New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Iowa-born, Nashville-based rising country star Hailey Whitters released a cover of
George Jones' Christmas classic "New Baby For Christmas" and announced she will support
Shania Twain on a string of tour dates in May 2023. This new song arrives as Whitters' breakthrough single "Everything She Ain't" from her new album RAISED continues the climb the Billboard Country Airplay (currently #40) and Hot Country Songs Charts (currently #31).
"'New Baby For Christmas' was initially recorded in 1957 and I thought it was fun, as it's kind of a honky tonk heartbreak/cheating song disguised as a Christmas song," explains Whitters.
"Every Christmas Eve since I can remember we've always gone to my Aunt Tina's house and sung christmas songs on her living room floor around the Christmas tree waiting for
Santa to arrive. Everyone brings a covered dish and drinks lots of red wine and doesn't care how out of tune they may be, we all just sing together. It's something I look forward to every year and are some of my most cherished memories. I wanted to make a record that captured the warmth and nostalgia of this holiday for me, and celebrates getting to be with the people I love.
We recorded live in Historic RCA Studio A with an all-star cast of Nashville session musicians - heavily featured steel guitar, fiddle and upright bass - using minimal modern post-production techniques, and I even sang on the floor in the same spot Dolly used to sing to capture the natural reverb of the room. There's so much history in that room we wanted to capture and it felt like everyone was really feeling the spirit."
"New Baby For Christmas" was produced by Jake Gear and recorded by Logan Matheny at Historic RCA Studio A and features performances by Kris Donegan (electric guitar), Chris Scruggs (steel guitar), Lex Price (bass), Jerry Roe (drums), Mike Rojas (piano),
Eamon McLoughlin (fiddle) and Kristen Rogers (BGVs).
This fall, Whitters wrapped up a national tour with
Jon Pardi and Lainey Wilson, made her Red Rocks debut supporting
Midland on October 22, and played her first headline show in Nashville in over two years that garnered a rave review from The Tennessean who proclaimed, "Whitters' first headlining
Music City set in 31 months highlighted not just where she is as a person and professional at 33 years old. Instead, it offered a sense of how successful her next 31 months and 33 years could potentially be."
"...one of the most appealing country singers and songwriters working today." - The New Yorker
"The songs on Raised could be about anyone's life in Shueyville, but their specificity is what makes them feel so intimate and lived in." - New York Magazine
"Whitters has proven herself a stellar songwriter and artist in equal measure." - Billboard
"...it's almost as if the Iowa native was created in the heavens above for this very moment." - Top40-Charts.com
Tour Dates:
11/1: Scranton, PA - The Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple
11/9: Tacoma, WA - Steel Creek
11/16: Denver, CO - Grizzly Rose
11/20: Nashville, TN - Opry NextStage Live In Concert
12/7: Kansas City, MO - PBR Big Sky: A Coors Banquet Bar
12/8: Duluth, GA - Gas South Arena
3/17-19: Willowbank, Australia - CMC Rocks
5/16: Madison, WI - Kohl Center
Arena #
5/17: St. Paul, MN - Xcel
Energy Center #
5/19: Lincoln, NE - Pinnacle Bank
Arena #
5/21: Denver, CO - Ball
Arena #
5/24: Salt Lake City, UT - USANA Amphitheatre #
5/26: Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre #
5/28: Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl #
5/30: Phoenix, AZ - Ak-Chin Pavilion #
5/31: Palm Springs, CA - Acrisure
Arena #
6/16-17: Winsted, MN - Winstock Festival 2023
7/20-22: Eau Claire, WI - Country Jam 2023
# - with Shania Twain
This Iowa-born, Nashville-based rising Country star scored her breakthrough moment in 2020 with the release of her self-funded debut album THE DREAM, which was praised as "the year's deepest country album" (The Washington Post) and went on to appear on more than 15 year-end best of lists including #1 on both Stereogum's "10 Best Country Albums of 2020" and Garden & Gun's "Best Southern Albums of 2020" list. The subsequent deluxe album LIVING THE DREAM found Whitters' self-fulfilling THE DREAM's prophecy and enlisting her friends and collaborators Brent Cobb, Jordan Davis, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna,
Little Big Town, and
Trisha Yearwood to appear on five new songs, leading NPR's
Fresh Air to call her "one of the most interesting voices in country music." In 2021 alone, Whitters toured with
Luke Combs and Midland, was named the inaugural Opry NextStage Artist of the year, scored her first CMT
Music Award nomination for "Breakthrough Video of the Year" ("Fillin' My Cup" feat.
Little Big Town) and received her first GRAMMY nomination for Song of the Year for "A Beautiful Noise," which was written by Ruby Amanfu, Brandi Carlile,
Brandy Clark, Alicia Keys, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna,
Linda Perry and Hailey Whitters, and performed by
Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile. On March 18, 2022, Whitters released her third studio album RAISED via Pigasus / Songs & Daughters / Big Loud, followed by her debut headline
Heartland Tour, performances at Tortuga
Music Festival and Stagecoach Festival, and a national tour with
Jon Pardi and Lainey Wilson. Now boasting over 150 million streams across her catalog, Whitters' breakout single "Everything She Ain't" is currently climbing multiple charts and has inspired multiple viral TikTok trends.
