Lauren Watkins was thrilled to be at Boots and Hearts. She just had no idea what she was in for.
“Everybody is like ‘Boots and Hearts is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,’ and I’m like ‘what does that mean?’” she said Saturday afternoon ahead of her set on the Front Porch Stage. “But Canadians love country music. Y’all do. Y’all get fired up about it and I love that.”
The 24-year-old Watkins, born and raised in Nashville, was making just her second trip to Canada to play at Boots and Hearts. Edmonton’s Alee, played here last in 2017, just before she relocated to Music City to take the next step in her career.
Her Main Stage set that year was her first in Ontario.
“It was so cool to do my first show in Ontario at Boots and Hearts, which is wild,” she said ahead of her Saturday set. “A good way to jump in.”
She was jumping in headfirst Saturday, as well, opening the Main Stage programming with selections from her recently released album, Love Again. Alee was booked in the final slot available on the Main Stage, one that many artists may think twice about. Many festival goers hadn’t a chance to sober up from the previous night by the time her opening track rang out across the field.
But she didn’t blink at the time slot; she just wanted to debut the songs she’s been working on that no one had heard before.
“Releasing a new album just before Boots and Hearts just means I get to have fun and play all these songs live, literally for the first time, with a full band,” she said. “It’s going to be fun and whoever comes out to hang out with us is getting to see history being made.”
That’s the kind of mindset Watkins, whose The Heartbroken Record, was also recently released, not just at Boots and Hearts, but every time she takes the stage.
“No matter how many people are there, my goal is always to play to who’s there and make them want to come back again,” she said. “No matter who they are, how many people they are, it’s just to make them want to come back and bring their friends next time. That’s how I’m going into it.”
Both Alee and Watkins were all over the park Saturday, playing pop-up sets in the SiriusXM Barn to complement their main performances. Watkins also found herself in an even more intimate setting, playing an acoustic set for a collection of lucky fans set up through the Visit Tennessee installation on the grounds.
The Nashville native was likely the perfect ambassador. Growing up a country music fan gave her an appreciation of how to treat the people who come to your shows and buy your records.
“When you’re in Nashville and you’re in a room and you’re writing a song with just a couple of other people, it’s so easy to forget what you’re writing to, which is people all over,” Watkins said.
“I also just remember being that person. I grew up a fan of country music. I remember what it was like to wait in the lines to meet people and always just try to take that in every time I get to do that," she said.
Growing up in Nashville also made Watkins realize that a career in music was possible. Even with all the changes the city has seen in the past generation, it’s still the world capital of country music, first and foremost.
That’s why artists such as Alee still will leave their homes for a shot at stardom. Since her move six years ago, she’s been overwhelmed by the inspiration found in the city.
“There’s just a magic in the air in terms of being a songwriter; ideas just come to you,” she said. “There’s a lot of incredibly talented people who keep you very humble and wanting to work and strive to be better.”
Alee is very much a working musician, putting in five days a week writing for herself and for other artists, followed by showcases and gigs throughout the weekend.
Being able to help others tell their story is as rewarding sometimes as telling her own.
“I love helping an artist tell their story,” she said. “Sometimes I go through my list of ideas I bring into a room and I’m like ‘wait, that would be better suited for this person than it would be for me.’ It’s cool being able to trust someone else in telling your story – and for them to trust me, also, telling their story.”
Watkins takes pride in being from a place that welcomes so many transient artists in hopes of hitting big.
“I think it’s really cool that people from all over, they want to come to where I grew up,” she said. “I just try to not take it for granted and know that the place to be is the place where country music is made. As someone who is from there, it’s cool that people gravitate to it.”
They commented on how Nashville can seem like a small town, especially in the songwriting community. Those close connections allowed for Watkins to invite one of her idols, Sheryl Crow, to perform with her on her most recent record.
A few years ago, Watkins discovered she and Crow shared mutual songwriter friends and got set up to work together. At that time, Crow told Watkins she wanted to support her and would be there for her if she needed.
Watkins called her bluff.
“We’re putting together this album, and I had a song called Set My Heart On Fire (and) something in me was like ‘this needs to have a strong female feature on it, it’d be so cool coming from two females,’” Watkins said. “I just thought, what if we ask Sheryl Crow. The worst she could say is no.”
Crow – who Watkins called “the most normal, down-to-earth celebrity” she ever met – said yes and the guest spot turned into an album highlight. In her nearly 40 years in the music industry, Crow has become deservedly respected by her peers, yet still, at times, underappreciated.
“She’s someone who knows what she wants and she knows how to do it in a graceful, kind way,” Watkins said. “I think that’s how you gain respect as a man or a woman. I’ve just always thought that was cool about her. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned from getting to work with her.”
Watkins’ The Heartbroken Record and Alee’s Love Again are available to stream now wherever you get your music.
Boots and Hearts concludes Sunday with performances from Emerson Drive, Madeline Merlo and festival closer Jason Aldean.
