Whitters experienced plenty of discouraging moments — when she wondered if she should head back home to Shueyville, Iowa, and its population of 700 — following her post-high school move to Nashville in 2007. But as she sang on her 2019 track,about trying to make it in country music: “I didn’t come this far to only go this far.”
With excitement about Whitters renewed, she also found management: Make Wake’s Chris Kappy, whose clients include Luke Combs and Range Media Partners’ Matt Graham, who co-manages Midland, among others. The friends were both so enthusiastic about Whitters, they decided to partner. During the early months of the pandemic, she focused on songwriting, including Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile’s 2020 song, “A Beautiful Noise,” for which she received a song of the year Grammy nomination. She also released a deluxe edition of, that included collaborations with artists including Yearwood, Jordan Davis and Little Big Town.
Simpson and Tyndell were working on a song with a “stark, moody, Spaghetti Western vibe,” Whitters recalls, but getting nowhere. She suggested they switch to something lighter. “I had that hook, ‘I’m everything she is and everything she ain’t,’ and we were off to the races.” Less than 90 minutes later, they finished “Everything She Ain’t,” and that night, Whitters sang it a capella to her producer boyfriend Jake Gear, who replied, “We have to record that, like, instantly,” she recalls.