Album Review – Hailey Whitters – “Corn Queen”

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Classic Country (#510.1), Country Kitsch (#578) with some Country Pop (#530.2) on the Country DDS.

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Endearing herself to you with simple but prophetic country-isms sung on top of traditional but sensible instrumentation, Hailey Whitters makes for one of the most navigable bridges between the independent and mainstream, and the classic and contemporary. She offers something entertaining and enlightening to just about everyone, and on her new album Corn Queen, for 16 solid tracks.

In many ways, it was Kacey Musgraves who seeded the appetite for this type of kitschy country underpinned with meaningful songwriting in the modern country appetite. But Spacey Kacey virtually abandoned the space, which has allowed Whitters to thrive in it, and offer something few if anyone else is willing or able to fill. Song after song on Corn Queen impresses you with its clever turns, country sound and attitude, or impact on the emotional Richter Scale.

That said, you can’t expect a traditional country record here in totality. Corn Queen comes from major label in Big Loud—the same label as Morgan Wallen. Tracks like “High on a Heartbreak” and “White Limousine” remind you of mainstream radio fare, while three and four co-writers with common names like Jessie Jo Dillon and Ben Hayslip result in a few formulaic turns of phrase. Some of these tracks were definitely slotted for contemporary playlisting, even if it’s fair to characterize the album overall as more traditional.

The opening song “High On The Hog” was written all by Hailey Whitters herself though, and is an excellent little traditional country tune about how despite all of her recognition, Whitters remains in the up and coming class, still fighting for all the attention she can get. Hailey didn’t have a hand in writing the song “Casseroles” at all, but it’s an excellent performance by her, and a stellar arrangement by producer Jake Gear who was tasked with straddling a tough line on this record between two country worlds, and does a commendable job of it.


The majority of Corn Queen is spent taking colloquial sayings native to rural America, and making fun country songs out of them in a way that graces the album with a cohesive theme and enjoyable disposition. From shotgun weddings, to hitchin’ your wagon, to nails in the coffin, Hailey Whitters takes the cornpone and makes it cool. There’s a playful nature about her approach that keeps everything accessible, like the funky sound of the song “Wholesome.” But she’s not afraid to get sentimental and sad either.

Appearances by Charles Wesley Godwin, Molly Tuttle, and The Wilder Blue further ingratiate this mainstream-facing artist with independent audiences, and those tracks are some of the album’s best. “Corn Queen” really is a great way to characterize the Hailey Whitters experience. She’s received recognition and accolades from some of country music’s highest institutions, yet like a corn crop, there’s an everyman commonality to her and her music, and you can still see her perform for $25.

Though Whitters and Corn Queen might not compete with the top crop of critically acclaimed independent releases this growing season, amid the cash cow crop of heifers in the mainstream, it will distinguish itself from the herd, and perhaps lead the pack, helping to put actual country songs and sounds back in the popular genre. That’s what makes an artist like Hailey Whitters and an album like Corn Queen so important.

As she sings in the fourth verse of the song “Anything Like Me”:

Take your country music ringin’ true and loud
Proud to wave that flag, keep your boots on the ground
You’ll die on that hill, that’s how it’s gonna be
That’s everything to you, if you’re anything like me

1 3/4 Guns Up (8/10)

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Purchase/stream Corn Queen

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