BiB: Charly Reynolds: From Chick-fil-A to Country Stardom: How Hustle Beat Stage Fright in Nashville

0:00 How's it going? It is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards, a podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Charlie Reynolds over Zoom Video. Charlie was born and raised in Orlando, Florida and talks about how she got into music. Started off on piano at an early age, didn't love it, but moved on to guitar and started songwriting at an early age as well. In high school, she ended up releasing an album and played a bunch of shows locally around Orlando. When she graduated high school, her brother had moved to Nashville a few months prior. So Sophia moved to Nashville with her brother for a few months, got a job at Chick Fil A and was just trying to make it in this music industry. She talked about some of the early victories she had, how she ended up meeting people and meeting songwriters in Nashville, getting some jobs, playing on Broadway. She played at the Wild Horse Saloon quite a bit. She talked about releasing her first ep and all about the release of her brand new debut album, which is called off the Record. You can watch our interview with Charlie on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it Backwards. It'd be amazing. If you subscribe to our channel, subscribe like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok at bringing back pod. And if you're listening to this on Spotify or Apple Music, Google podcasts, please rate and review the podcast. It helps us out so much. Thank you so much.

1:33 We'd appreciate your support. If you follow and subscribe to our podcasts wherever you listen to podcasts, we're. Bringing It Backwards with Charlie Reynolds. Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards. Bringing it back. Bring it back. Bring it back. Hi, Charlie. How are you? Hey. I'm good. How are you? I am fantastic. Thank you so much for doing this. I appreciate it. Of course. Thanks for having me. Of course.

2:15 So my name's Adam and this is all about you and your journey in music and we'll talk about the album and I know you're doing a tour for the album and yeah, chat about all that as well. Awesome. Yeah, that sounds great. Sweet. So always start off with kind of your origin story. Where were you born and raised? So I am originally from Orlando, Florida and I grew up like downtown Orlando and then. But I've been in Nashville for six years now. Okay, very cool. I'm in Nashville as well. Oh, nice. That's awesome. Yeah, I've been here only for about four years. Coming up on four years. Okay. Where are you from? San Diego, originally. I'm one of the. Yeah, one of the many that have moved out here from California. Hey, I don't believe you, though.

3:05 Yeah. So Orlando. Wow. So obviously Disney kind of takes over the town there, huh? It really does, honestly. It's funny because, like, Orlando is a pretty small community, like downtown Orlando. But then Disney is like this huge tourist attraction, you know, like, that's only 20 minutes down the road. So it's just so funny, you know, it's a small town, really, but Disney is giant. Massive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, small town, but the amount of people coming there. Yes, all the time. Yeah. It's got. From all over the world. Yeah. Yeah. So you grew up in Orlando. Do. How do you get into music? Do you come from a creative household, a musical family, anything like that?

3:49 I mean, my mom, she used to sing growing up. My dad, like, sings here and there and my brother also sings, plays the piano. So, like, everyone's just kind of musical. I loved Disney princesses growing up and I loved singing their songs and so that kind of started it. And then getting into country, my family listened to country music, but Taylor Swift was like my favorite when I was like 8 years old singing you belong with me and all. She's still one of my favorite now. And I like, loved, loved that music. I still do. But, yeah, it was just crazy. So I used to sing Taylor Swift and then you. Carrie Underwood and. Yeah. Then I just kind of figured out that I could actually try and do this as a career because I was going to go to college and be a news broadcaster.

4:48 That's what I have wanted to do and. Oh, really? Like an anchor? Yeah, like a news anchor. Okay, that's cool. I mean, I started. I went to college for communications. I was on the terrestrial radio for a long time. And then. Oh, cool. This took over. So that's awesome. Yeah, I. I've. I've seen a lot of people that, yeah. Went into the news and all that thing, all that stuff. That's interesting. Yeah, I. I'm honestly glad that I didn't because I don't think I'd want to do that now. Sure. That's also. It's hard work. Like, I didn't know a lot about, like, what the news anchors all actually have to do. I thought they just delivered the news. I didn't realize they get the stories half the time. You know, it just depends. Sometimes.

5:36 Stories and like, they run a lot of things. So when you have to try, I mean, you have to move right I mean, at least that's what it was for radio as well. It's like if you could get in. I mean, I grew up in San Diego. I was lucky enough to get a job there, but then I had to move to San Francisco for a job and then back to San Diego. And it's like that with. With. With news. It's not like you. I mean, some people do it right where you can get a job in the market that you grew up in, but a lot of time you got to move out and then try to get back or get to a bigger market. It's not like you can just start off in LA or New York or. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So I'm glad I didn't take that route. But I moved here instead. I just kind of decided I could always go back to college. If I wanted to do that, then I could go back and do it. But I needed to move here now. So I moved to 18 and worked at Chick Fil A for the first year. I had no idea what I was doing.

6:33 I didn't know really anyone, except my brother had moved here, like, two months before me. My older brother, just because he lived somewhere new and did he move to pursue music or. No, just to do it. Just to try out a new place. And so we moved. We lived together and for like, the first year or eight months or something, and he moved back home and I stayed in. I moved, you know, by myself and stayed here. Started singing downtown a little bit here and there, and the rest is kind of history. Wow. Okay. So just. Just to rewind a bit.

7:16 You said your brother plays piano. Did you start off on piano as well? I did actually take piano lessons for, like, five years, but I didn't keep up with it, and I hated it when I was doing it. Although I regret that a lot. Which I hate to say that because my parents always told me that I would. Sure, I quit, but they finally let me quit. And, yeah, I wish I would have kept up with it, but I started playing guitar when I was 17. Okay, and what about, like, writing your own songs? I mean, to. To decide to not want to go to college and say, I want to pursue music as a thing full time. Like, you must have been getting some validation. Like, were you writing your own songs or were you playing places or people telling you, like, oh, you know, you should do this, Charlie. You're good at this. For sure.

8:05 I was singing, like, everywhere. Anywhere that I could. I actually released an EP and an album in high school. Oh, wow. Yeah. Did some Big, like, release shows in Orlando for those. And that was super fun. Those albums are no longer out. They are not like, scrubbed them from the Internet. They're not my sound anymore at all. And just grown a lot since then. Obviously. It's been, like, 10 years ago, but so I did do that, and my parents were, like, super supportive of it, but we, like, had no idea what Nashville entailed. I only been here two times before I moved here, or two or three times. And we just thought, like, you move here, and then you're just, like, famous the next day.

8:55 Some guys just, like, at the airport, like, oh, you okay? Here's your contract. Yeah. Like, we had literally no idea. Well, no one does. Right? I mean, it's such a hard thing. Yeah. To just. You're like, okay, I'm going to. I want to move to Nashville to pursue this thing. But how do you meet people? Like, how do you get in the rooms with people? So that's kind of. I'm actually curious about you and your stories. Like, so you're from Orlando. You're writing songs, you put an album out, you put some music out, you're doing shows there. And then you're like, okay, I want to move to Nashville to pursue this thing. You didn't know it. You knew your brother, but you didn't know anyone in the.

9:36 In the industry or anything. Oh, I. So I really didn't. My mom's friend lived up here, and she connected me with a guy, Jim Brown. He's an artist. And so he, like, took me out and, like, at some of his shows back in Florida, actually, he plays a lot in Florida for him. So that was, like, kind of, you know, getting me to meet some people, some musicians, stuff like that. And then as far as writing and stuff, I had to just get out of my comfort zone and reach out to people on Instagram and, like, ask them to write with me or ask them to get coffee with me, and. Which was really weird to me back then because that just wasn't as normalized as it is now. Like, sure. I mean, you're like, hey, do you want to get, like, coffee and talk about music and this? Like, either, like, huh? Or like, yeah. You think that they're like, is she hitting on me? Or does she, like, like, what is this? You know what I mean? So weird. Like, so we're doing that, and. But I'm glad that I did, because it really, like, got my circle going. And then I was writing more, meeting more people, and it just kind of all took off after, like, you know, my writing took off with more people after doing that. So that's really. Instagram is really how I, like, started creating friends and music and everything. It's so weird. Wow. So how do you, like, what's your kind of first, like. Like, big moment or something that, like, I mean, moving here and then you said you're working at Chick Fil A

11:09 and trying to meet people and write. Like, was there, like, what was kind of like, was there like a. Like a milestone or. Or was it like little victories, like things that kind of kept you going? Because I would imagine if nothing was happening. Yeah. For quite a period of time, you would have been like, is this the move? Like, maybe I do, like, go back to Orlando or try to get a job as an anchor. Go back to college for that. Like, what was kind of like the first little success or something that happened that maybe kept you moving forward? Yeah, I mean, the first three months of living here were really tough because all my friends, I was like, seeing them on social media go to college and meet all these friends and join the sororities and do all this fun stuff, and I'm just like, working at Chick Fil a full time, like, not really knowing anyone or having any.

11:57 And so it was kind of. I. I actually toured UT Knoxville. Okay. After three months because I was like, maybe that maybe I don't want to do this. Maybe I want to do what everyone else is doing because, yeah, maybe I. Want to go to college. Yeah. I was like, this sucks. Like, I don't know anyone. But then me and my dad toured it and I loved it. But I was like, I am not giving up after three months of living here. Like, that is so dumb. Like, I'm not doing that. And so I stayed. And I think I really was, like, trying to learn social media and how to grow on there. And so, like, I think I hit. Was it 20k or 10k? I can't remember. Still a lot, right? Yeah, I was working really hard on Instagram at that. Were you just posting a lot and posting, like, videos of yourself or like, how are you? Yeah, posting engaging, like on other people's posts. Like, just being really into engagement people. I check out my music, like random fans that I see on, like, other, you know, like Carrie Underwood's posts or whatever.

13:09 And just like that was like a second full time job for me to grow because I thought it was really important, which it helped a lot. And so, like, hitting that 10k or 20k, whatever it was. After a few months of Living here was, like, big for me. And then also, I started playing at Wild Horse Saloon. Oh, wow. Okay. A year later. Yeah. And that was, like, a huge milestone for me. I loved playing there. Just, like, the opportunity to get to play there was huge. And so. Yeah. And then I just kind of. I don't know. It feels like a whole different life, to be honest. I ran Karaoke at AJ's Downtown on Broadway for a while, and that was really fun because I just got to meet people and musicians also. Whoever was down there singing and playing in the bar and kind of got pulled into that circuit a little bit. Yeah. Which. I mean, that's really where you kind of. I've heard people talk about these stories where you. That's where you kind of get in. Right. If you can get in downtown and you get a show at Wild Horse and you're. You're kind of, you know, a regular there, whatever, where they're hiring you to come back and play these sets, I mean, that could eventually lead into getting, like, more shows on Broadway. Yeah. Yeah. And I. I, you know, a few years later, I ended up playing at Miranda Lambert's twice a week. Wow. So fun. And

14:40 I actually miss it so much. I loved playing there because it actually. I. And I always say this. I think every artist needs to play on Broadway for at least a couple of months because it really. Just for the practice and the experience of playing, and it helped me a lot. I used to get really bad stage fright. Not, like, horrible, but it would definitely take me a really long time to get comfortable on the stage, and I would have a lot of anxiety before going on stage. I just cared a lot. And performing on Broadway, you know, people. They don't care, like, what's going on. They just want to hear some good music or music that they like. And so I think it kind of just helped me not care as much and not put so much pressure on the performance being perfect every single time. Or, like, you know, if I mess up, it's fine. Like, it's not the end of the world. You mess up the words, no one cares. Like, just keep going. Stuff like that. It's just very. I don't know. You just can learn a lot playing down there, but I. Oh, yeah. And the people that are playing down there are all so talented. I mean, you have to know so many songs as well. Right? I mean, there's, like, a whole language that you have to learn. From what I've. From what I've heard is, like, knowing, like, number. Like, there's some number system. Right. That goes into, like, the.

16:01 What? I, I, I don't know. It's beyond me. But what I still have to learn, the number system. I have not learned that yet. But. Singer, I would imagine it's a bit different, right, than, like, if you were just guitar guy that has to come in and play with multiple people because you're playing with new musicians all the time. Right. It's not. You don't have, like, your own band. It's, like, whoever's there at that time slot that you're at. Yeah. You jump up. Right. And start playing with them. Yeah. So it's weird. Like, most of the time, luckily, at Costa Rosa, we were able to have. It was like, me, Josh Raymond, and Dave Meyerino pretty much every time someone was out of town. But that also just depends. That's not, like, everywhere. It just. It just happened to be booked that way every time on schedule. And so luckily we were able to, like, do that and got really comfortable playing all together and, like, new songs. But it is. Yeah, it's hard, like, especially if I was playing with another girl, because there's only so many good girl songs, like, you know, that we both know.

17:07 And so you kind of gotta, like, dig around and find ones to fill four hours of. Right, Right. Yeah. Because it's four hours of covers, essentially. Right? Yeah. I mean, sometimes people throw in their own original music. Were you doing that at all, or is it mainly just covers? I did. And that's, like, another thing that I've always recommended is, like, instead of going and playing as if it's just like, a Broadway gig, like, whatever, you're just making money, like, use it as an artist, like, to your advantage and, like, play some originals and really kind of make it, like, your show when you're on stage. That's what I did. And I would promote my new music and, you know, just get people excited about it, ask them to sing along, teach it to them when we're on stage and have them sing it back. Like, oh, that's smart. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah, it was really fun. And the only reason I stopped playing down there, really, is because I had vocal cord surgery and. Oh, wow. Yeah. And four hours is just a really long time for me. I think I could probably do it now. I mean, that's a long time for any.

18:15 You're not. Unless, like, I mean, even, like, the Taylor Swift tour, she's doing, like, three hours, which is. But I mean, like, an additional hour, like, every time you're down there. Yeah, it's not normal. Right. I mean, it's not like if, like you don't go like, you know, Kenny Chesney isn't playing a four hour set, you know, most of the time on his tours or whatever. It's usually an hour, hour and a half. So to be doing four hours all the time and obviously that's great practice and everything else, but in the 100% what you want to do. Right. It's pro. It's not really that. Yeah. It's not something that's going to be. You're going to be doing all the time. No, for sure. It's. Yeah, like hardly anyone does does that. Taylor Swift is like the one that does three, but most people, you know, don't. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's why I stopped playing, playing down there. But I think I could probably handle it now doing a duo thing because that's like two hours. But yeah, it was fun. I really, really loved it. And I love the food there. I never got tired of eating there twice a week at Costco, the best Tex Mex in town, I swear. So. That's so funny.

19:30 Yeah. So were you while you're doing the downtown stuff, like you're obviously writing your own music and, and, and pursuing your own artist thing kind of in alongside that because that's just like, okay, not only do I'm gonna play a bunch of covers, but I get to play my own songs. Like, at what point are you. I mean, it sounds like it's pretty recent that you stopped playing down there, but like when it comes to your own music, like are you in writing rooms and writing for other people right away or are you more. Are you trying to write your own songs and, and have people write with you for your own projects? Like how, how do you. What's like the next move for you there? And so I've always written pretty much for me and like in the room, I've always been the artist. But now after releasing this album, I mean, I don't need any more songs right now. Really.

20:19 I've been writing for this for like a year. So I have like plenty of songs. But I'm not, you know, not saying that I don't want more songs. I always want to get more new songs. Sure. At this point I really want to try and get some cuts like with other artists just because also that's cool. Like I want to be like, I was a writer on that and we just got a cut the other day with an art, a new artist that I Had never heard of before. And so that's exciting. Like, just cool that they picked our song and. Wow. Yeah. So I. I'm excited to kind of get into more of the songwriting world a little bit more as like a songwriter instead of the artist all the time.

21:03 Because I just. Yeah, I think it's really, really cool to be able to do that. I love it. And so. Well, tell me about this album because like you said you had stuff out and then you kind of scrapped it, you know, when you were in high school. And then you. You have a couple songs or you were releasing a couple songs a year. A few songs a year up until this. This album. Or you put out an E.P. right? In 20. I did put out three. Yeah. Perfect timing. And then now. So we'll. Tell me a little bit about that EP and then I want to hear about this album because I think in one of your. Your videos on Instagram, I saw you were talking about like the moment that you kind of found your sound. Right. With one of the songs. Yes. So I want to hear that about that as well. But let's get into the Tell me about perfect Timing and like, was that something. Were you able to tour on that or was that you just played locally with that release and was it self released and. Yes. So everything is self release.

22:00 All of my stuff. I'm independent completely. But with perfect timing that I have wanted to do an EP for a while just because I've been doing singles for so long. Like, I'm like, I just need to put these all into one. And so I had released a few singles that year and maybe some of them were in the year before, but that was the year that I had my vocal surgery and in January, I'm pretty sure. Yes. And that came out in June. And so my surgery was in January. And so I just really like tried to promote it as much as I could with all of that because it was kind of tough to not. Yeah, you can't really hit the road right after Surgery. Yeah, like I couldn't really sing or play any shows much, but I did try to promote it heavily on social media and stuff like that. Like, and use. Use it to my advantage. One of the songs on There is One Day at a Time, that one was written in November before the surgery. And it was just kind of about the surgery because everything was out of my hands and which was stressful for me because I don't. I like being in control. And so when it came down to the title of the ep, Perfect Timing, that I was going through all

23:31 the lyrics of all the songs on the EP and, like, trying to find something, like, in one of the songs. And in top off, the chorus says, it's perfect timing. Let's go drive in with the top off. And so I was like, I love perfect timing because it's kind of like, this is when this EP was supposed to come out. Even though I had this vocal surgery, like, it's all in good timing. I don't have to worry about it. And it kind of just felt like it was the right time, so that's why it was called Perfect Timing. And, yeah, I love all the songs on that ep. I honestly, it's kind of funny. I forget because I've just released so much music now that I forget about those songs or, like, forget about the older ones that people haven't heard yet. So with this next show, I've put some of those songs on there as well. Oh, into your set list? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Like, she. She Me is a huge record. I love that song. That song always on the set list, for sure. Okay. I was gonna say that's a mess of them, though. I. I kind of forget to add, but Shamy is always added on there, for sure. I like Poor Decisions too. I think that's a great song. Oh, thank you. That actually was the outside cut. That was my first outside. Oh, yeah. I loved that song when I heard it. Good one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, so then, yeah, you just. You just released your album, right? Yes, September 20th. So it's called off a month ago.

24:59 Yeah, I know. A month. It feels like so much longer than that to me, just because. Well, you've probably had the songs for so long, you're just, like, been waiting, right? You're like, oh, my gosh. Like, Exactly. So, yeah, I released off the record September 20th, and. And this was because I have wanted to do an album for so long, like one that wasn't my, you know, high school album. And try. I'm just curious now, just. Was the high school album a country album or. No? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. It just doesn't sound anything like. Well, you're young, obviously. Yeah, I was super young. I'm just curious if it was a totally different genre. Totally different. But no, it was more country pop, though, for sure. Okay.

25:44 Yeah. More country pop back then, but so, yeah, released this album. I've wanted to do one for so long, and I kind of just was like, why am I just waiting? I just need to do it. Like, what's, you know, what's the harm in doing an album. If it flops, it flops. And I did it, and I love it. So there's just, you know. Yeah, you just kind of got to try and see, you know, rather than wait for, like, the perfect moment, because there might not ever be the. You know. And so started kind of collecting these songs, like, a year ago and writing for it and kind of planning, like, because being an independent artist, I get to do literally everything behind it, picking, like, the album art, where I wanted to shoot everything.

26:30 And me and my friend Maddie went out to Arizona. I'm sorry. Oh, that's okay. Hi, dog. Dolly. Come on. I love that your dog's name is Dolly. That's so good. Oh, of course. Labradoodle. Hey. Hey. No. So anyway, me and my friend Maddie, she shot all the photos and the visualizers for the album. We went out to Arizona for, like, 24 hours and shot eight videos and. Eight, oh, my gosh. Photos with those same outfits. And it was crazy. We were up for, like, 27 hours because we didn't sleep when we got in. And that's what you do when you're balling on a budget. You gotta get it all done in the one day.

27:14 But it was part of Arizona. Did you go to Mesa? Okay. Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. So it was gorgeous, but it was July and neither of us. 120 degrees, huh? Yeah. And there was a heat advisory, and there were no people out. It looked like we rented out the whole state. And in all, there's no one around. It was just crazy that we ended up having some heat exhaustion that night, which was horrible. But we. It was worth it because we got, like, the most. Got everything right. Photos. Yeah. Everything done in one day. And so, yeah, once I had that, I, you know, made picked the songs. That was really hard picking which ones I wanted. But I honestly, there was no, like, structure to choosing them. It was kind of like, because I still, being independent, I can pick my favorites and put them on there. And so I. I picked what I loved and hoped that people would love it as much as I love it.

28:18 And it's worked. I mean, everyone seems to love it so far, so it's been good. That is amazing. It's a great album. I really. I really like it as well. I've been listening to the last couple days. You. Can you tell me the song that you were talking about in your video that you post? Yeah, so that was. Another man Will recorded that. It was, like, the first song on the album. Yeah, the first song on the album. Yep. Okay. On track one, we actually didn't write that for me. Which is funny, that. Because I was like, I already have my album, like, pretty much done. Like, I don't need it. And because it was too. It was me, Jesse Pugh, another artist, and Blaine Younger, a writer. And I was like, no, you can have it. Like, it's. You know, we'll write it for you. So then once we wrote it afterwards, I was like, I really like this song a lot. I was like, what did I do? And so I texted her. I was like, do you have any plans of releasing that? She was like, no, I don't think so. I'm like, okay. Do you mind if I do?

29:16 Because I really love it. I'd love to add it on the album. And she was so excited. She was like, yes, please do. And so I ended up cutting it, and when we went into the studio with it, we just. I love Shania Twain and Martina McBride, like, 90s country mixed with, like, some Carrie Underwood in there. And I've, like, been searching for the right sound for so long, and I've worked with Zachary Mano for, like, five years, and we were like, just trying to figure out the song or whatever. And once and I was there with him, we kind of go into the studio and build the track, and then I come back and do vocals.

30:02 And we were building it and I was like, we found it. Like, this is the sound we've both been chasing for a long time. Because we knew what I wanted, we just couldn't really nail it. And so with that one, I was like, ah, we did it. And it was only. I think we had three more songs left. So it was that. Or maybe the two of us had two songs left. So it was that one and Blame it on My Boots, which are, like, very similar sounding songs. And with building an album, like. And I know that it's crazy to put out an album without finding that sound first, but it kind of was exciting because I found it through building the album.

30:43 And you can kind of just hear the growth in and the finding that sound. Yeah. And it kind of bookends the album with that song. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, like, moving forward, like, after finding that, is that kind of like where you. Like, this is it. This is like, what we're gonna continue with. Yep, that's what we're gonna chase. And here going forward, I will have a Christmas song coming out very soon. And that also is in that vein, which I'm saying, so excited just to continue with you know me now, finding the sound that I've been after for a long time. Amazing. Well, I appreciate your time, Charlie. Thank you for doing this. Yeah, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. It's always good to meet new people. And maybe I'll see you on Friday. Yeah, no, 100%. I have one more question for you before I let you go, though. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists.

31:39 Yeah, I mean, I would say stay focused and try not to care a lot about what people think or, you know, the rejections. You just kind of got to keep your head down, stay focused, and if one person says no, keep on going. Like, it's. It's tough to do. But I think that's really important, just to, like, trust in yourself and your talent and keep going until, you know, somebody says yes, and the white door opens. You bring it backward. Bring it backward, bringing it backward, bringing it backward, bringing it backward, bringing it backwards.