Puxican Radio: Natalie Hemby Strikes Out on Her Own

If you don’t live in Nashville, there’s a decent chance you’ve never heard the name Natalie Hemby. But there’s also a very good chance you’ve heard her songs. The Nashville native has co-written some of the biggest country hits of the past decade, including Little Big Town’s “Pontoon,” Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic” and Lady Antebellum’s “Downtown.”

Now, roughly 10 years after scoring her first major cut — “The Bees,” for Lee Ann Womack — Hemby is ready to strike out on her own.

“In my life I’ve probably recorded five full records that just never came out,” Hemby tells the Scene. “I tell people I spent my 20s trying to get a record deal for myself, then I spent my 30s writing songs for other people. I finally got the nerve to go, ‘OK, I’m ready to put out a record.’ “

On Jan. 13, Hemby will do just that, releasing her debut solo album Puxico. Originally written as a soundtrack for her documentary film of the same name, the album takes its title from a tiny town in Southeast Missouri that was the home of the grandparents she says raised her.

The album’s nine songs, co-written with fellow Nashville songwriters including Trent Dabbs and Lindsay Chapman, come together to form a loose narrative, a deeply personal statement from an artist who, until this point, has told her story only through the voices of others.

“You know, when you put out a record,” she says, “it’s this ginormous lake, and you’re kind of scared to jump in, because it’s too cold or you don’t want to drown or you don’t want anything to go wrong. But then a couple friends jump in and they’re like, ‘The water’s fine! Come on in!’ ”

In Hemby’s case, those friends are some of Nashville’s most esteemed songwriters, like Brandy Clark and Lori McKenna. Both Clark and McKenna just earned Grammy nominations, the former for her excellent sophomore album Big Day in a Small Town and the latter for both her own solo album, The Bird and the Rifle, and her No. 1 Tim McGraw hit, “Humble and Kind.”

“It’s been awesome watching them, and people respond to their music,” Hemby says of Clark and McKenna. “We all love them, and we all respect the hell out of them. Watching Brandy put out her record, I just had to do [the same], whether or not anybody likes it anymore. I’m to that point where I want to say what I want to say for a minute.”

The respect between Hemby — who most recently had cuts on Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of These Wings — and the artists she writes for seems to go both ways. Newcomer Maren Morris, who co-wrote “How It’s Done” with Hemby for her own debut Hero, also influenced Hemby’s desire to release Puxico.

“Maren was a huge reason why I decided to put out the record as well,” Hemby explains. “Basically, she and Ryan Hurd had taken a trip to Michigan, and they texted me and said, ‘Hey, can we have those songs?’ They both were texting me saying, ‘You have to put this out. It speaks to a lot of people.’ And I was like, ‘Well, actually it’s funny you say that, because we’re remixing it right now.’ ”

Morris, who had a huge breakout in 2016 thanks to the success of Hero, is one of the newest members of Nashville’s thriving community of female country artists, a community that Hemby is proud to be part of.

“Most of the girls in town are pretty cool about supporting the other girls,” the singer says. “It’s been awesome to see this whole swell of female artists supporting each other. And genuinely, not because of ‘Tomatogate’ or whatever the hell that was.”

Hemby also found support in her husband Mike Wrucke, an award-winning producer whose credits include working with Lambert and David Nail. Wrucke co-produced Puxico with Hemby, played a majority of the album’s instruments, and helped recruit friend and famed pedal steel player Greg Leisz to add a subtle twang to the album’s rock-tinged Americana-pop.

Songs like album closer “Return,” which Hemby claims as one of her favorites, and “Cairo, IL” are imbued with a deep reverence for place that reflects her profound love and respect for all of her communities: her home in Nashville, her family in Puxico, her friends and peers in the music industry. The album itself makes the case that Hemby is an especially vital part of that last community, which will be more than willing to receive her as she makes her dive into the lake.

“Every time I drive back to Puxico, I always listen to this record because it’s my heart,” she says. “I hope the lake isn’t freezing cold. And I hope people like it.”

Email music@nashvillescene.com