Singled Out: Hillbilly Vegas' Miss America

By Editorial Staff | Published: Jun 21, 2026 3:25 PM EDT

Hillbilly Vegas recently released their new album "A La Mode" and to celebrate we asked Steve Harris to tell us about the record's latest single "Miss America". Here is the story:

At its core, "Miss America" is about frustration. One thing music has given me is the chance to travel around the world and meet all kinds of people, and what I've learned is that people are people everywhere. We all feel frustration. We've all been in some kind of toxic relationship, whether that's with a person, a habit, a dream, a place, or even a version of ourselves we keep going back to.

The song is really about that moment when you know the chaos around you is at least partly your own fault. Our guitarist Stacy Thornburg likes to call it "self-inflicted chaos," and that's exactly what "Miss America" is about. It's being drawn to something you know probably isn't good for you, but you still can't quite let it go.

I didn't want the song to be so abstract that people had to solve it like a riddle. I framed it like a toxic relationship, because everybody understands that push and pull... loving something, being frustrated by it, knowing it might not be good for you, and still being drawn back to it. That gives the listener a doorway into the song without me having to tell them exactly what their 'Miss America' is supposed to be.

"Miss America" is a love song to bad decisions. But what kind of bad decisions those are? That's up to the listener to decide.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below or check out the full album here