Not caring what people think can be easier said than done, especially when you share your life in the spotlight and on social media. For rising female country music artist, Charly Reynolds, she has decided to do just that and release music true to herself, with no financial backing from a label. While some may say the odds are against her, she is done caring what “people think” and is going after her dreams of writing and recording music with the stories and sound she has always wanted to put out into the world. And as a new fan of her music, I am so glad she did. Charly has released her debut album, Off The Record, a collection of her favorite songs she has written. Charly talked with me about all that led up to this release, including moving from Orlando to Nashville at 18, bypassing college, and diving into recording music as an independent artist. Read on to learn more about Charly and what makes this collection of songs so meaningful to her plus her newest release, “A Little Christmas”.
Creating Her Own Sound in Music City
Charly grew up loving music of all genres, but country music quickly became her favorite to write and perform. She didn’t hesitate at 18 years old to make the move to Music City. With her parent’s support to see if she could make her country music dreams happen before attending college, she started writing and recording music immediately and hasn’t stopped. After releasing many hit singles such as “She Ain’t Me” and an EP, she had fans longing for a full album. She was nervous about putting an album out with all the time, money, and unknown outcome of how successful it would be as an independent artist, but she had to trust it would do good, and she is grateful to anyone who listens to the album. Now, Charly is glad she did it and has this collection of her most loved songs for fans to enjoy.
Creating Off The Record
When selecting the songs for this album, Charly had a lot to choose from including the title track. At first, she didn’t want to pick a song title as the album name, but she thought Off The Record would be such a cool album name and capture the album as a whole. The single “Off The Record” is a fun take on a wife getting even with her no-good husband. Charly released a music video for this one with all the nostalgic housewife vibes. In the video, Charly tells her friend about being questioned about her husband missing. She sings, “But off the record, ‘tween you and me I’ve been lying straight through my teeth. He’s sleeping in a bed he made, and now that bed’s six feet deep. You’d understand if you only knew all the hell that he put me through. My guilt is light as a feather, I’ve never felt better, but that’s off the record.”
Another fun single on the album is “People Think”. Charly told me how in the music industry and on social media, people love to make assumptions about other people’s lives. “I get tired of worrying about what people think (and) the song is about not caring anymore. I’ve found over the last couple of years that I have to not care about what people think and just do my thing. Life is so much easier when you are joyful and don’t care and just live your life,” says Charly. In this funny music video, Charly shows up to church dressed to the nines and gets lots of stares from the congregation and the preacher, but she keeps fanning herself while listening to the sermon and doesn’t care if people judge her.
“People think that I’m rich,
– Charly Reynolds
But this Louis is as fake as it gets,
They say to slim down,
“Girl, you could stand to lose a few pounds,”
No matter what, they’re gonna talk,
I guess you just can’t please ’em all.
So let ’em think I’m crazy,
Raising hell on Saturday,
I can be a lady,
Sipping on some champagne all night,
I’ll make those heads turn, eyes roll,
Dressed to the nines,
I guess that it’s a real good thing,
That I don’t care what people,
I don’t care what people think.”
What I also love about this album is how Charly included both fun and sentimental songs. In the song “Visiting Hours,” she sings of how great it would be if heaven had visiting hours so we could see our loved ones again. This is one of her favorite songs she has written. It is about her brother who passed away when she was five years old. Charly wanted to write a song about him for a long time, but she didn’t want it to be a sad, depressing, heart-wrenching song. She wanted it to be a more positive, joyful thing, like a bittersweet memory of whoever the song is about for you. She didn’t write it for years because she couldn’t think of a title or concept that she liked well enough. Then one day it all fell into place and was something special. She hadn’t planned to release the song, it was more for herself, but the more she played it out and listened to it the more she thought it could be good for people to have and listen to. Charly hopes people receive this album as a work of art and hopes there’s a song every listener can relate to in some way.
“If you make friends with an angel,
-Charly Reynolds
Maybe they could let me in,
Yeah, do me a favor.
‘Cause I wouldn’t miss it,
Been sittin’ here wishin’ they’d open those gates,
Even just for a minute,
I’d be right on time,
Be the first one in line,
And I’d show up with flowers,
If Heaven had visiting hours.”
A Little Christmas + 2025 Plans
Charly has lots in store for Christmas and the new year ahead. She just released a super fun country Christmas song, “A Little Christmas” that fits right into her signature sound.
Charly will be on the road in 2025 and wants to play more shows in Texas as her style of music fits right into the Texas country music honky tonk sound. She loves the Texas country music scene and has an acoustic tour with artist, Belles, planned for early next year with several Texas dates. I’m excited to see all Charly accomplishes as an independent female country music artist. To follow along on her journey, tour dates, and new music releases, follow her @charlyreynoldsmusic on Instagram, YouTube, and visit charlyreynolds.com.
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Farm Girl With Curls 