With millions of online streams and a fan base that blew up from her appearances on NBC’s The Voice last year representing Team Dan + Shay, Karen Waldrup is becoming one of Nashville’s most talked-about singers. Over the years, Waldrup has worked with Nashville producers like Paul Worley (Lady A, Big & Rich) Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood, Alabama) and Biff Watson (Aaron Tippin, Patty Loveless), and her latest single is “Blue Cowboy Boots,” a breakup tune co-written with Ed Hill (Reba, Luke Bryan).
“Ed and I have been writing together for a while,” she said, as she was preparing for a hectic week of shows and interviews in downtown Nashville during CMA Fest 2025. “He has been a friend of mine and a mentor for as long as I’ve been in Nashville, he’s really been there for me and he’s always got creative ideas. We always write funky songs together and this one is the funkiest yet. It is just so fun and summer-y and we thought, you know, with us moving into summer that this would be the perfect song for people to listen to on the boat or grilling out in the backyard.”
The song is more than just a breakup song though, it’s a fashion statement. “I’m hoping everybody will be wearing blue cowboy boots this summer,” she said, “and I actually have a blue cowboy boot that I just partnered with a company on, and we actually made my very first Karen Waldrup blue cowboy boots. I really enjoy the brand partnerships and the creativity and the entrepreneurship. I think it’s neat to watch artists like Dolly Parton and Miranda Lambert do really great work with their random partnerships. I’m wearing the Miranda Lambert perfume right now. I enjoy that kind of stuff and I enjoy other artists that are doing that kind of stuff and supporting them.”
A Louisiana native, Waldrup has paid her dues in Nashville both live and in the studio, and has some advice to offer newcomers trying to break into the business in Music City that should be common sense, but quite often isn’t. “I feel like I’m really proud of the art that I create and I’m really proud of the fans that love it,” she said. “And I’m excited for what’s to come. But you need to wake up every day and write great songs, and you gotta keep going. I would tell those (newcomers) to make friends with people, be a good person, tell the truth, be somebody that can people can rely on and trust, and that person will always answer the phone. If I called Paul Worley right now, he would answer the phone, because I believe I’ve been a good person and I’ve been a trustworthy person, and I think that’s the really important part of this business. People get carried away with a bunch of stuff here that just doesn’t matter. I think as long as I’m content that’s where the happiness lies. I had an interesting conversation with Dan + Shay on The Voice about that, because that’s what their record ‘Bigger Houses’ is about, how it’s not always happier in the bigger house, and that’s the catch about the American consumeristic approach. People can lose sight of that, and I want to make sure I never do.”
You can follow Waldrup at karenwaldrup.com.
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