With Bass playing the huge Faster Horses fest Saturday, we caught up with the country singer who has a busy year ahead. Part of this week’s Local Spins on WYCE, which also debuts tracks by other Michigan acts.
Crisscrossing the Country: Michigan-bred Sadie Bass also has new country singles on the way this year. (Courtesy Photo)
SCROLL DOWN FOR RADIO SHOW PODCAST, MUSIC VIDEO
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
When country singer and mid-Michigan native Sadie Bass plays the “Next from Nashville” stage on Saturday at the sprawling Faster Horses Festival in Jackson County, it will fulfill a long-held dream.
“It really is crazy, because ever since I was 19, I remember people asking me, ‘When are you going to play Faster Horses?,’ ” said Bass, now 27, who grew up in Bath, northeast of Lansing.
“I would say, ‘Maybe next year.’ And so many years went by. … Now, it’s actually happening and it’s only the side stage, so I get to look forward to playing the Main Stage one day, too.
Playing Big Stages and Big Festivals: Bass (Courtesy Photo)
“It’s really surreal and I’m just so happy to do be doing it in my home state.”
It’s another career milepost and another notch on the belt for this rising country star who now makes her home in Nashville and has been on an upward trajectory the past two years – from making a bit of a splash on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2022 to opening for the likes of Randy Houser and Justin Moore on tour to playing the Rock the Country Festival with Jason Aldean and Kid Rock.
A one-time softball star with a passion for hunting and fishing, Bass now has a hefty social media presence as a country crooner, accumulating more than 143,000 Instagram followers and hundreds of thousands of plays for her songs on Spotify, including “Wake N’ Bake,” her most recent single that’s racked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube.
VIDEO: Sadie Bass, “Wake N’ Bake”
LETTING THE ROLLING WAVES TAKE HER ‘AS FAR AS IT’LL GO’
“I started this all when I was 19. Looking back to where I started, I’m like, how did I think at the time with the songs I was writing, the stage presence I had, (how) I could actually do what I’ve done? If I would’ve known how many steps, I don’t know if I would’ve started. But once I got started, it was too late and now I’m so happy that I kept doing it.”
She’s happy, she said, because she recently signed with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (a major Nashville booking agency) and “the waves are rolling and I’m just trying to keep up. I’m just letting ‘em take me as far as it’ll go.”
Bass also has been writing and starting to record new material, including an upcoming track titled, “Dirt on Him,” that will be released as a single later this year, with more to come after that.
“So (the songs) are just sitting here and I’m loving them, and I just can’t wait to put ’em out,” she said.
On Stage in Michigan in 2022: Sadie Bass and band. (Photo/Eric Stoike)
For now, though, the summer is all about touring. After playing Faster Horses this weekend, Bass will crisscross the country, from South Carolina and Virginia to Oregon and California.
“I didn’t really travel that much growing up, so I’m so happy that my job lets me do that and I get to meet all different kinds of people, and it’s what gives me ideas for the songs,” said Bass, who’s been co-writing regularly with other Nashville tunesmiths.
“I will say that I’m most looking forward to when I have more of this music out, I’m waiting for the moment when the crowd is singing the song with you that you wrote. I just can’t wait for that. … For right now, it’s just going to these places and getting practice so that way I can put on a good show.”
Inspired as a young artist by the likes of Miranda Lambert (“I like that she had a little bit of everything sassy, heartfelt, so related to her lyrics”), Bass also has a soft spot for Brantley Gilbert, Gretchen Wilson and Hardy.
And while she’s now firmly established in Nashville, Bass will always be a Michigan girl at heart.
“Michigan is where it’s at because I’m a freaking lake girl. That’s what I say,” she gushed.
“Some people are always surprised to hear that I’m from the north and I’m from Michigan. … When they hear my songs, my lyrics, and they’re like, ‘Is it country, Michigan?’ I’m like, yeah. There’s a little bit of country everywhere, but Michigan, we have it all really. We have a little bit of everything.”
Beyond spotlighting Bass, this week’s Local Spins on WYCE – which focuses its attention on Michigan artists and their music at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE (88.1 FM) and online at wyce.org – also featured tracks by Pat Wieland (Lazy Genius), Silver Creek Revival, Billy Strings, The Aquaerials, Tommy Schichtel, Ten Peso Version, Josiah DeNooyer, Heat Above, Dave Boutette & Kristi Lynn Davis and Dylan Delato. Listen to the radio show here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (7/19/24)
Copyright 2024, Spins on Music LLC
.
