take me to [Dbm] Nashville, and she was so confused,
because she was like, how do you [A] even know what Nashville is?
Because I [E] started saying that in third grade, and I was like, I don't know, I saw it on TV.
[A] I saw the Grand Ole Opry on TV, I want [Dbm] to go.
I traded first class seating for [A] your all.
_ [E]
The sun comes up, [A] and it sinks back down on [Dbm] every five star dream and [A] every two star dream.
To [B] succeed in [E] Nashville, one, you have to be able to [A] perform.
That's the first, and [Dbm] that's the only, and if you can't do that, it's over.
[B] I just [A] remember being so blown away with [E] how many people were out there singing and playing
[A] every single day, 24-7.
There [Dbm] was someone playing music on the [E] street.
Everyone's talented.
That's what's [A] crazy.
You're fighting for the stream, and so [E] are millions of other people.
_ [A] We _ [Dbm]
really just played anywhere we could.
[A] Pockets, restaurants, anywhere.
[B] And we opened our guitar cases so that [A] people hopefully would put a dollar bill in.
[B] We put our guitars on, and we started playing, [A] and [E] people put money [Bb] in.
Oh yeah, and stayed, and watched.
[Cm] _ _ [Eb] _ [Ab]
Artists often ask me, [Ebm] what does it take?
What do [F] I have to do?
What [Eb] do I have to do?
And the [Bbm] truth is, my [F] answer is always [Eb] the same.
You have to be undeniable.
[Ab] And that can be [Eb] a myriad of different things for a myriad of different [Bb] people, but whatever
[Eb] that is for [Ab] Maddie and Tay, they have it.
We [Eb] wrote songs and everything, but by the second [Abm] session that we were in a room together
writing [Eb] was like, okay, there's something [Ab] really, really cool here.
[Eb] We kind of started getting [Bb] the attention of the town a little, but with the writers.
The writers were really impressed with how young [Ab] we were and _ [Eb] what types of songs we were
writing and [Ab] everything.
The first time that I [Eb] saw Maddie and Tay, they came into the [Ab] studio.
And when you have these two [Eb] tiny females with these two gigantic [Bb] guitars, it's kind of funny to see.
And then when they start to sing and [Eb] play, and [Ab] when Maddie starts to sing lead and Tay
[Eb] sings harmony and I'm playing guitar, you [Bb] can tell they're best friends.
[Eb] They leave the room, and we all talk about them afterwards.
[Ab] We're like, wow, [Eb] they are so good.
People have [Bb] no idea how good these two girls really [Ab] are.
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [Gm] [Cm] I remember the first time we played [Eb] Girl in a Country Song was [Ab] this place called the Listening Room.
Everyone [Fm] was cracking up.
We were so nervous.
[Bb] We were like, [Cm] this is like the [Eb] anti _ _ [Ab]
-whatever's going on right now song.
I think [Eb] them taking a chance on such young girls, that's [Ab] a huge risk.
And I [Eb] think that shows a lot about the community of Nashville and [Ab] just how much people really
do [Ebm] believe in each other.
They want everyone to [Ab] succeed.
And each publishing label [Eb] is like a little neighborhood.
And [Bb] thankfully, we found our home with Big Machine. _ _
[Eb] Surrounding them with this cool group of people that we have [Ab] has allowed [Eb] them to kind of become
comfortable [Bb] here and be okay with moving [Eb] away 2,000 miles from home when they're [Ab] 17 years old.
Watching them [Eb] as they've grown from being struggling [Bb] 17-year-olds who live [Ab] in small
apartments to having a little [Bb] celebrity and all that stuff, the coolest [Cm] part for me is
to watch how [Bb] much they do want [Ab] to give back.
For example, yesterday they were [Fm] at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
And [Bb] to watch them go into that environment and use [Eb] the skills and the tools that they
[Ab] have for good is pretty cool.
[Eb] _ _ _
There's a [Fm] campaign called Shine Bright for the children's hospital.
It's basically you write little [Ab] letters and notes for the kids and hang them up all in the hospital.
And God's given [Fm] us this really special gift.
And we [Ab] want to be a light in other [Bb] people's lives and give music to them that gives them
hope and brightens [Eb] their day.
With [Ab] something that we're so passionate about as powerful [Eb] women, we want to share that [Bb] message.
We have this opportunity to [Eb] speak to the world.
We [Ab] were still going to write music that we [Eb] believed in.
That was never going to change.
It's only [Bb] right that we give back.
It's our way of saying thank [Ab] you.
Not pretty, [Bb] so you need to [Cm] love and how it's made.
State Farm [Bb] celebrates great artists [Ab] and the good neighbors back home who helped make them
[Fm] who they are today.
Watch more artist [Bb] stories at