Singled Out: Candace Hastings' Call Your Mama

Candace Hastings just released her new single "Call Your Mama," a song that was written by her daughter. To celebrate we asked Candace to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

There is something especially meaningful about recording a song your child wrote. I mean, who gets to do that? Both of my children grew up surrounded by music and creativity, but neither has chosen to make music a profession, at least not yet.

"Call Your Mama" caught me the first time I heard it. My daughter sent me a simple demo-just voice and ukulele-and I could feel the song's intelligence and bite from the start. Though the title may sound playful, the song has real steel. It speaks to a man who comes back asking for grace after failing to be the man he should have been, and it answers him with a line that leaves no room for misunderstanding.

As much as I believed in it from the start, recording it was anything but easy. Her voice sits in the song so naturally that I knew I could not approach it by imitation. I had to live with it for a while until I found a way to inhabit it honestly in my own voice.

My first trip into the studio taught me that loving a song and understanding how to record it are not always the same thing. I pushed it toward an approach that did not serve its center. I knew I was missing something, so I set the track aside for a while.

Once I stopped trying to steer it and listened more closely to what was already there, the performance settled into place. The more I sang it, the clearer it became what the song needed from me. When I returned to the studio, I re-recorded it with a new approach and a new mindset. What emerged was a version that feels grounded, natural, and faithful to the writing.

I believed in this song from the beginning, but it was a journey getting to this point. What I feel now is gratitude that I was finally able to record it in a way that honors the strength of my daughter's work. And this might be as close as I get to a family band.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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