Artist Spotlight - Hannah Juanita

Hannah Juanita’s Tennessee Songbird twangs (“Hardliner Blues”) and twirls (“Granny’s Cutlass Supreme”) with effortless elegance (the title track). We recently caught up with the Nashville-based singer-songwriter about the seamless collection.

“The record is a collection of new songs and older songs that I reworked coming off touring on my first record,” Juanita says. “Then the next spring I recorded it at the Bomb Shelter here in Nashville with Mose Wilson producing.”

Alt-Country Specialty Chart: Describe the new album’s common lyrical theme.

Hannah Juanita: I didn’t really set out with a theme, but everything I wrote that had a similar theme about me and my relationship with music and being a musician. I was really new to performing and pursuing music with my first record and then the pandemic hit. I was like, “Am I gonna keep doing this?” Then after a year of touring I was like, “Yeah, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna cut another record.”

Do any particular songs represent that theme?

The Joe Nixon cover “Mother Country Music” really fits with that theme. Not a lot of people know “Mother Country Music.” Vern Gosdin and Kenny Rogers covered that song in the Seventies. I was accepting my life as a musician for better or worse. I’ve been singing that song for years and wanted people to hear that statement.

The fifth track ‘Honky Tonkin’ for Life’ also fits the theme. Bold statement.

(Laughs) Yeah. I felt pretty restless until I started diving into music and realizing that that’s what I need to focus on in life and to be happy – whether that’s writing or performing. I really enjoy it. I obviously don’t know what’s gonna happen or if I’ll always be performing, but I can always write and sing for myself. That’s the theme. I’ll be singing like a songbird whether anyone’s listening or not.

Describe what makes you happy about making music.

Good question. Performing is fun and exciting and I love the energy. I love playing music in a band with people, but I guess I’m just one of those ADD artist types. Writing is the one thing that can hold my attention for hours. I can just sit and work on a song and go through ideas and concepts all day long. Honestly, the hardest part is social media. I don’t enjoy that part, but the writing is fulfilling. I end up writing songs any time I sit down to practice writing songs.

Do you prefer writing solo or co-writing?

I prefer to write alone, but co-writing is fun. Co-writing has to be the right thing because sometimes it’s too many cooks in the kitchen. Sometimes it really works out. I can work fine with others, but working alone is more my style. It’s easier for me to sit at home alone and take my time. I do think it’s important to co-write too, though.

I love your song titles like ‘Granny’s Cutlass Supreme’ and ‘Loose Caboose.’

(Laughs) “Granny’s Cutlass Supreme” actually was a song prompt. The title was given to me to write a song for a homeless organization called Open Table here in town. We had maybe twenty prompts for a co-write, but the prompt for that one was “Grandma’s Cutlass Supreme.” My grandmother drove a lavender Lincoln Town Car for years with a white leather interior.

Describe your grandmother. 

My grandmother was always all dolled up and spunky. I was picturing this really funky granny with purple hair when we wrote “Granny’s Cutlass Supreme.” I wrote a lot of the song and took it off to the guys and we finished it up together. That was one of my first really successful co-writes. It was a blast to work on and sing. I don’t think I would have written something like that on my own without that prompt. I love that it’s about this woman who’s a granny, but she’s living her best life and not worrying about anybody else.

-Brian T. Atkinson