1 of 2
Harper Smith
2 of 2
Normally, the word queen conjures up thoughts of bejeweled opulence and decadent robes, with luxury in every detail. But not for rising country star Hailey Whitters.
With her fourth album, Corn Queen (out June 6), the Iowa native celebrates the majesty of her Midwestern roots, holding up hard work and simple joy as treasures worth defending. Arriving on the heels of her Platinum breakout with “Everything She Ain’t,” and a 2023 ACM Award for New Female Artist of the Year, 16 songs pair an earthy, feminine touch with the self-confident gumption of a farmer’s daughter, as Whitters claims a long-deserved crown.
Proudly rough-around-the-edges (but with a humble charm), her songs have a way of making corn fields and pastures sound like the promised land. And for her, that’s fertile creative ground.
“I come from a very blue-collar family where I learned early on how to build from the ground up, and how to bust your ass for anything you wanted,” Whitters says. “There’s a lot of dirt under these nails and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that went into this. But to me, that’s what makes a queen.”
Arriving 10 years after her underground hit Black Sheep – and a million miles from her start, as one of six kids in a tight-knit rural family who’d never seen Chicago – Corn Queen shows an artist fully embracing her past and truly representing an American way of life.
Chock-full of common sense and featuring a homegrown country sound, the album’s cover tells you all you need to know. It’s a photo of a true Midwestern honor, a “butter bust” sculpture of the Corn Queen herself, made for Whitters by a fan and fellow royal: An actual Dairy Princess from Minnesota. But usually, Whitters doesn’t feel regal at all.
“Everyone knows I’m from the Midwest, so a lot of people started calling me the ‘Corn Queen,’ and I thought it was so cute and funny,” she explains. “I am super proud to represent the Midwest and the farming community I come from, but it’s such an oxymoron. There’s ‘corn,’ which is simple and humble and a part of everything. And then ‘queen,’ which is this royal, larger-than-life lineage. And I was like, ‘Here I am driving a graveyard shift across the country, bags under my eyes, putting on fake eyelashes to cover it all up.’ Definitely not feeling very royal in those moments. But this is my story, and this is who I am.”
The set begins with a mission statement of sorts, a track called “High On the Hog,” which Whitters calls her “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” An autobiographical tribute to those who know hard work is the only way to make dreams come true, the barn-burning, fiddle-sawing stomp was written solo in January 2024, as Whitters put her resilience to the test.
It was two years after “Everything She Ain’t” was released, and she had been on the road almost constantly. She was dog tired – but also grateful, like so many of her friends and family back home. Basically, she remembered her raising.
“[Artists] are all just supposed to be Energizer bunnies, but what a lot of people didn’t know is I’ve been touring for over a decade, and only one of those years was ever in a bus – I’m driving a van and trailer,” she says with a laugh. “My publicist came to a show in New Jersey, and I got off stage and changed clothes real quick, got in the front seat of the van, and my publicist was like, ‘Wait, are you driving right now?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, we got to get to Nashville!’
“This business can really beat the crap out of you in a lot of ways. Emotionally, mentally – and I had a hit on the radio!” she goes on. “That was the thing I dreamt about forever, and I was so glad to be there. But I remember sitting down to write that day, and I was like, ‘You know what? I think I need to be honest here. It ain’t all glitz and glam. It ain’t flying f irst class and being a rock star.’ I just sat down and wrote that by myself, and when it was done, it was like, ‘OK, here’s the record.’”
From there, Corn Queen covers quite a bit of ground, especially in terms of style. While much of mainstream country chases dusky, stormy sonics, this feels as bright as the July sun, with a breezy acoustic bounce not seen since The Chicks, and a plucky vocal in the school of Dolly. Meanwhile, its themes are packed in Midwestern culture, with all but two songs written by Whitters herself.
Tracks like “Prodigal Daughter” (featuring Molly Tuttle) mix progressive bluegrass and country rock, recounting the journey back to those Iowa roots, at least in spirit. “Whether it was physically or just creatively, I started to find a lot of things worth singing about,” she says.
You might expect others like “Casseroles” to be a kitschy tune about the official Midwestern dish, but it’s actually a devastating ballad about community support, and the fallout of tragedy. Written by Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, and James Slater, it finds Whitters wondering who will show up after the meal train ends.
“It’s a really profound song about grief,” she explains. “That second verse hit me in the face because it’s like, ‘What kind of person are you? Are you tinfoil and Pyrex? Or do you show up when nobody’s showing up anymore?’”
Tracks like the cinematic “Helluva Heart” evoke fields of gold and a soul to match, while “The Nail” takes a banjo (and a hammer) to the end of a bad relationship, and the deeply nostalgic “Wagon” stacks its throwback ‘90s vibes like hay bales. Written by Trannie Anderson, Ben Hayslip, and Seth Mosley, Whitters says the upbeat acoustic-and-steel guitar mix takes her right back to being 15 years old, as she learned to drive in a pickup full of CDs.
But while that’s all pretty standard for the Corn Queen, Whitters turns over new soil elsewhere. Tunes like “Wholesome” feature a horn section and loads of Memphis soul, as the country girl demands respect. And with the dreamy synth and string anthem “White Limousine,” she goes big city (just for a moment). “I don’t know anything about pop music. I am a country girl through and through,” Whitters proclaims. “But that was really fun to channel.”
Fittingly, a thematic harvest waits at the end. The rising star salutes dollar-store splendor and heartland happiness on “Corn Queen,” then tributes her hometown with “DanceMor” (featuring The Wilder Blue). A send-up to DanceMor Ballroom in Swisher, Iowa, which has been a haven for beer drinkin’ and line dancin’ since 1929, it’s a tune about practicing the good life every chance you get. And as this Corn Queen travels the land on tour this summer, she hopes to inspire her loyal subjects to do the same.
“I hope that they get that the Corn Queen is just like everybody else. I’m a dreamer, and this hasn’t been no overnight success,” she says. “I’m still out here working and grinding to make my dreams come true, and ultimately that’s what I take pride in. For other dreamers out there, I hope [this album] gives them encouragement to just keep going and keep chasing.”