Tanner Adell: From Buckle Bunny to Going Blonde

Pop-country star Tanner Adell knows exactly who she is, and we love her for that. In her sit down with Bunnie, this stunning soul shares more about her journey as a biracial kid adopted into a Mormon family, navigating life between California and Wyoming, and the mind-blowing moment she discovered her birth family through a surprise DNA match. Tanner talks about going from writing songs in her closet to slaying the Super Bowl stage on Beyoncé’s halftime show and landing on Cowboy Carter. She shares what it was like moving to Nashville, finding her crew, and how her viral breakout Buckle Bunny gave her the confidence to take up space in country music. Tanner also opens up about the beautiful story behind her debut album Going Blonde and the deep connection it holds to her biological mother. Tanner Adell: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuOqwJc2hyWmuYy8CV4onug | TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@tanneradell?lang=en | IG https://www.instagram.com/tanneradell/?hl=en Watch Full Episodes & More: www.dumbblondeunrated.com

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:29Bunnie XO?

  Hey guys, I need to ask you a question. I want to know, why in the hell are you not on Patreon? I don't think you guys even realize how much content we have on Patreon. Let me break it down for you. We have the Bunny XO Show, we have Meet the D-Fords, we have Popaganda, we have more shows that we're adding, and not to mention, we have the visuals of the podcast. Head over to www.patreon.com/dumblonddownblond podcast and sign up. Bunny XO She was a Vegas bunny Bunny XO She changed my life Dumb Blonde Podcast

• 1:03Speaker 02

  And Bunny XO Jelly Roll's like Bunny XO This Bunny Bunny XO Tell me about Bunny XO Bunny XO on Barney

• 1:21Bunnie XO?

  Is this thing on? What's up you sexy motherfuckers? Welcome to another episode of Dumb Blonde. Today, I have my girl Tanner Adele in the house, baby.

• 1:31Speaker 03

  Yay, hello.

• 1:33Bunnie XO?

  Hi, I feel like this has been a long time coming.

• 1:35Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 1:36Bunnie XO?

  Like, we've been talking about this for I think like a year and a half.

• 1:39Speaker 03

  It's been a while, yeah.

• 1:41Bunnie XO?

  You have been so busy, and I'm so fucking proud of you, girl. We're gonna get into like the whole journey and everything, but I just wanted to tell you face to face, like, I'm so excited for you.

• 1:51Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 1:52Bunnie XO?

  Couldn't happen to a better human. Like, I'm just so excited for you.

• 1:56Speaker 03

  I appreciate that. It's like, fun how mutual the feeling is, and watching you just blossom. I knew you before I knew Jelly Roll. But watching you guys, it's just, I mean, Happy New Year.

• 2:10Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 2:10Speaker 03

  But like last year was really amazing for I feel like both of us.

• 2:13Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, no, it was crazy. My husband's so funny. He's like, tell Tanner, I said, what up? And he's like, tell her to tell the Jelly Roll story. I'm like, nobody wants to talk about you.

• 2:23Speaker 03

  It's true. He, he saved me, you know, he's, he's such a good guy, but.

• 2:28Bunnie XO?

  We'll get into that later.

• 2:29Speaker 03

  Is that what he calls it? I gotta start calling it that.

• 2:31Bunnie XO?

  Uh, yeah, I was like, nobody wants to talk about you. We talk about you all the time on here. He's like, stop bombarding my freaking interviews, dude. I learned some really cool stuff about you that I got to research whenever I was looking you up that I didn't know. And I, I, you have like a really cool story that I, I was like, I always knew about the, the fashion, the hair, the makeup, the voice. You know, I knew about all that, but I didn't know like what made you you and where you came from. And I think that that would be really cool to kind of dive into with you.

• 3:01Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, it's, um, I think it's a story that I've kind of, I've been careful to tell. And telling little things here and there and kind of gauging the temperature of my audience and, and honestly, how safe it is. Like how willing I'm to be or how vulnerable I'm willing to be.

• 3:22Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 3:22Speaker 03

  Um, and I mean, what specifically are you?

• 3:28Bunnie XO?

  Talking about?

• 3:29Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 3:29Bunnie XO?

  Well, let's just take it all the way. So first of all, I just want to let you know, my audience will, is so safe. They are the sweetest humans. They will just embrace you if they haven't, or if they're already not buckle bunnies. You know what I'm saying?

• 3:41Speaker 03

  Right, right.

• 3:42Bunnie XO?

  But I, here, people come here and they just tell their, their stories of like, you know, everything that's happened to them up to where they are. And I kind of take people on this journey to paint the picture of like the person behind the music. You know, of course your music speaks for itself because obviously, I mean, we just saw you on the halftime show with Beyonce. So obviously you're doing your thug thizzle, you know, but I want people to connect with you on a personal level. So you were adopted as a child.

• 4:08Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 4:09Bunnie XO?

  Can you take us on that journey and like kind of through your childhood a little bit?

• 4:13Speaker 03

  It is a very long and windy road as to how I ended up here. Yeah. Um, but yes, I was adopted. I was a baby. I was like a day old. Um, you know, it was an agreement that my parents already knew that I was going to be born sometime soon. So they were ready for it. Oh. But I am adopted. I have four siblings who are also all adopted. I'm the middle child. Are they all blood? Yes, all of us are biracial. None of us are like blood related at all. Okay. Um, all from different families, but my parents couldn't have their own children. My mom had wanted to adopt for a really long time. She would say as a kid, like she always said, I want to adopt. Her little brother's adopted.

• 4:56Speaker 03

  Um, and so she had always wanted to adopt and then, you know, she's very religious. I was also raised Mormon. I was adopted into a Mormon family. Um, and so she always says, she just feels like God was telling her when it was time to adopt. Oh. After she found out she wouldn't be able to have children. Hmm. Um, so I, I grew up in a really unique kind of households, um, with just that little bit. Uh, but on top of all of that, I grew up kind of between two places. I kind of had two homes and a lot of my, a lot of my friends in California had no idea that all of my family in my summer times were spent in Wyoming.

• 5:39Speaker 03

  So my mom grew up with horses and, and she did rodeo. She was a rodeo queen. And, uh, she would do a year of school in California, in Santa Barbara, and then a year of school in Wyoming, where my grandma's from and where my grandpa's from. Um, and flip flopped back and forth between school years as a kid. And she said that was really rough on her and didn't want it to be as intense for me and my siblings. So I grew up going from school year in California and all my like school friends to immediately going to Wyoming as soon as school was out. Um, and kind of living a completely different life out there. Um, it was, you know, maybe around the time that I was.

• 6:23Speaker 03

  Fourteen or fifteen that I started realizing that I was very different from a lot of my friends and and I only had one friend that was adopted. And she was the same race as her parents. She was white. They were white. And I just realized there was a lot of things that I was kind of going through that I wasn't sure was totally normal.

• 6:48Bunnie XO?

  Did you ever get to meet your biological parents?

• 6:52Speaker 03

  So that's a whole.

• 6:56Speaker 03

  I'll I'll tie that now into this whole of me getting here, I guess, too.

• 7:02Speaker 03

  So I, as a teenager, I was very different from my mom and dad are.

• 7:10Speaker 03

  My mom wears the pants in my family, okay?

• 7:13Bunnie XO?

  She's very alpha.

• 7:14Speaker 03

  Yes, my mom wears the pants. And she is like Ralph Lauren. I am like free people. We could not be any more different. She's very like by the book. I mean, she's extremely religious and I wanted to just like not have to wear shoes to school. And just wanted to sit on the beach and hang out with my friends and and do, you know, fashion design. My grandma taught me how to sew at a really young age, so I was sewing my clothes. And I was just more of a free spirit. So we really, really like bumped heads as I was growing up.

• 7:51Bunnie XO?

  I grew up in an extremely religious household, too.

• 7:54Speaker 03

  Really?

• 7:55Bunnie XO?

  We were we were Southern Pentecostal and it was like almost like a cult. And I mean, I had to wear like dresses down to the ankles, like up to the neck.

• 8:02Speaker 03

  Know that about you.

• 8:03Bunnie XO?

  Oh, yeah, yeah. Super, super religious. I went to private school and everything. How do you think I turned out the way I did? I mean. But I'm just.

• 8:11Bunnie XO?

  But I'm just saying I relate to that because I don't think a lot of people realize how traumatizing.

• 8:16Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 8:17Bunnie XO?

  Religion being pushed on you, especially as a child is. That's what developed my anxiety as an adult is because it was I was told, you're going to hell. If you act like this, you're going to hell, you know, and I couldn't imagine, you know, all of that. All of those things that you're going through as a child. You know, you were adopted, you're trying to find your place in this world and trying to fit in, and you don't feel like you fit in, and then you have that religious trauma on top of it. It's pretty fucking heavy, dude. Listen, nobody wants to give their money away to ridiculous bank fees. It's your money. You shouldn't have to pay somebody just to keep it in an account. That's why I like what Chime is doing. There are no overdraft fees, no monthly fees, and no minimum balance fees. You can also get 5% cash back on your Chime card in a category you choose,

• 9:01Bunnie XO?

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• 9:32Speaker 04

  Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services and Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com/disclosures for details. Hi, I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, board-certified OB-GYN and menopause specialist. My podcast, UnPaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it really takes for women to thrive in the second half of life. Every week, I sit down with medical experts and leading voices to talk about the health issues that matter most. Because UnPaused isn't just about the years you live, but how well you live them. Listen and follow UnPaused with me, Dr. Mary Claire Haver, wherever you get your podcasts.

• 10:14Speaker 03

  And it's, it's, like I said, it wasn't until a little bit later that I realized it's a little bit different to be biracial and adopted, but then also into a Caucasian Mormon family, but also with four siblings who were also biracial but adopted. Like, it was such a like, and obviously I was a teenager. So all of this at once just made me feel so displaced. And that was the first time. That I reached out to a birth family member, my birth father.

• 10:48Bunnie XO?

  How did you find him? How were you able to find them?

• 10:50Speaker 03

  I mean, I didn't have really any information about him until one year, it was my sixteenth birthday, and I got a present in the mail. I'd been at like a summer camp or something and my mom was like, there's something on your bed, like someone sent you something. And I opened it and there was a little bracelet in it and it just said, like, been thinking about you, happy sixteenth birthday, like, love Gilbert. And I was like, who, who is that? And kind of started, I, I mean, I ran outside, called my best friend and I was like, I just got a weird package and a present and I don't know, I think it's like someone from my birth family. And it was, it wasn't just like freely talked about in our home.

• 11:33Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, that's what that was gonna be my next question. So your adoptive parents never really talked about your biological parents?

• 11:39Speaker 03

  No.

• 11:39Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 11:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, my, my little siblings had a little bit of contact with their like birth families. But yeah, it was never really a conversation that I had. And although my gut kind of told me like, is this wrong? Like, or is this someone from my family? And I went back inside and my mom was standing in the bedroom and was holding the note that had his name on it. And she was like, like, so we should talk? And I was like, oh, okay.

• 12:06Bunnie XO?

  Oh, no. So she didn't, she didn't know it was from him?

• 12:09Speaker 03

  She didn't know. She just, you know, probably like someone sent me a little gift or something, she didn't know. And that was, that was the first time that I saw pictures of him. And it was.

• 12:22Bunnie XO?

  How did you feel?

• 12:23Speaker 03

  I mean, it was, it was a lot. It was a lot. Um, I.

• 12:27Bunnie XO?

  Up until that time, you knew you were adopted, though?

• 12:30Speaker 03

  Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 12:32Bunnie XO?

  But you had never seen your biological parents?

• 12:34Speaker 03

  Right, right. So I knew who my dad was, but I didn't know who my birth mom was yet. And at this point, I was kind of just shoving it away because I'm like, I'm sixteen, like, I'm not gonna go out and try and find like my birth family and I don't want to like open that nut. And.

• 12:54Bunnie XO?

  Were you carrying kind of resentment for them because you felt like they abandoned you?

• 12:59Speaker 03

  You know, I, I always had.

• 13:03Speaker 03

  I mean, not in an angry way,

• 13:06Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 13:06Speaker 03

  but definitely in a sad way.

• 13:07Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 13:08Speaker 03

  There were, like I said, me and my mom buttheaded so much growing up that it was like, I would just, you know, try to think about, you know, who's my mom? I bet she, you know, wouldn't be like this, or she would understand me more. And I saw, you know, my friends had, their moms were their best friends. And I never really had that. And, and that as a teenager was really hard.

• 13:32Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 13:32Speaker 03

  Um, my, the little bit of information, my mom even, my adopted mom, told me about, um, my birth father was that they weren't together and it was an affair that she had had. She was married and had two kids with a man and then had an affair. Um, and had chosen to keep me, thank God. Um, but I, um, that was all I really knew. So I had pictures of him, but I didn't have pictures of her yet.

• 13:57Bunnie XO?

  When you first saw that picture of your dad, did you guys look alike? Did you like instantly like, connect with it, like, features? Cause I know the first time I saw a picture of my real mom, I was like, oh my God, I studied her face for hours. Because I was just like, I have her cheekbones. Oh my God, I have her smile. I have her jawline, you know, like, it's crazy when you see a picture of your parent for the first time.

• 14:22Speaker 03

  So, so the first time I saw a picture of him, I was like, I need to see a picture of my mom because I know I don't look like that. I know I don't look like that. Um.

• 14:37Bunnie XO?

  She's like, that is not, that is not my daddy. You are not the father. She's like, is this a joke?

• 14:46Bunnie XO?

  I love the honesty though.

• 14:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 14:48Bunnie XO?

  Because there's a lot of kids who go through this, you know? I, I personally, I'm listening to you talk and I'm like, yes, yes, like this is, it's so relatable.

• 14:56Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, um, I literally was like, I don't, yeah, that can't be my father.

• 15:04Speaker 03

  And kind of just, you know, okay, now we know a little bit more and I think I'm good. You know, I was 16, I was just a baby. So, um, so a couple.

• 15:13Bunnie XO?

  Sorry.

• 15:15Speaker 03

  It's funny. Um, a couple of years later, I finally, uh, and I'm giving you like the real deep deal, but.

• 15:23Bunnie XO?

  No, and I appreciate it too, because it really just humanizes you a lot.

• 15:26Speaker 03

  Totally. Um, I.

• 15:31Speaker 03

  Searched for him on Facebook after a conversation I had had with my, one of my adopted brothers and his wife. And we were just kind of talking about things and he was like, oh yeah, when you were adopted, that was like, that was crazy. And I was like, what do you mean? And he started telling me all of these things that were like, whoa, I had no idea that my adoption had gone down like that. And it kind of set off a little bit of, you know, curiosity and thinking, okay, well, we know what he looks like and I know his name now, like, I should just look him up. And it was me and my sister-in-law. And for some reason, it felt taboo, like we weren't supposed to be doing it. And I think maybe a lot of adopted kids feel that way is you don't want to ask your parents

• 16:14Speaker 03

  questions or make them feel bad, or like, you're not grateful.

• 16:20Bunnie XO?

  Which I feel like is kind of wrong, that like, I feel like children should be able to be like, hey, let's, let's have this open line of communication. Because I feel like when you keep like secrets, or like, make a kid feel like they have to be secretive, that's just extra pressure and added on trauma that, you know, we shouldn't have to fucking deal with.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, I wonder too, because I've, I've met a lot more adopted people now, but I do wonder if just different, you know, different families were different about how open they were.

• 16:53Bunnie XO?

  I'm curious to that, too.

• 16:54Speaker 03

  Most of the people I've met, it was like, kind of just, I don't know, like, an understanding, because it's not like there was any sort of incident where I brought it up and my mom like, freaked out or something. It was just like, oh, like, I don't want to, I don't know, like, make you feel bad that you had to adopt me. But yeah, I, a couple of years after that incident, me and my sister-in-law were just giggling one night and, oh my God, well, a couple of years ago, he sent me a bracelet and I like, know his name and she's like, what? We have to look him up. And I was like, let's do it. Like, I don't care at this point, let's do it. And we found him. I mean,

• 17:36Speaker 03

  He looked very similar to the picture, but I was like, I don't know. Like, there's obviously a lot of black guys on Facebook. Like, I don't know if this, I don't know if this is the right one. And, um.

• 17:46Bunnie XO?

  Just like, hey, are you my dad?

• 17:47Speaker 03

  No, I know, like, how do you continue this? I, I sent him a friend request. And he immediately messaged me back, like, immediately and was like, I, you know, I've been wanting to talk to you, but like, I had an agreement with your parents that, it, you know, until you were 21, that like, I couldn't come trying to find you. So it was like little things like that, but I, I never felt really compelled to like, meet him or, you know, it was just kind of like, okay, like, you made me like, great, like, cool. Like, I'm glad that we like, connected and maybe when I'm a little older, I'll want to, like, see you in person or something. But there was nothing that ever felt like it was pulling me to.

• 18:29Speaker 03

  And then not much longer after that, just a couple of years after that, I, um, I got an ancestry DNA, like, email from a kit that I had taken a few years back. And it was an email that just said, hey, uh, my name's Donnell. I think you're my sister, like, I've been looking for you and here's my number. And you don't have to reach out if you don't want to. And I had known previously, like I said, the only thing I knew was my birth mom had had an affair and that she had been married and had two of her own kids. So I knew I had two half siblings.

• 19:11Bunnie XO?

  That's so hurtful to know that kind of information, too.

• 19:13Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 19:14Bunnie XO?

  Like, I'm really surprised as private as your adopted mom was, that she revealed that to you? Because I feel like that's more hurtful.

• 19:22Speaker 03

  I know. Well, it was the, it was the only thing, I think, they, not only thing, but they only knew so much. And I think my mom was. Definitely because we were so different. Like, I was like, I'm gonna run away, child. You know what I mean? And I think she was always afraid of me trying to leave and go find my birth family because I might like it more with them type of thing, you know? And I, so I knew a little bit of that information. And I was like, oh, yeah, cool. Like, my half-brother, like, I know he existed. Cool, he's reaching out to me. And I texted him immediately. And we got on the phone probably 20 minutes after he had texted me.

• 20:07Speaker 03

  And he was just like, I have been looking for you. And I promised when I was like little, little as a kid that I would find you again. Because he had known about me. He had known about me his whole life and my whole life. And I mean, it was a very cool experience to be able to meet someone who I was related to. And we were sending pictures back and forth of like our hands and our ears. Because I was like, I have really small ears. Like, do you have really small ears? Like, and sending pictures. We have the same exact knees. And I was like, this is so cool to like, finally, after my whole life of, and especially being mixed, it's like, who do I look like?

• 20:48Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, you just want to relate.

• 20:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly. And my whole life being like, I don't look like anyone and no one looks like me. Being able to have that connection. And so we were going through our family tree together. And he, okay, there are these things on Ancestry.

• 21:10Bunnie XO?

  Every time she does that, I know it's gonna be a funny story. Every time she pauses and giggles.

• 21:14Speaker 03

  No, there's, there's these things on, well, I'm learning how to laugh about it.

• 21:21Speaker 03

  Every day I get closer and closer.

• 21:23Bunnie XO?

  Listen, if we don't laugh, we'll cry.

• 21:25Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly. So on ancestry DNA, they have what's called centimorgans. And it basically tells you how related you are to a person. So like 600 centimorgans could be like a cousin and then like 800 could be like your uncle. And 1500 could be like a half sibling and you know, anything higher than 2000 is like really high. So that's like a parent or a sibling. And we're looking at our centimorgans and we're like, we're like pretty high up in centimorgans. Like maybe that's why we look so much alike. There must be like DNA overlap and I don't know, something. And he goes, do you see on your family tree?

• 22:10Speaker 03

  Do you see someone named, I'll just say his name is Bob? Like, do you, do you see someone on your family tree named Bob right there? Like as an uncle? And I was like, yeah, it's saying that that's my uncle. And he's like, that's my uncle. And I was like,

• 22:29Speaker 03

  like on like your mom's side? Cause that's, we share a mom.

• 22:33Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 22:33Speaker 03

  And he was like, no, that's my dad's brother. And I was like, well, it says he's my uncle. So how, and as we're looking at the centimorgans, they were like 3,000 something.

• 22:47Speaker 03

  And we realized that we were a full biological siblings.

• 22:52Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I just got goosebumps.

• 22:54Speaker 03

  And that the guy who had sent me a bracelet that my mom had the affair with and everything, we think my birth mother must have already been pregnant with me.

• 23:05Speaker 03

  When she had the affair and thought that he had gotten her pregnant. But actually it was her legitimate child. And her full blood child to her children and her husband. And put me up for adoption and didn't know.

• 23:21Bunnie XO?

  Oh my gosh.

• 23:22Speaker 03

  So I mean, it was.

• 23:26Speaker 03

  Huge, I can't even, that day I probably blacked out.

• 23:30Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, that's heavy.

• 23:32Speaker 03

  It was a lot and just I had been told, you know, little things here and there. And now it was like this whole like bucket of truth that I was like, whoa, I don't even know if, you know, if I even want, you know, to explore this more, like, I don't know, I'm kind of freaking out. And he, the first thing he was like, I've got to tell our dad that he, that you're his child. Um, because he knew about me, the way that he had found out, like, my birth mother from, you know, and I learned this all after I'd met my actual birth family, but, um, she had put me up for adoption while my, uh, her husband, my birth dad, was deployed.

• 24:13Speaker 03

  And so he didn't know that I even existed until he saw some papers about me having been adopted. And that was how he found out that she had had an affair and gotten pregnant.

• 24:27Bunnie XO?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 24:29Speaker 03

  Um, so he was like, I gotta tell dad. And I was like, do you think she knew? Like, does she know you've been looking for me? Like, what did she feel about it? Like, can we go ask her? Like, what do you need to like tell her?

• 24:42Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, like where's mom in this scenario?

• 24:44Speaker 03

  Um, he informed me that she had passed away about four years before that.

• 24:49Bunnie XO?

  Oh.

• 24:49Speaker 03

  Um, so I didn't get to meet her. Um, and I think that was probably one of the darkest days of my life so far that I've experienced. Um, was finding out that she had passed away. So to answer your question about my biological family, it's a long story, but, um, so yes, my, my bio family did find me, um, but I've, I've met my birth father and was not able to meet my mom.

• 25:19Bunnie XO?

  Well, I want you to know that your feelings are valid and I can see you pushing them back, you know? And I just want you to know that that was as sad of a story as it is. This is part of your journey and this is what makes you who you are. And I know sometimes we don't understand why things happen to us, but. In the long run, you're gonna look back and be like, okay, God, I see what you were doing there.

• 25:40Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:41Bunnie XO?

  As hurtful as it is, and I'm so sorry.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 25:44Bunnie XO?

  It's a, it's a crazy story that I, that I didn't even know, and I appreciate you for sharing that here, because that's, that was really a beautiful, you know, testament of who you are.

• 25:55Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 25:56Bunnie XO?

  I couldn't imagine how you felt that day, you know, finding out all of that, and then, you know, finding out that you have this whole other family over there. Do they at least embrace you now? And do you have a relationship with them now?

• 26:07Speaker 03

  My brother is like, one of my favorite people on the planet.

• 26:13Bunnie XO?

  I love it. He sounds awesome.

• 26:14Speaker 03

  My little nephew, yeah, he's great. Um, you know, I, when I was like seventeen, and I reached out to, uh, who we thought was my dad, and in our conversation, I had mentioned like, so like, who, do you dance, or do you sing? Like, I, you know, I love singing and dancing. This is like my passion. Like, is there anyone that, like, where does that come from? Um, and he said, no, no, like, none of us are really like into that. So like, I don't know, you just must have a gift. Um, and finding my bio, my bio brother and my dad, they're so musical, and my dad was a rapper in the nineties in Atlanta, in a rap boy group, and was doing musical theater. Yeah, I mean, wait, what?

• 26:58Bunnie XO?

  Can we know what group he was in?

• 27:00Speaker 03

  I don't know what it was called, but he says his rap name was Quayo.

• 27:04Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 27:04Speaker 03

  Um, and then he was a man who little group-

• 27:07Bunnie XO?

  Quavo without the V?

• 27:08Speaker 03

  Exactly. Quayo in the nineties. And, uh, my, my brother like shreds on guitar, and is like a great singer. Like, it was just so funny how meeting my biological family was like-

• 27:19Bunnie XO?

  Just makes sense.

• 27:20Speaker 03

  Yeah. And it, I never had this, like, an urge to meet the person who I had thought was my dad, but as soon as my brother contacted me, even being my half brother and not knowing he was my full brother, there was just like, an indescribable magnetism that I feel like immediately, I said, I need to go and meet him. Yeah, yeah. Really interesting. And I'd never had that, growing up in a family that's not biologically connected is-

• 27:48Speaker 03

  I'm starting to realize is very different from, from families who grew up together that are biologically connected.

• 27:55Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, it's just something you can't explain. I remember the first, I didn't meet my real mother until I was late in my thirties. And when I met her and I saw like her mannerisms and just even down to her anxiety, I was like, how am I so much like you and I've never even been around you? Like it was the craziest thing for me. So I could only imagine how you were feeling. Yeah.

• 28:17Speaker 03

  I think I always too, I always believed in, in nurture versus nature. Just because I didn't have anything else to compare it to. I always thought that my adopted dad is like, an angel of a man and I love him so much. He's the sweetest human being and just like an angel of a human being. Um, we don't, literally don't deserve him. Um, and I always thought like, I want to be like my dad and I, I, I feel like there's so many things that we have in common and we love the same music and he taught me to like love disco and, and jazz. And I always thought I'm just like him. Like there's so much we have in common.

• 28:59Speaker 03

  And then meeting my brother and my biological father, I'm like, there's no comparison. And when we're on the phone and my, my brother goes, you sound just like mom. Like you sound just like your mom. And it's so interesting. It's so weird and you don't realize until.

• 29:18Bunnie XO?

  DNA is a motherfucker. It's crazy.

• 29:20Speaker 03

  And I feel crazy when I say it too, because I'm so amazed by it because of my life. But I'm like, y'all people who've been in like full biological families can't even understand how cool that is. To have like little bits of you. I don't know. It's just, I didn't grow up like that.

• 29:38Bunnie XO?

  It's something that people honestly take for granted and hearing you say that, I've never thought about that before, but it's real. You know, like it's a privilege to grow up with people that you share blood with and that, you know, you guys are in the same tribe.

• 29:51Speaker 03

  For sure.

• 29:52Bunnie XO?

  Today's episode is brought to you by Vinted. Y'all know how it goes. You open your closet and have a million things hanging up, but somehow still feel like you have nothing to wear. That's me. And let's be real, half that stuff hasn't been touched in forever. Instead of letting all those clothes just sit there taking up space, you might as well make a little money off of them. If you haven't used it yet, Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app that makes it so simple to sell the quality clothes you no longer wear and discover unique pieces at great prices. And the best part, you don't have to make a whole project out of selling your clothes. Listing your clothes on Vinted is quick and simple. And once something sells, Vinted creates the prepaid shipping label for you. So you don't have to worry about that part. Best of all, there are no seller fees,

• 30:37Bunnie XO?

  which means you actually keep every single dollar you earn from your sales. So instead of letting all those clothes collect dust, Vinted gives you a way to clear out some space, make a little extra money, and maybe even find something new to love. Give your clothes a second life with Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees. So you keep everything you earn. So let's bring it back to your childhood with the music. When did you start getting into like music? Was this always embedded in you?

• 31:07Speaker 03

  Always, like so deep. I feel like my first musical experience that I really, really remember was my babysitter watching Grease with me. And I was like, this is everything. He is everything. That was like a big... Yeah, I was probably what, maybe five or six when she had like shown me that. And it's probably why I also love vintage everything. Like this is the first real, I think, like music that made an impact on who I was and who I was going to be as a person. Because that was like, I'm listening to the soundtrack 24/7. I am dancing around my room and around the house.

• 31:53Speaker 03

  And I am on the coffee table and I am screaming it and watching it all the time. Like my love for music and theater and drama was, it was so early. And my parents saw it so early on and were always supportive of everything musical that I was doing. And it's not even a surprise for them that this is what I'm doing and they love it.

• 32:13Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. How is your relationship with your adoptive parents now?

• 32:16Speaker 03

  Amazing.

• 32:16Bunnie XO?

  Really close?

• 32:17Speaker 03

  Yes, yes.

• 32:18Bunnie XO?

  Do you and mom get along better now?

• 32:21Speaker 03

  Definitely. She's definitely gotten cooler.

• 32:24Bunnie XO?

  I think, I think moms get cooler with age.

• 32:27Speaker 03

  For sure. My little sister still lives at home. And, you know, she's, she's going through her like, do I want to be at home? Do I want to go to school? Where do I want to go to school? I want to do hair, like what I want to do with my life? And I'm sure, you know, there are times where she thinks my mom's pretty uncool, but as I've now been living on my own and I, I realize how much, a lot of the songs I've written into last year, but this year, were about my family and like being homesick. I love them so much and they, you know, they come to any shows that they can when I'm in the area and things. And I'm, I'm no longer a practicing Mormon.

• 33:09Speaker 03

  But I mean, they've never shut me out or made me feel like I was less than. And I think have always led with love to everyone around them.

• 33:19Bunnie XO?

  I love that. That's amazing to hear because you know, a lot of times, especially in Mormonism, they, you get excommunicated if you don't want to, that and Jehovah's Witnesses. They're like, you don't want to be a part of it. You can't be a part of our family.

• 33:31Speaker 03

  I'm working on my release papers.

• 33:33Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 33:35Speaker 03

  As you get them notarized.

• 33:37Bunnie XO?

  Do you, do you feel like your religious trauma has influenced your music at all?

• 33:42Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 33:43Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 33:44Speaker 03

  It's really hard. And I think people might be surprised by this, actually. It's really hard for me to write happy music.

• 33:50Bunnie XO?

  Oh, you sound like my husband.

• 33:51Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 33:51Bunnie XO?

  He says the same thing.

• 33:53Speaker 03

  It's hard.

• 33:53Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 33:54Speaker 03

  There's so much more for me to write about.

• 33:56Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, like the, the angst.

• 33:58Speaker 03

  Not happy.

• 33:58Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, that you had growing up. But I mean, you do have some sadness that you have to get out. And it's kind of cathartic to be able to put that to pen and paper.

• 34:07Speaker 03

  For sure. I mean, it's especially the last year, but kind of the last two years have been, you know, I, I created this kind of exterior, like safety with my Bajo Bunny mixtape and kind of led with the most extroverted part of me. And it keeps me safe. It makes me feel very safe to have that.

• 34:30Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 34:30Speaker 03

  And. The last probably hundred songs or so have been stories of my life and like stories of my journey and really deep and sometimes scary things that I've written on my own and and with people that I really, really trust and know me top to bottom, inside out, like all the way out. And the album that I'm currently working on and finishing up is like all of that is gonna be surprising, I think, for people to

• 35:03Bunnie XO?

  See the switch.

• 35:04Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:05Bunnie XO?

  I heard a quote the other day, I think it said, um, what the mind, what the mind feels, the heart wants to heal. Or is it what the what the heart feels, the mind wants to heal? Um, and that's exactly what's happening to you is that you have all these feelings inside that you need to heal. And that's your soul telling you like, hey, Buckle Bunny is cool and all, but this is who you really are right now. And I think that in with journeys with artists, you guys kind of get snapshots of where you are in your life by the music that you write. And right now, this is your sad girl era.

• 35:38Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:38Bunnie XO?

  And that's okay.

• 35:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, healing girl.

• 35:40Bunnie XO?

  Healing girl era, yeah, healing out, you know, like whatever we need to get that out.

• 35:45Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 35:45Bunnie XO?

  Um, I love that you said, and we're gonna get into your music and stuff like that. I still want to get into the journey of how you got to where you are. But it's kind of like, um, your Buckle Bunny thing is like your Sasha Fierce. You know, like how Beyonce hides behind Sasha Fierce to say crazy shit.

• 36:00Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:00Bunnie XO?

  That's almost like the you make a, um, what is the word that I'm looking for? You have this, you know,

• 36:06Speaker 03

  Alter ego.

• 36:07Bunnie XO?

  Alter ego, yes, that's exactly what it is. That makes you feel safe because, you know, the world, you're so vulnerable. And the world is a fucking cruel place.

• 36:15Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 36:16Bunnie XO?

  So I think that's pretty cool that you did that and you've built such a huge brand. That's how I discovered you was the whole.

• 36:22Speaker 03

  Well, I mean, on brand makes sense.

• 36:25Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, for sure. But aside from my husband, I didn't even know my husband knew anything about you until I was like, hey, have you? Well, I was at the Houston rodeo doing your song and he was like, hey, I know Tanner. And I was like, you do it. And then he like told me the story and I was like, that's awesome. So let's take it. So when did you decide to leave home and like go out on your own? And like, when did this, did you know that music was what you were going to do?

• 36:46Speaker 03

  So I was living at home when the pandemic hit.

• 36:52Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 36:53Speaker 03

  So that whole year, I feel like was.

• 36:57Speaker 03

  I mean, that was the craziest year ever. 2020 was insane.

• 37:01Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 37:01Speaker 03

  And

• 37:03Bunnie XO?

  Crazy year.

• 37:04Speaker 03

  Um, I was just like finding beats online and on Beat Stars and like writing in my room and recording things in my closet.

• 37:14Speaker 03

  And I mean, there were no live performances happening. There was nothing going on. So I had, I feel like this year of like growth and really like deciding that this is what I wanted to do. I went to Utah Valley University and I was in a band there and, and really realized that I loved performing live. And my teacher was like, you need to either go to Nashville or you need to go to LA and you need to like pick one or the other. You shouldn't even be in school. Why are you even in school? You should just be out there doing this.

• 37:45Bunnie XO?

  I love teachers like that.

• 37:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, she's amazing. Her name is Nancy. She's amazing. Um, and I was like, you're right. And I had a friend who had come out to Nashville. Um, and he was like, you should just go out there and write for just a little bit and see if you like it. And for some reason, something inside me just clicked. And I was like, oh, I'm moving to Nashville. So I moved to Nashville a couple of days later. I'd never been. I literally did not know anybody. And it was, um, that kind of gave me my little, you know, push to go out on a limb and start writing. I just started writing with everyone around town and

• 38:23Bunnie XO?

  Just start going to like writers rooms and stuff?

• 38:26Speaker 03

  Um, yeah.

• 38:26Bunnie XO?

  Is that how you ended up with us? Cause I think that's

• 38:28Speaker 03

  So I, the first people that I worked with

• 38:32Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 38:32Speaker 03

  was Andrew Bayless.

• 38:34Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 38:35Speaker 03

  Yeah, and Michael Whitworth.

• 38:36Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love Whitworth.

• 38:38Speaker 03

  I know. They were the first people I wrote with. And actually, when they started working, um, together, I literally was like, oh, they're, they're working with Jali. I literally heard of them. That's so sick. And, uh, yeah, they're the first people that I wrote with in town. I love them both so much.

• 38:53Bunnie XO?

  Uh, they're amazing. They're talented at what they do.

• 38:56Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 38:56Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 38:57Speaker 03

  And they're like very, I mean, they were, you know, putting, kind of putting their necks out for me a little bit. Um, the first song that I released with them was Country Girl Commandments, which had like this dubstep drop after the chorus. And I was like, I don't care. I was like, let's do it. And Andrew was like, let's fucking do it.

• 39:14Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. Um, how, where do you get your sounds from? Because you do, you, okay. So do you consider yourself a country music artist?

• 39:22Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 39:23Bunnie XO?

  Or do you as your-

• 39:23Speaker 03

  I consider myself a pop country artist.

• 39:26Bunnie XO?

  That's what I feel like, cause you you mix like a little bit of hip hop.

• 39:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's just like different, it's different pop influences than most girls in country choose when they do like pop country.

• 39:39Bunnie XO?

  I feel like it's so hard to pigeonhole you though, because you're you're so brandable, you know, and like you could go either way, like every way.

• 39:46Speaker 03

  I think, you know, I grew up trying to distinguish like, am I California or am I Wyoming? And it was when I stopped thinking like that, that my sound kind of like just came together and really is like the glue that holds my whole brand together now. But it, you know, it it took some years to kind of-

• 40:08Bunnie XO?

  Find your sound.

• 40:09Speaker 03

  Figure that part out for sure.

• 40:10Bunnie XO?

  Do you feel like you're still finding your sound?

• 40:12Speaker 03

  No.

• 40:12Bunnie XO?

  You know what you're like when you're at home?

• 40:14Speaker 03

  I know exactly who I am.

• 40:15Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 40:16Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah.

• 40:17Bunnie XO?

  I love it. So, working with Wentworth and Bayless, where, how did you like get such notoriety? Because I feel like, and I know everybody says this about my husband, so I know it's not true, but I feel like you popped up on the scene all of a sudden? And it was just like, okay, who is this girl? I followed you and I was just like, oh my God, she's adorable. I love your aesthetic. I love how like original you are. Like, I love that because, you know, in a world full of people who are so unoriginal, it's you can, the ones that actually have their own shit stand out.

• 40:49Speaker 03

  Totally.

• 40:49Bunnie XO?

  And you totally were like that to me. How did this come about?

• 40:54Speaker 03

  I mean, after I wrote with Andrew and Michael, I, who I, I don't even know why I called them that, because I call them both Bayless and Wentworth. So I don't know why I even said their first names.

• 41:06Bunnie XO?

  You're good.

• 41:08Speaker 03

  But after that, Country Girl Commandments kind of got like sent around a little bit. And I I had my publishing deal in about six months after I moved to Nashville. And I feel like from there on, it was TikTok. It was just putting my original music on TikTok and people were like, we like this.

• 41:28Bunnie XO?

  Yeah. TikTok is such a stepping stone for people. I get so mad at people when they're like, oh, you're just, you're, you guys are just TikTokers, like when they say that to other people and I'm like-

• 41:37Speaker 03

  It is exhausting.

• 41:38Bunnie XO?

  I'm like, yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm like, do you understand how hard it is to keep people's attention day after day, time after time? Like, that's not easy. Not everybody can do that.

• 41:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 41:49Bunnie XO?

  So was-

• 41:52Bunnie XO?

  Buckle Bunny, your first like song that took off?

• 41:55Speaker 03

  No.

• 41:56Bunnie XO?

  Really? Which one was it?

• 41:57Speaker 03

  Love You A Little Bit was the first song. And it was, it wasn't through TikTok really, like it did numbers on TikTok, but it like blew up on Twitter or X. Yes.

• 42:11Bunnie XO?

  That's hard to do.

• 42:12Speaker 03

  I know. And it was like positive. It like wasn't hate.

• 42:17Bunnie XO?

  Scares me.

• 42:19Speaker 03

  It literally, yeah, it was like really good. That actually was my first kind of splash. And then by the time Buckle Bunny came around, it was like, oh, that's our girl that's in country that's doing that.

• 42:29Bunnie XO?

  Wow. That's amazing.

• 42:31Speaker 03

  Very cool.

• 42:32Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, it's because I remember seeing Buckle Bunny come on and I was just like, oh, my God, this is amazing. And I loved it and just.

• 42:37Speaker 03

  I'm glad.

• 42:37Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still bump it to like all the time.

• 42:40Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 42:41Bunnie XO?

  Um, it did definitely bring a fresh, you know, genre blending sound to country music. What inspired the mixtape concept and what message did you want to send with that?

• 42:51Speaker 03

  Um, so I wanted it to be, I still haven't had my debut album come out.

• 42:57Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 42:57Speaker 03

  Um, I had Last Call, which is my first EP and then my second EP is Buckle Bunny with a few singles in between. I called it a mixtape because I felt like I wanted it to be like every spot on the spectrum that I can shine.

• 43:16Speaker 03

  And I wanted it to all have kind of a country foundation because that is who I am at the core. But then pinpointing things that I love in other genres and not even really while trying, just that, those are my moods.

• 43:32Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 43:32Speaker 03

  Um, and I wanted it to truly feel like a mix, but also still cohesive. But, um, something that didn't box me in.

• 43:40Bunnie XO?

  Right.

• 43:40Speaker 03

  And I could go whatever direction I wanted after that.

• 43:43Bunnie XO?

  Yes, I love that. You have a new album that's coming out called Going Blonde. Is that going to be your first debut album?

• 43:50Speaker 03

  It's going to be my debut album.

• 43:52Bunnie XO?

  What is the inspiration to that? And what was the, first of all, what's the inspiration to the title Going Blonde? Is it the obvious?

• 43:58Speaker 03

  So.

• 44:00Speaker 03

  Wait, tell me what you mean by the obvious.

• 44:03Bunnie XO?

  Like, well, going blonde, you know, like you're going blonder.

• 44:05Speaker 03

  Okay, so that's exactly what I want everyone to think, yes. So I rewind back to the day where I found out my mom passed away.

• 44:20Speaker 03

  I hadn't seen a picture of her yet, and I asked my brother if I could have a picture of her. And he sent a picture, and my jaw dropped, and I was like, ding ding ding, this is definitely my mom. I absolutely, she's stunning, beautiful woman. And I said to him, I was like, did she get told that she looked like Dolly Parton like a lot? And he was like, she got that all the time. It was the first thing I thought was like, she looks like Dolly Parton. And I kind of had a little bit of a, you know, mental breakdown after having this information.

• 45:00Speaker 03

  I just had this picture of her that looked like Dolly, and so I started looking up everything about Dolly. And I had, like, I wasn't like a Dolly Parton diehard fan my whole life. Like, I knew all her biggest songs, but I did a major deep dive on her and was just trying to rack up as many pictures as I could that looked like my mom. I watched all of her interviews on YouTube that I could find, any live performances I could find, every movie that she had been in, trying to, like, almost like see my mom again. Because there are no videos of my birth mom or anything, but it was the closest thing was young Dolly.

• 45:43Speaker 03

  And I learned a lot about her during this time. And I learned that the song that she actually broke with was a song called "Dumb Blonde", and ding ding ding, and I loved this song. I thought, how cool is that? She just like made this cheeky, witty, like, oh yeah, don't mind me, I'm just a dumb blonde, while she's over here being an absolute icon.

• 46:08Bunnie XO?

  Literally.

• 46:09Speaker 03

  And I, I loved the idea of how cheeky and witty it was.

• 46:17Speaker 03

  But also how much of an identity I actually found in that. In, you know, growing up as a little girl, like my hair in the sun would streaks of blonde. And I always thought it was so weird. And, and like, where does this hair come from? And people are always saying like, oh, do you dye your hair like your parents dye your hair? And I'm like, no, my parents don't dye my hair. Like, this is just what my hair looks like. And it kind of was like a weird emotional attachment that I had to how blonde, not only Dolly Parton was, but how blonde my own biological mother was. And I wanted to do that.

• 46:59Speaker 03

  But you'd think it was gonna be cheeky, but it's actually just the real reason why I am blonde like this. And it's because it makes me feel close to my mom. It makes me feel like she's protecting me, like when I, it makes me feel safe.

• 47:19Speaker 03

  And I wrote a song about it, actually, called Going Blonde.

• 47:25Speaker 03

  And it was pretty soon after I'd found out this information and kind of done my deep dive. And it feels like it just came to me from either her or the heavens, I don't know. I was literally in a bar across the street from my apartment. And the idea came to me and I wrote it down on my phone, just like, just the words. I just had all the words and I wrote it down. I was too scared to get up and like, go home in case I forgot something. Wrote the whole song sitting at the bar and then ran across the street home and put chords to it. And it has inspired this album that is going to be my stories of who I am and where I come from and why I am the way that I am.

• 48:09Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's that's called going blonde.

• 48:11Bunnie XO?

  I am so excited for this album. I feel like we're actually finally getting to see who you are.

• 48:17Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 48:17Bunnie XO?

  You know, and I think that's a beautiful thing. You're like a butterfly. You're literally like

• 48:21Speaker 03

  I feel like it. I feel like it.

• 48:24Bunnie XO?

  This is gonna be so therapeutic for you. You've made me almost cry like three times.

• 48:27Speaker 03

  No, no. Oh, wait for the album.

• 48:31Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I can't wait. I'll just, I'll call, I'll video myself just, just ugly crying.

• 48:37Speaker 03

  We see the outside of being blonde, but it's like, there's a source of like

• 48:41Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 48:41Speaker 03

  confidence that it comes from for all of us.

• 48:43Bunnie XO?

  Absolutely. And I just, I just interviewed Dolly.

• 48:46Speaker 03

  Amazing.

• 48:47Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, and she's so fucking just, she's hilarious. First of all, she is not as sweet as everybody thinks she is. She is sassy and she is fiery, but that is, I named my podcast Stump Blonde because it's an oxymoron because, you know, when I walk in a room, everybody's like, oh, look at this dumb blonde, you know, and then, but really as soon as I open my mouth, they're like, oh, wait a second, maybe she's not so dumb, you know?

• 49:10Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 49:10Bunnie XO?

  So I completely relate to the going blonde thing and I think we should clip that and send that to Dolly's team. Have you ever got to meet her?

• 49:17Speaker 03

  I haven't been able to meet her yet.

• 49:19Bunnie XO?

  Danny, her, her manager Danny is amazing and she's so welcoming to new female artists too. So we're, I'm gonna clip that and send that to Danny for you.

• 49:29Speaker 03

  Love that. I'm like, I feel like, she, I mean, obviously she's an icon, but it's like,

• 49:38Speaker 03

  it's kinda weird because of like, I look at her like she's a depiction of my mom.

• 49:42Bunnie XO?

  Literally, she's, I call her mom.

• 49:44Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:44Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, literally. She is like, she's mother to a lot of us.

• 49:47Speaker 03

  She is, she is.

• 49:48Bunnie XO?

  She's raising us. Y'all know I love being comfortable, especially when it gets cold. That's why I'm loving Bombas this time of year. They make the absolute best socks, slippers and winter footwear to keep you warm and cozy all season long. I love their plush gripper socks and cushy sundae slippers for lounging around the house. And when I'm running errands, their water resistant suede booties are just as comfortable. Bombas also makes buttery breathable underwear and perfectly fitted t-shirts that make the ultimate comfiest first layer. Plus they have incredible Gifts for everyone on your list from ultra warm merino wool socks to high performance sports socks for runners and skiers. Best of all, for every item you purchase, Bombas donates an essential clothing item to someone facing housing insecurity. With over 200

• 50:33Bunnie XO?

  million items donated so far, head over to Bombas.com slash B U N N I E and use the code bunny for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B A S dot com code bunny at checkout. So ongoing is so on going blonde. Is it going to be like any, is it gonna be like all ballads? Or is it like a mixture of emotions? Like, are we gonna still get the hip hop vibe and the techno vibe and all that stuff that we've gotten before?

• 51:03Speaker 03

  It is introspective. It's a sound that I haven't done like deep dive fully into doing, but it appears in certain places all over the last, you know, two years of my releasing music. And it's, it's romantic in, in a non romantic way and heartbreak in a non romantic way. And just like the heartbreak life sometimes brings on us. But yeah, I mean, it's, I feel like I'm becoming a woman with it.

• 51:40Bunnie XO?

  When do you think it'll be dropping?

• 51:42Speaker 03

  Oh, I have no idea.

• 51:43Bunnie XO?

  Not yet. We don't know.

• 51:45Speaker 03

  Hopefully I'm

• 51:45Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, let me know.

• 51:46Speaker 03

  Aiming for the top of the year. That's what I've been saying the last couple of months. Last year I had like just no time for anything at all. So busy. But I'm like aiming for top of the year.

• 51:59Bunnie XO?

  You've been everywhere too. Like I have every, I see you in like New York. You're like out of the country. Like, what are you doing right now? Like, give me like, what are we doing? Is this appearances? Are you just living the life that you deserve? Or what's going on?

• 52:13Speaker 03

  I finally have a moment to breathe. And I think it's very important for me. I mean, it's, you know, everything's gonna be starting up now, but it's winter, it's dark, it's cold, it's snowing every once in a while. And so it's giving me a little bit of time to recharge.

• 52:30Bunnie XO?

  Yeah, and to be on that healing journey.

• 52:32Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 52:33Bunnie XO?

  Let's talk about the Beyonce stuff.

• 52:35Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 52:35Bunnie XO?

  Cause girl, when I saw that, I was so giddy. First of all, I'm talking about just the first announcement that you came out with and that you were gonna be on the album. And I just remember thinking to myself like, She's gonna be the next big thing. Like, I'm so excited for you because I know that had to have just been like a moment.

• 52:54Speaker 03

  Insane.

• 52:56Bunnie XO?

  Can we talk about it?

• 52:57Speaker 03

  Yes. I mean, there's some things I can't like detail, but like, yeah, that was, that was like the crazy, the week leading up to the album was the craziest week of my life.

• 53:08Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 53:09Speaker 03

  Yeah. I didn't tell anyone. Nobody knew. Only my, uh, my manager knew. It was the only person. Um, so it was kind of this funny anticipation as I'm having, you know, friends hitting me up and being like, the album's coming. Oh my God. Like you would tell me if you were on it, right? Like you would tell me. Um, and just kind of that sigh of relief that like, okay, like the secret's out. Like I can breathe again.

• 53:33Bunnie XO?

  Like, what an honor though. Like, it's like when Beyonce calls, that's like the fucking president is calling, you know, like you just want that phone call. Um, because she's so, she doesn't normally work, like what she did on the, uh, where, I'm sorry, Cowboy Carter, was completely different than what she's

• 53:49Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 53:50Bunnie XO?

  normally ever done. She's never collaborated the way she did

• 53:54Speaker 03

  Yep.

• 53:54Bunnie XO?

  on Cowboy Carter. So that was like really special for you guys, for you to have made it on there too.

• 54:00Speaker 03

  Yes. I, I think people would be happy to know because there's so many people who talk their shit on Beyonce, but

• 54:09Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 54:09Speaker 03

  she's like, she is genuinely one of the warmest people I think I feel like I've met.

• 54:16Bunnie XO?

  I don't get the Beyonce hate.

• 54:17Speaker 03

  She's kind.

• 54:19Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 54:19Speaker 03

  Like she's, and she's funny and she's very cool.

• 54:23Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love that.

• 54:24Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 54:25Bunnie XO?

  What was it like when you first got to meet her? Did you, was the, your first time meeting her at the super time, the Super Bowl halftime show?

• 54:31Speaker 03

  So I can't disclose.

• 54:32Bunnie XO?

  Okay, gotcha.

• 54:33Speaker 03

  The first time I met her.

• 54:35Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 54:35Speaker 03

  But, um,

• 54:37Speaker 03

  She gave me a hug that I will never forget and it was just magical. Yeah.

• 54:44Bunnie XO?

  It's almost like kind of like passing the baton of like, hey.

• 54:47Speaker 03

  Oh, God. Oh, God.

• 54:49Bunnie XO?

  Listen, Going Blonde might be your Beyonce album. You never know.

• 54:54Speaker 03

  You never know.

• 54:55Bunnie XO?

  You never friggin' know. What was it like performing at the halftime show?

• 55:00Speaker 03

  I mean, the girls are so beautiful. We all have our little tattoos, you know. Tierra and I had a little congratulatory dinner and, you know, it's, it's just a lot of gratitude. Just a lot of gratitude and a lot of fun. And, I mean, I'm, I am excited being able to step into this year with everything that I accomplished last year. It feels like, I wish I could just put it in a little time capsule and like dig it up in 10 years and like remember it all again.

• 55:31Bunnie XO?

  You can if you want to do.

• 55:32Speaker 03

  But it was, yeah, it was so special.

• 55:34Bunnie XO?

  Oh, I love that. So what do we have to look forward to with Tanner in 2025?

• 55:41Speaker 03

  I am the most excited for C2C.

• 55:47Bunnie XO?

  What is that?

• 55:48Speaker 03

  I am, it's country to country. It's a music festival, country music festival. And a bunch of the artists go and play the country festivals abroad overseas.

• 55:59Bunnie XO?

  Okay.

• 55:59Speaker 03

  So it'll be in London and in Ireland, in Glasgow. Yeah, it's like over the course of like five days.

• 56:06Bunnie XO?

  Yeah.

• 56:08Speaker 03

  And.

• 56:08Bunnie XO?

  Who's playing? I've never even.

• 56:09Speaker 03

  I think Laney's headlining them this year. Um, but it's so fun. It's one of my favorite things we do. I love traveling. So I'm like excited to go back to Australia. I'm excited. I got a few shows in Stockholm and in Oslo. Like I am, your girl is out.

• 56:28Bunnie XO?

  Catching flights, not feelings.

• 56:29Speaker 03

  Exactly, exactly.

• 56:32Bunnie XO?

  Uh, when's your birthday?

• 56:33Speaker 03

  June 27.

• 56:34Bunnie XO?

  Okay, so you're a Cancer, Leo.

• 56:36Speaker 03

  Yes, I'm a Cancer.

• 56:38Bunnie XO?

  I can see that. You have super, super soft feminine energy. Yeah.

• 56:41Speaker 03

  I love that.

• 56:42Bunnie XO?

  See, do you guys see it? Every time I meet a Cancer girl, I'm like, I can totally see it. You guys are just so, you guys exude femininity.

• 56:48Speaker 03

  Thank you. Wait, what are you?

• 56:50Bunnie XO?

  I'm a Capricorn Aquarius. My birthday's in two days.

• 56:52Speaker 03

  Happy birthday.

• 56:55Bunnie XO?

  We stop counting when you get to my age. When we get to my age, we start going backwards. We're like, I think I'm 31, maybe 27. I don't know.

• 57:03Speaker 03

  Love that.

• 57:04Bunnie XO?

  So Tanner, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

• 57:06Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 57:07Bunnie XO?

  Where can I tell people to find you if they already don't follow you?

• 57:11Speaker 03

  I mean, definitely Instagram because who knows how much longer we'll even have TikTok. But TikTok, obviously, and YouTube is gonna be popping this year. So that's all I'll say.

• 57:23Bunnie XO?

  Let's go. Is there any cool collabs that you have coming up that you can kind of hint to?

• 57:29Speaker 03

  Not that I can say.

• 57:31Bunnie XO?

  Damn it. All right, off camera, I need to know.

• 57:33Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 57:33Bunnie XO?

  All right.

• 57:34Speaker 03

  I'll tell you.

• 57:35Bunnie XO?

  I love you so much, Tanner.

• 57:36Speaker 03

  Thank you so much for having me.

• 57:38Bunnie XO?

  Nothing but success. You deserve it and you are just a little angel and I can't wait to see you grow.

• 57:44Speaker 03

  Thank you so much.

• 57:45Bunnie XO?

  Of course. And thank you guys for tuning into another episode of Dumb Blonde. I will see you guys next week. Bye.

• 57:54Bunnie XO?

  We use Shopify for our storefront at bunnyxo.com. And one thing I've learned from running an online store is that you definitely don't have to be an ecommerce expert to get started. I think a lot of people get intimidated by the website side of starting a business, but Shopify makes that part so much easier. One of my favorite things is having everything in one place when you're running a business. You already have a million things going on, so the last thing you want is for managing your storefront to be one more thing to stress about. Shopify makes it easy to get your store launched, manage it, and actually focus on selling. They also have pre-built themes and an AI site builder that can help you create a professional-looking storefront without having to build a website from scratch. And if a friend asks me about starting a store before the holidays,

• 58:37Bunnie XO?

  I tell them, "Don't wait until Black Friday. Get it launched. Learn what works for you and have everything ready before that holiday traffic starts coming in." If you're ready to launch your business before Black Friday, go to Shopify.com/bunny to start your free trial. That's Shopify.com/B-U-N-N-I-E. Go to Shopify.com/bunny today to hear your first