Wonder Woman Wednesday: Kalie Shorr

I first heard of Kalie Shorr when I attended a Song Suffragettes show last summer. I had followed the group on social media, so I knew she was a regular - and I quickly understood why when she performed. Her songs are well crafted and she has the voice to back them up. In addition to all of that, she is always sweet and supportive of other females in the country genre - so I thought she would be a perfect fit for our Wonder Women Wednesday feature.

How did you first get started in music and songwriting?

I was singing as long as I can remember - since I was two. My mom used to sing in church, and that's really where I got started. It's kind of crazy how you distinctly remember certain moments of your life that seemed really irrelevant at the time - I don't know if you know what I'm talking about - but when I was six I wrote my first song in history class. I remember it was about a sleepover, because I hadn't had a sleepover because I was six years old [laughs]. I remember sitting there and writing it, and it was about staying up too late and drinking soda. It was probably the most God awful thing you ever heard in your life, but I very distinctively remember that. Being like "wow, this is so cool! I can channel my emotions into music." After that, I filled up dozens of notebooks. It really came to fruition when I learned to play guitar when I was twelve and could actually put my songs to music, so that was how that went. There was no turning back after that!

How did you first get involved with Song Suffragettes?

I had met Todd before I moved to Nashville. He had reached out to me online about some opportunities he had, and I was like "well I don't even live in Nashville yet." We had reconnected when I moved to Nashville, and had talked a little bit. Probably [in] October 2013 … he was like "what do you think about doing this all female show - Song Suffragettes? Not a girl group, but it's a group of girls that get together and play the songs they wrote." I was like "I love that idea! Let's do it."  So they auditioned a few other girls to be a part of it, and we had the first show in March of 2014. It's been amazing to be a part of.

Kalie performing with the other girls at Song Suffragettes at The Listening Room.

Kalie performing with the other girls at Song Suffragettes at The Listening Room.

What has that experience been like the past year and half or so?

It has been very eye-opening to me. Every week I'm not sure why they let me be a part of this. Everybody is so good! [laughs] But it's been really eye opening because ... I didn't go to Belmont which is typically where a lot of people meet people, I didn't already have a team in place, or a record deal or anything like that. So I [was] kind of at a loss for how to meet friends and co-writers. I would just cold walk up to people and be like "hey, do you want to write a song with me!?" and they'd be like "I don't know who you are" [laughs]. So it was a great place to meet girls. I've met some of my best friends, I've met co-writers there.

I think it's just so important to have that culture of girls supporting each other in the industry.

That's really what it's turned into, is this network of females who just crazily support each other and are always looking out for each other. It has been an amazing thing.

I think with the help of Song Suffragettes and things like the 'tomato' article, Nashville is becoming more aware of the need for female writers and artists. Do you think Nashville has changed much in that regard since you moved there?

Absolutely. Kelsea Ballerini was one of the first girls to play Song Suffragettes. She played the second show for about fifteen people, back when we were at a way smaller location - backstage at 3rd & Lindsley. [Just to see her growth over this year], and I think that the whole "tomato" thing happened right when her song was in the top 15 or top 10 - and I really think people [took] a step back and [were] like "oh my gosh, this is actually a problem" - I think that really helped her get to that number one spot that no female had really gotten to for a few years. No debut female had done that since 2007 I think. It had been awhile.

But I think that really helps having Kelsea out there trailblazing for the women in music. I think that is totally invaluable to our cause.

I had the experience when I was taking label meetings when I first got to town, that people would say "oh, you're just too much like Taylor Swift! blah blah blah." Well, just because I'm a girl with a guitar doesn't mean that I'm like Taylor Swift. Everybody struggles to find their own sound, and it's been a slow process for me, but I think the thing that really helped Kelsea is that she did have the Taylor Swift vibe going for her. She definitely brings something so unique to her music as well, but for the right label to see that that's actually a good thing and it really taps into that audience that wants to hear "Taylor Swift country." So I think that was just a really eye opening experience for all of these label heads and the gatekeepers that everybody talks about. Now, the word on the street that I'm hearing, is "so and so is looking for a girl! They want somebody who sounds like Kelsea Ballerini." So it's definitely turning the tides and opening doors [for people] to see that it can and will work.

You don't have to answer this, but I was just wondering if you identify as a feminist.

Oh, absolutely! [laughs]

It's surprising how many people I ask that get defensive or avoid the question, so it's nice to hear you say that!

Well I think people think it's a dirty word. I think at the end of the day it's just about girls wanting to be treated equally to men, and just [fighting] for our own recognition. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

I saw on Twitter your posts about the company that made a pizza cutter shaped like a power tool and said 'not for girls.' Why did you decide you wanted to do something to change that?

It just bothered me so much. I wrote a song called "Fight Like A Girl," which I only wrote like three weeks ago, but I don't think any song of mine has gotten that much of a reaction from people. When I posted the thing about the pizza cutter and got all stirred up about that, I had just gotten back from a show I played in Arkansas - and it was a ton of tween girls. I had this girl come up to me, and she was like twelve or thirteen, and she had me sign her guitar. I played a string of female empowerment songs, I played "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" by Kitty Wells, which is from the 1950's and super feminist before it was even cool. I played that and then went into "Fight Like A Girl," and she said "thank you so much for playing your songs about female empowerment" - she worded it differently because she was like twelve - but she said "it just makes me feel like I can do anything. I feel like I don't hear that very often, from boys at school, and you just made me feel like I can do anything I want to do." I almost started crying, it was really hard not to. I was like "oh honey! Let me hug you!" [laughs]. Girls are so impressionable, and I have a niece who's five years old, and they don't really think about the causation behind it. They just see "oh, this is a power tool. This is not for girls. I can't use power tools." They don't really think to question that when they're five or six years old, you know?

So kids are seeing stuff like that and they're just falling into these roles that society has created, without even really knowing why they're doing it.

It just really bothered me. And it was a dumb joke. If it was funny and people just laughed it off, then sure. But it wasn't even funny at all! So I wrote a letter and they're going to try to get it off the shelves, but it created quite a stink on social media so I'm hoping something happens with it. I think it's just looking out for the younger generation who might not be old enough to question something like that, and just accept it blindly.

Back to songwriting - I know you write a lot with the other Song Suffragette girls, what is one of your favorite songs you've written with one of them?

I think "Fight Like A Girl" was a really cool one because I wrote it with Hailey Steele - she wrote "Boyfriend" for RaeLynn and I've loved her music for awhile, so I was really excited to write with her. It was the first time we'd ever written together. I brought in Lena Stone who's another Song Suffragettes regular, and my best friend in the world. It was really cool to be able to sit down and talk about how we felt about being called "tomatoes," and get to the emotions behind it as opposed to just laughing it off or saying it's ridiculous. [We thought] "that was actually kind of hurtful." We've all wanted to be country singers our whole lives, and to have someone say "nope, sorry you can't do that. It's not going to work on radio!" was like "well that's not cool!" [We channeled that into a song, and] I was worried it was going to be cheesy to write a Song Suffragettes theme song. I wanted to go about it carefully. Lena had that idea, and it turned into something magical. So I think that's currently my favorite. I've written some other good ones that I really like - I wrote "Roses Are Red" with Lena and Morgan Dawson. But I think "Fight Like A Girl" is a standout, and I just really feel that one in my heart.

What are your goals with your music career?

I am really working on the artist stuff. I would love to get a record deal, but at the end of the day songwriting is my number one priority.

I would be happy to either be the person in the arena singing the song, or be the person sitting in the front row watching someone else sing a song I wrote.

I love performing, and I feel like my twenties is a really good time to pursue that. But at the end of the day it's all about creating honest music that I believe in. Obviously I'd love to be on the cover of Rolling Stone and win a Grammy, but overall just writing [music] that people can connect to and relate to is at the top of the list.

A place for supporting women in music.