By Gabby Barrett's own admission, she's lived a lot of life in a short amount of time. The country world first met Barrett in 2018 when she was an 18-year-old contestant on American Idol. Five years and a few hit songs later, the 23-year-old burgeoning superstar is now readying her sophomore album.
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It's not only Barrett's career that has evolved over the past few years. In fact, Barrett has debatably seen the most growth in her personal life. In October 2019, she married Cade Foehner, whom she met on her season of Idol. And as of October 2022, she is a mother of two — a girl and a boy. After reaching multiple milestones both personally and professionally in recent years, Barrett is taking a moment to reflect and realize the phase she's currently in: her glory days.
This realization is what inspired her new single, "Glory Days," which is the lead-off track from her forthcoming sophomore album. Co-written by Barrett, Emily Weisband, Seth Mosley and James McNair, the track focuses mostly on the family side of her life, as Barrett realizes that the season she's currently in is truly precious.
"[The song is about] all the things that are happening with career and the kids and the family and just the awesome life that we are getting to live right now. I am in the middle of my glory days," Barrett tells Wide Open Country in a recent interview. "We wrote it in the sense of it's right now and not something that we are looking back on, but something we will get to look back on. I can kind of write down and sing a snapshot of my life right now."
Listen below:
The song features rich imagery of the simple, yet picture-perfect moments that comprise a life well lived. Some of the lyrical highlights in the verses include "barefoot babies laughin' and pickin' daisies," "a first sip of coffee in a quiet house" and the "slow roll of a porch swing." These sweet images aren't just imaginations on the parts of the songwriters. They are real moments plucked from the simple life Barrett aims to lead with her husband and two children.
"The more simple life is, the less stress you have. At least that's how it's played out for me and for my family," she says. "Seeing my family roam around in the yard and being dirty in paint or chalk or whatever and playing in the dirt, snacks all over the yard, it's chaotically beautiful."
Barrett continues in the chorus, concluding that she wouldn't change a thing about her "chaotically beautiful" life.
"This is as good as it gets, I don't know what I would change / I love this life that we live, I love that smile on your face / No, we ain't gotta look back at all those pictures in frames / And wish it'd all stay the same / 'Cause right here, right now I say, 'These are the glory days,'" she sings.
Barrett and her family live a straightforward, unfiltered life when at home in Texas or Nashville, but there is another side to the Pennsylvania-born singer. When not at home, she plays the role of the country star who travels around the country performing in front of thousands of fans. This role, Barrett admits, is one that she's had to grow into over the years.
"I'm a very naturally introverted person," she says. "I've really had to work over the years of not being that person that stands in a corner of the room and doesn't say anything to anybody and that gets a bad rap because of it."
"I have to be very extroverted in what I do, and I understand that comes along with the job that I signed up for, which I love," she adds. "I love doing what I do, but at the same time, I am introverted, I am mom, I am wife, I am friend, I am sister and a lot of different titles."
Although her family life and life on the road are "polar opposites," it takes both to make Barrett who she is now. She'll share more from her musical side on her forthcoming sophomore album, which she hopes to release this fall. Barrett says the project showcases a more "mature" perspective compared to her first album Goldmine, which produced her 7x Platinum revenge song, "I Hope."
"I like to explain it humbly as a step up from Goldmine," she says. "...It has a great mix of mid-tempo, then you have a ballad, then you have a couple of upbeats that are so fun and very country. It definitely leans more country, which I really love. I just really want to establish my roots in country music and let everybody know that I'm here to stay and I'm not going anywhere."
Barrett is touring throughout the summer, playing her own shows and opening for Kane Brown on his Drunk or Dreaming Tour.
