When rising country singer Bella Lam talks about conversations with her mother and father, one might picture the classic cartoon trope of an angel and devil perched on either shoulder.
Her new single, “Bootfirst,” is based on that push and pull between pragmatism and spontaneity.
“My dad is kind of a strict, careful-thinking doctor,” Lam says during a video interview. “He’s an Asian man. He’s always very calculated and thinking things out. My mama is a southern woman who does stuff without thinking — she just kind of jumps in. The theme of the song is like a mix of those two things. Yes, I overthink, but I also do stuff without thinking, and it’s just the way I am. I’m a perfect mix of both my parents.”
Released today, Lam wrote the song about jumping in feet first, but with a country play on words, with Jessica Cayne and Kayliann Lowe. It was recorded it at the legendary Blackbird Studio in Nashville with producer Lowell Reynolds.
“I brought in a whole bunch of titles to this songwriting session, and I think the session itself was very much a ‘bootfirst’ moment for me, because it was my first ever co-write,” said Lam. “I was very nervous because songwriting is such an intimate thing, but I still found my footing in co-writing because it’s different than solo writing because you got to collaborate.
“When you’re the artist and you’re working with these songwriters, you want to kind of go with everything they say, even if it doesn’t fit who you are. And I found my voice while I was writing, and Kayliann and Jess, they were amazing to work with, very easy co-writers to work with.”
In advance of the single’s release, she launched a fan-driven social media campaign called “Bootfirst Confessions.” At CMA Fest earlier this month, she took to the streets of Nashville to ask attendees about their own “bootfirst” moments.
@itsbellalam PRESAVE BOOTFIRST NOW! out 6/26 💋✨🌊 #bootfirst #cmafest #trending #countryartist #originalmusic
The song is the follow-up to “Take It Out On My Guitar” and “Tears In My Tequila.”
How have her parents reacted to the song they inspired?
“My dad’s actually in my band, and so when we’re practicing, he’s heard it a lot. He’s a hard guy to read, but I think that he’s very happy with it. I think that he’s happy with the fact that I think he’s very, very wise and he thinks things out before he does stuff. My mama, it’s funny. After we wrote the song, Kayliann was like, is your mom going to be upset that we called her a little bit crazy? Because there’s a line that says ‘got the crazy from my mama and got the careful from my daddy.’ And I was like, nah, she’s gonna think it’s funny. And she thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. She loves it.”
The effervescent young woman is a natural on social media, but it’s a relatively new endeavor for her.
“Once again, I had a strict Asian dad growing up, so I didn’t have social media until my junior year of high school. So going into it, I had no idea what I was doing. Artists, they kind of have to be an influencer at the same time. It’s not ideal, but you kind of have to find your own way to have fun with it. I think that it’s a skill that you have to develop, and I really enjoy doing it. I love going live and I love posting and vlogging and doing all these things. I look forward to it. In fact, on my desk, I have like a little notebook where I plan out every single week what I’m going to film, what I’m going to edit, what I’m going to post, and I think it’s truly one of the joys of my job.
“Does it bring a little bit of anxiety because of numbers and stuff like that? Yes. But when you’re in creative industries, and I’ve heard artists talk about it, I’ve heard influencers talk about it, I’ve heard YouTubers talk about it, it does bring anxiety. But you have to love it to keep going, and I think that I love music so much, and I love connecting with my fans so much, that while the numbers do bring me anxiety, I love it enough to keep going.”
Photo by Joey Schrader
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