Song appears on debut If It Wasn’t For You
Capitol Nashville’s Caylee Hammack is sharing more of her unique journey with the gripping new song “Forged In The Fire.” Taken from her forthcoming debut album If it Wasn’t For You available on August 14th, the autobiographical track details how Hammack’s house burned down while she was away on a songwriting retreat losing just about everything – except for a few song-inspiring pieces such as her grandmother’s quilt. Written by Hammack, with Thomas Finchum and Andy Skib, the song’s lyrics are thought-provoking asking “When does a phoenix learn how to fly, Do I get my wings when I stop asking why.” Hammack revealed more behind the song in a special interview and video premiere exclusively with PEOPLE, who declares her anticipated debut album as a “lavish feast of autobiographical storytelling, served up with catchy hooks and the singer’s power-packed voice.”
“My father used to tell me that all of the strongest and most beautiful things are forged in fire. Iron is weak until you work it in fire. Glass can’t be blown without immense heat,” elaborates Hammack. “I grew up with this saying as a motto handed down when I needed reminding and it was rarely thought of; until I had an electrical fire at my home in 2017. I lost so much, but gained so much more. I learned that material things don’t matter. The people who surrounded me and helped me find the salvageable pieces loved me and I wasn’t alone through the hardship. Life was dark at the time, but the love I felt around me was deep. God’s seen me through, and also given me some stories to tell. What more could I ask for?”
Hammack’s upcoming debut record takes listeners on an intimate journey, from growing up in Ellaville, GA, braving a medical scare and coming out the other side of a bad love that was the catalyst for her turning down a scholarship to Belmont University and ultimately arriving in Nashville, TN. With Hammack co-writing and co-producing every track on the 13-song collection, the album exudes that Hammack is all about the truth, the complete, whole unvarnished truth. Some of country music’s most potent women have also thrown in on Hammack’s debut. With appearances by Reba, Ashley McBryde and Tenille Townes, Hammack is setting a bar for women across the genre. Hammack also continues to show her reverence for classic country music, just releasing a collaboration with country music icon Alan Jackson: a special rendition of Don Williams’ “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good.”
Currently nominated for ACM “New Female Artist Of The Year” and “Music Event Of The Year,” Caylee Hammack has been noted as an “Artist To Watch” by outlets including The Bobby Bones Show, Rolling Stone and HITS Magazine for her “voice to move mountains” (Rolling Stone). With her breakout Top 30 single “Family Tree” marking the most-added single at country radio by a female artist in over three years, Hammack has “created a kind of country music that’s larger—and brighter—than real life” (HITS Magazine). The Capitol Nashville recording artist has previously brought her unforgettable live set to opening slots for Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Trisha Yearwood, Brothers Osborne and some of country music’s biggest festivals.
