She has opened for 32 of country’s biggest stars including Blake Shelton and Hunter Hayes, has sang alongside Keith Urban on MTV, and has performed at massive functions across the country for years.
“Those big moments felt so rewarding,” said Conrad, whose new song “Better On” premiered exclusively on Popdust today. “The hard part as an artist is to be able to sustain that level of success.” Conrad, who started singing country tunes at a young age, has recently performed on more patios than stages due to the pandemic, but her determination in the face of changing times is telling of Conrad’s work ethic. “I do feel like I lost momentum,” she said. “I had plans and a lot of opportunities coming up, but I’ve really grown my social media engagement, played virtual shows…performing on patios has definitely kept me busy! Discovering new ways to engage with my fans and promote my music has kept me sane.”
She’s also been watching her EP single “Come to Your Senses” rack up plays on Spotify as it has now surpassed 200,000 plays. One of her other recent tracks, “Leader of the Pack,” has also exploded on Tiktok. It’s been used in 1700 videos, and viewed over 20 million times. But while “Leader of the Pack” is a hard-hitting self-empowerment anthem built for the largest stadium, “Better On” is an ode to a tumultuous relationship that left Conrad “going back for seconds.”
“It’s the sexiest song I’ve ever written,” she said of the track. “I wanted to take the phrase ‘better off’ and turn it on its head,” The writing process also came together incredibly quickly. “I was writing with [Aaron Scherz] in Nashville one day, and finished it in one session…it was fun getting to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to create the story of the song.” Conrad’s been working on music since she was young, singing along to CD’s as a kid before joining the school choir. She soon taught herself to play guitar as a teenager.
“Music has always been there for me as a means to express myself. I have always felt more comfortable onstage looking at the crowd than I am in it.” For the next few months, she’s gonna let the song speak for itself–Oh, and she’s gonna continue to cook on her new Instagram page “Kendal Bites.” “I’m a HUGE foodie so I started my own food blog, you know, when one door closes!”
Listen to the new single below:
Kendal Conrad – Better On (Audio)
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