"What would you try to accomplish if your success was guaranteed?" Mae Beth Harris took this motto to heart when her dad told her these words, which symbolized her successful country music career. What makes Harris unique from other country music singers is her story.
She grew up in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, until the age of 10. During this time Harris told me her center of influence was growing up in the simple town. She continued by explaining her grandmother's influence, "My grandmother played a lot of traditional country music, she worked at a flea market at the time. Every Saturday I would go listen to her play, and I enjoyed every moment of that time listening to her music."
Harris' largest influence is one that I personally admire, church. Harris furthered her role in singing in the church, "My mom reminded me the other day that when I was in Kindergarten I recorded a kids worship CD." I responded with a chuckle thinking about the children's music I listened to growing up. Harris continued, "I actually went to Freedom Worship Academy, and I sang in their studio when I was 5." The name of the song is "In the Morning When I rise."
Harris certainly did rise up. At 10 years old, she moved to west Knoxville, continued to sing in not only church but many amazing venues, ran track and continued to be inspired by her family's love. At 14 years old she declared country as her genre when she played at historic Dollywood. Dollywood is a theme park in the Knoxville Smokey Mountains area started and owned by Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. This was her first time playing in front of a large crowd. The spotlight certainly shined here as Dollywood was hosting the Texaco Country Showdown. It basically is a giant talent show for country music. The best of the best, like LeAnn Rhymes and Sara Evans, won the Showdown.
While she did not win the Showcase, Harris' name was gaining a lot of attention. She knew the importance of writing music at this point with more and more people wanting to hear her own works. She began to talk about Mulligan's Writer's Night, "I started writing music and playing at Mulligans my freshman and sophomore year of high school." She was recognized while playing at Mulligans by a host from Q100.3 FM, and the guidance she received helped her win a lot of the open mic nights. Mulligan’s was not the only place Mae Beth played. She played at Boomsday in Knoxville, with Rodney Adkins, WIBK and eventually opened for Trace Adkins in Knoxville on a sunny September day in 2015.
Now Harris is at Belmont University working diligently on her music career. A new album is in the making containing an old style with a new flair. On top of this new album, big news is in the making that could mean a career changer. I concluded the interview by asking her about a few goals she wants to accomplish over the next year, "I want to keep developing as an artist, keep on track and to keep God in my life." Truly inspirational words were spoken from not only a phenomenal artist, but also an amazing person.
