{"id":274122,"date":"2025-11-06T01:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/274122\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T01:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T01:03:09","slug":"colbie-caillat-talks-collaborating-with-taylor-swift-her-failed-american-idol-audition-and-her-new-duets-album-on-off-the-record-episode-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/274122\/","title":{"rendered":"Colbie Caillat Talks Collaborating With Taylor Swift, Her Failed \u2018American Idol\u2019 Audition, and Her New Duets Album on \u2018Off the Record\u2019 (Episode 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colbie Caillat is getting candid. In the first episode of American Songwriter\u2019s Off the Record<\/a> podcast, host Lisa Konicki chatted with Caillat about her nearly two-decade-long journey in the music business.<\/p>\n

Caillat\u2019s interest in music dates back to her childhood. Her parents were both in the music business. Her dad, Ken Caillat, even produced Fleetwood Mac\u2019s famed LP, Rumours. <\/p>\n

Despite her parents\u2019 industry know-how, Caillat wasn\u2019t pressured to join the family business. Instead, she would sing in her bedroom and perform in talent shows with her friends. <\/p>\n

When Caillat was just 19, she started to take things more seriously. She signed up for vocal, piano, and guitar lessons. It was also at that age that Caillat decided to try out for American Idol. The audition didn\u2019t last long<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just said no instantly. It was like we were at the Rose Bowl. There were thousands of people in the parking lot. You have to camp out overnight to get a spot in line\u2026 Our parents were there. It was wild,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI was nervous, and I just didn\u2019t have the look. I didn\u2019t have any of the things. Ten seconds in, they were like, \u2018Next.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the rejection, Caillat gave it another go the next year, auditioning with her song \u201cBubbly\u201d, which went on to become a major hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said the same thing\u2026 They said no again,\u201d Caillat said, before sharing why she \u201cwasn\u2019t right for the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very shy, introverted,\u201d she said, noting that she \u201chad never really performed before besides a couple of school talent shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbie Caillat\u2019s Early Career<\/p>\n

While Idol wasn\u2019t in the cards for Caillat, a career in music certainly was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote my first song when I was 19,\u201d Caillat recalled. \u201cMy friend put those songs up on MySpace. When I was 20, everything kind of took off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people at Idol may not have responded to \u201cBubbly\u201d, but the internet did. In fact, the online chatter got Caillat a record deal. From there, it was full steam ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on tour that next summer with the GooGoo Dolls and Lifehouse,\u201d Caillat said. \u201cThat was my first time ever being on a stage like that\u2026 I had this huge opportunity that was just thrown in my lap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[There are] a lot of friends I\u2019ve had in the music industry where it takes them a lot longer to get to that place, and so they had a lot more practice and experience,\u201d she continued. \u201cI was just so green and so nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the help of a therapist and a stage coach, Caillat made it through.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery show that you do, the more you get comfortable, and the more you learn about yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cI learned along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2008, Caillat teamed up with Taylor Swift to write \u201cBreathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s brilliant. That was a long time ago. She was so young,\u201d Caillat recalled. \u201cI flew out from Nashville. She wanted to write with me. She had this idea she brought in the room.\u201d <\/p>\n

Caillat further noted of Swift, \u201cShe was so sweet. She brought me a gift. Her mom dropped her off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The song, which appeared on Swift\u2019s sophomore album, Fearless, was nominated for a Grammy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just so impressed at her confidence, and her talent, and her wisdom in general, but especially at that age,\u201d Caillat said. \u201cI was just blown away. It was a really cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbie Caillat\u2019s New Duets Album<\/p>\n

Most recently, Caillat released her new album, This Time Around. <\/p>\n

On the LP, Caillat reimagined some of her biggest hits as duets with stars Maren Morris, Walker Hayes, Amos Lee, Mitchell Tenpenny, Jason Mraz, Hillary Scott, Chris Young, and Russell Dickerson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s so fun about singing these old songs, finding new meaning in them,\u201d she said. \u201cThey pull at your heartstrings a little bit.<\/p>\n

As for how the pairings were made, it was a mix of Caillat asking artists to appear on songs and artists making requests for specific tunes.<\/p>\n

Scott asked to sing on \u201cTry\u201d because it\u2019s a song she sings with her daughter. Caillat, meanwhile, wanted Tenpenny\u00a0on \u201cRealize\u201d, and he obliged, much to Dickerson\u2019s dismay, as he had his eye on the tune. Dickerson ended up with \u201cIf You Love Me Let Me Go\u201d, while Morris, who was initially slotted for Hayes\u2019 spot on \u201cBrighter Than the Sun\u201d, appeared on \u201cFallin\u2019 for You\u201d instead.<\/p>\n

A \u201ctough\u201d challenge came with picking the featured artist for \u201cBubbly,\u201d a task that eventually went to Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know who would fit that. Amos, I became friends with him last year, and I was nervous to ask him, but he said yes. He added such amazing, smooth vocals. It\u2019s really cool. He just added some dynamic to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album also features a cover of Post Malone\u2019s \u201cCircles\u201d with Gavin DeGraw, as well as three new songs\u2014\u201dKinda Single\u201d featuring Lee Brice, \u201cLive Without\u201d featuring Maddie & Tae, and \u201cCan\u2019t Say No\u201d featuring Ryan Hurd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it\u2019s nice to be able to add some freshness to it,\u201d she said of the new songs on the LP. \u201cThey\u2019re all just very much what I was experiencing at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pop Star Has Developed a Country Fascination<\/p>\n

Whether new songs or reimagined ones, many on the album have a country flair, a genre Caillat first dove into on her 2023 LP, Along the Way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a long progression,\u201d Caillat said of her journey to becoming a country music fan. \u201cI didn\u2019t grow up with country music. I honestly wasn\u2019t a fan of it until, like, 15 years ago or even less than that, maybe. It wasn\u2019t around.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Callait started making some Nashville-based friends like DeGraw, she began to get more into the genre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that people write here, the songwriting is brilliant and the musicians are incredible\u2026 It\u2019s a small town. Everyone works together. Everyone\u2019s friends with each other. I\u2019ve been here for nine years now, and it truly, slowly just started feeling like this is the kind of music I want to create. It felt natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by Danielle Del Valle\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colbie Caillat is getting candid. In the first episode of American Songwriter\u2019s Off the Record podcast, host Lisa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[146206,88,216,146207,17172],"class_list":{"0":"post-274122","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-colbie-caillat","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-off-the-record","12":"tag-pop-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}