GAYLE’s persistence is perhaps one of her greatest traits as an artist. The 17-year-old singer/songwriter from Nashville has had big dreams of becoming her own version of a legend for quite some time, and hasn’t let anything or anyone distract her on the way there. When I say no one, I mean no one… not even an ex.
The story starts ten years ago right outside Dallas. “Basically, when I was seven, I was in music class and the teacher was teaching us about scatting. I came home and just started scatting all the time,” GAYLE eagerly shares in our conversation via Zoom. “And of course, my mom was like, ‘What are you doing? What is this?’ I was like it’s scatting… you know?”
(For those who don’t know, scatting is a form of vocal improvisation in jazz music using wordless syllables. In essence, this when a jazz musician goes “BABOOBADOOBADABAA SHOOBY DOOOBY DOOOBAH.”)
From restaurants to other public places, GAYLE could be found scatting just about anywhere she went. She fondly enjoyed learning about the greats like Ella Fitzgerald, and she absolutely adored when her mother introduced her to Aretha Franklin. “I don’t know what it was, but in that moment I was like… I want to be Aretha Franklin when I grow up,” she laughs. “Obviously, in time I figured out I’ve gotta be original and do my own thing.”
By that point, GAYLE already had her sights set on turning music into a lifelong commitment. Just a few days before her epiphany, it was career day at her school. While she didn’t feel any pressure to make a set-in-stone decision about her career path, she did realize she was going to eventually need to start figuring something out. Pursuing music was the first thing that came to her mind.
“I was really lucky,” she says. “My mother was really supportive of me trying to do music, and everybody who told me no or told me that I couldn’t do it was just motivation to make me want to do it even more… because apparently I’m stubborn.”
Slowly but surely, GAYLE started filling up her calendar with music related extracurriculars. She would take vocal lessons once a week, which led to guitar and piano lessons every other week. She was also one to polish her guitar skills while playing Minecraft. “There’d be these 4 hour Minecraft streams, and I’d literally sit down with my G Chord and just strum,” she explains.
Songwriting lessons made way for music camps over the summer, and in time, GAYLE was ready to take things to the next level by playing gigs. She found herself performing at many farmers markets, and pretty much anywhere else she was allowed to showcase her talents. “I’ve done rodeos,” she mentions with pride. “I’d walk out with my cowboy hat and boots (because I’m from Texas originally, gotta represent you know?) and I’d go out and sing the National Anthem. I would go out and sing it at places like fencing tournaments, I once sang at a sheep-sellers convention, and every set I always got a little bit stronger.”
At the age of 10, GAYLE was playing more shows than ever before. She recalls playing 90 gigs within the span of six months, ranging from singing just the National Anthem to playing hour-long sets. She also started making trips to Nashville, and truly had had her mind set on moving there. “Again, being stubborn… I realized that if I nagged my mom enough about it, she’d do it,” she says. “If that’s the only thing, like, ‘What do you want for your birthday? Move to Nashville. What do you want for Christmas? Move to Nashville. Easter? Let’s move to Nashville!”
Two years later, GAYLE thankfully got her way and moved to Nashville. However, the adjustment to living in her dream city wasn’t exactly an easy one. “I was homeschooled when I moved to Nashville, and it was so lonely,” she confides. “I didn’t know anybody, and it was hard to get people to want to write with a twelve year old.”
GAYLE explained to me that one of the best ways to meet other songwriters was by going to bars. “I was in bars 3-5 days a week, and I was doing writers rounds as much as I could. I would just walk up to people and be like, ‘Yo, you wanna write with me?’ A lot of people said no, and it was really hard to face that rejection because nobody wanted to write with a twelve year old. I’m very grateful for the people who did want to.”
In time, GAYLE was able to find a sense of community and empowerment in the way she moved. She spills, “Doing pop music in Nashville… especially as a young kid when everyone’s doing country, was also a hard thing to do because you’re always sticking out… which is a good thing when looking back, but it’s hard to not stick out like a sore thumb at times. I think it all gave me the empowerment to really stick to who I am. I learned to like the fact that I was the pop person in the country rounds. I liked the person that I was… the twelve year old walking up to the thirty year olds being like, ‘you wanna write with me?’ I almost liked that I had to work harder to have something to prove.”
Last year, GAYLE was able to prove to an even larger audience that she’s a singing and songwriting powerhouse with her debut single “dumbass.” The delightfully confessional single quickly made its way onto Spotify’s New Music Friday and TIDAL’s Rising: Pop playlists, and even received remixes from The Him and Ashworth.
GAYLE’s next steps towards world domination included signing a deal with Atlantic Records in May 2020, and writing her new single “abcdefu.”
After exiting a relationship, GAYLE made every effort to be the bigger person and approach her ex with kindness. “I was trying really hard to be the amicable ex girlfriend,” she says. “Literally like two weeks after we broke up, I was calling him being like, ‘HEY BUD! How are you my friend?’ I was trying so hard to be like that friendly ex. I would even bite my tongue in the room… in my songs I was trying really hard to be nice. I was really self deprecating in my music at the time.”
Eventually, there was no option but to let the kindness run dry. GAYLE and her ex had mutual friends, and she happened to overhear from them that he wasn’t saying the nicest things about her. On top of that, she recalled them mentioning that he would tell others that she wasn’t over him by any means. “I was like, ‘oh… mmm… mmm…,” GAYLE continues. “I was gonna write with my best friends, and I was like, ‘I’m ready.’ She was like, ‘FINALLY! YES! Let’s do it! Let’s get bitchy!’
“One thing I do like about ‘abc’ too is, it does talk about the fact that I knew I was trying so hard to be nice… to the point where I wasn’t even letting myself get mad about things that we did in the relationship. Obviously I had my part, but he had his. I was like not even letting myself get mad at that, and I wasn’t giving myself permission to be pissed off. I think that kinda made me bottle up my emotions, so when they came out, they came out in an extreme way.”
“You’re allowed to be pissed off, it’s okay,” she reassures me.
In a world where toxic positivity can be very real, especially for young women, it’s important to remember that feeling pissed off is part of being human. We must allow ourselves to feel that emotion when it arises, and “abcdefu” will help keep our feelings in check.
And hey – if keeping it real is something we can mutually agree that all artists need to be doing, GAYLE is leading the way. But honestly, we already know she was.
Check out “abcdefu” below!
If you enjoyed my chat with GAYLE, be sure to keep up with her on social media! Follow GAYLE on Instagram @gayle, Twitter @whoisgayle, and TikTok @gaylecantspell ♡
