The Highway Women are everything you dream of in a group. Great country singers who openly express their struggles and emotions through music and are all about supporting each other and other female artists. The Highway Women recently released an EP, which can be listened to on all music platforms. They were supposed to be touring however COVID-19 postponed their plans. Whilst waiting for the pandemic to end, the girls have been in the studio rehearsing and recording.
We had the chance to talk to two of the band members, Kristen Kae and Bailey James. Beginning their journey in 2016, The Highway Women are ready to take on the music world. Whether that be singing about female power or raising mental health awareness through their songs. “I would like to help as many people as possible and say I’ve been through it” Bailey, one of the Highway Women says, “everyone has their own issue and it’s okay to not be okay.” Mental Health Awareness is a social issue that Bailey advocates for. For her it’s easy to be inspired by mental health and is ready to release more songs surrounding the topic. She’s not the only one, when asked the question to Kristen, although she has been scared to release her more vulnerable songs, she realizes that these songs are the ones that impact people. Her recent single, “She’s Not Me” surrounds the topic of mental health.
They’re also not afraid to take risks and believe doing so landed them where they are now, which is what makes them inspiring. “I wouldn’t be here doing what I’m doing in music if I didn’t take a whole lot of leaps of faith” Kristen says. For them music has always been a constant in their life. “Music has always been the thing that has gotten me through the hard times in my life, whether I’ve written a song about it or singing about it, it’s always been my escape from the crazy of reality” Kristen says. She also mentions how music has always been something she’s loved since she was a kid, in fact she’s lost track of the number of times she’s been in choir. It’s also the same for Bailey, she feels most comfortable when on stage and is able to express herself and release emotions. “When I sing and create, I know that’s what I am meant to do.”
Inspired by their favorite artists, Amy Winehouse, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, Kelly Clarkson and more, these girls are hoping they can pave the way for other country women singers like their favorites have done for them, and they are! The group started a program called Be The Highway Woman. For them, female empowerment is what they are always about and one of the reasons why they started this. The girls saw a struggle for other female artists to be played and not the support they were promised. “We wanted to do something about this to make an impact, so we put this community together to help support other female artists.” Rather than females competing with each other, which is something we see often in the media, The Highway Women wanted to create an atmosphere of females supporting females. “I love that about this band is that all of us are solo artists and we support each other” Kirsten says.
You can listen to The Highway Women’s latest single “Dead Man Walking,” a fierce new song from this girl gang. You can also check out The Highway Women’s latest EP, which features their acclaimed singles The Highway and Stand Up and Fight. To learn more about Be The Highway Woman, you can check out their website.
Written by Sandhya Patel