MusicRowPics: Krystal Keith

Show Dog-Universal’s Krystal Keith stopped by the MusicRow office yesterday (Oct. 23) to preview songs from her upcoming debut album, Whiskey & Lace, which releases Dec. 10. Keith, who resides in Oklahoma, took three years to complete the project, co-writing with top songwriters including Craig Wiseman, Bobby Pinson, Rodney Clawson, Lynn Hutton and Chris Tompkins, and selecting songs for the project. “I realized through the process that I love co-writing even more than writing by myself,” says Keith. “I like to bounce ideas off another creative person.”
During her visit, Keith performed the album’s title track, which she co-wrote with Clawson and Hutton. She also performed “Doin’ It,” which was penned by Pinson and Keith’s father, Country superstar Toby Keith. “I’ve never actually co-written a song with him, but he is a mentor,” says Keith. “I’ll take songs to him for direction or advice. He co-wrote three or four songs for my album.”
She worked with songwriter/producer Nathan Chapman on the project. “He’s one of the most talented people I’ve been around, and I’ve been around a lot of creative people,” says Keith. She co-wrote her current single, “Get Your Redneck On” with Chapman. “One day I thought, ‘You know, there hasn’t been a song about being a redneck from a female perspective since Gretchen Wilson’s “Redneck Woman.”‘ When we met to write, he mentioned the exact same idea and I got so excited about that. Nathan’s not a redneck, so he’d ask, ‘How does a redneck do this?’ or ‘How would a redneck say that?'”
“Get Your Redneck On” is a laid-back approach to the redneck lifestyle, according to Keith. “In high school, me and my friends would park our trucks around a campfire and listen to music. We’d go muddin’ during the day. When we were writing ‘Get Your Redneck On,’ I knew it couldn’t be a hardcore redneck song; it’s got to portray the other side of it.”
Backed by a guitarist and keyboard player (who also provided some tightly woven harmonies), Keith wrapped her three-song performance with an excellent cover of the bluesy classic “Son of a Preacher Man.” It’s another testament to the variety that permeates Keith’s music. “I’m really eclectic,” she says. “I love all the phases country has gone through–the rock, the red dirt, all of them. I wanted to incorporate all my favorite phases into my music, so I took time making sure we have a variety of songs.”
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