Ride of a Lifetime
Ride of a Lifetime
"It’s been a crazy ride so far in my life with just all the different things I’ve done, from musical theater to singing background vocals, and I never knew where it would take me," says Fairchild, 27, a native of Clinton, Miss. (pop. 23,347). "I always wanted to be an artist and here I am! That is my explanation for calling the album Ride. I hope it does that for the listener: when they listen to each song, that they have a range of emotions, that they laugh at the funny stuff and the sad stuff evokes that emotion so it feels like a journey."
In songs such as You Don’t Lie Here Anymore and Down into the Muddy Water, she reveals the swampy roar in her voice. "I know I have a lot of edge to my voice—well, to everything I do," says Fairchild, who has a penchant for riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles. "But I’ve always considered myself a country singer." And still a small-town girl at heart.
The daughter of a fireman and first-grade teacher, Fairchild was profoundly influenced by being raised in Clinton, the home of Mississippi College, which she attended. "There’s a strong faith and foundation I have from growing up in a small town," she says. "You have a lot of accountability in everything you do. That’s taught me you have to place that in your life, even if you are in a big city or going from a bus to a plane. You need stable, grounded people around you."
She co-wrote the song Tiny Town after she wasn’t able to make it back to Mississippi for a cousin’s birthday. "I really love my family and I’m close to them and it’s tough," she says of being away from home. "It was my chance to tell my mom, ‘I love you and appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I have to follow my heart and dreams.’"
Those dreams came early for Fairchild, who began playing guitar at age 6 and singing in public at age 13. She landed the starring role in the musical Always, Patsy Cline at age 19 in Jackson, Miss., and later joined the national touring company of Beehive. "Even though I was a little afraid," she says of performing 27 Cline songs onstage, "I still had something burning in me that said, ‘You can do this; just work hard. Don’t let anybody stop you.’"
She moved to Nashville, Tenn., in 1997 and in 2003 landed a record deal with Sony Music. Despite her music success, she earned a cosmetology license in 2003 and now cuts her band members’ hair. "In my brain, it was Plan B," she says. "Tammy Wynette had her cosmetology license until the day she died. It costs me $50 to renew it. For a little money, I have options."
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