Big Valley Jamboree: Paige Rutledge interview

Paige Rutledge, a country singer hailing from Ontario, played the Saturday Songwriters Showcase at Big Valley Jamboree. Ahead of her set, she chatted with The Gateway about her beginnings, her writing, and her recent release. 

On her beginning, Rutledge explained that she started off playing bars when she was 13. “When I was 16, I put a little band together with people I went to school with, and we’d play local festivals and do whatever we were hired to play. And then I went to University at Guelph and played a ton of gigs while I was away. I specifically went to a school that had a really good live music scene.”

But she graduated into the COVID-19 pandemic and was unable to play shows for some time. In response, she said she made her “cottage into a recording studio, wrote songs, [and] made connections and relationships with people online.” 

And with that, she was able to play shows right away coming out of COVID-19. 

With her being more than a decade into her career, she said what she’s making now is her matured and definitive sound. “Your sound changes so much as you change and you grow up.” She explained that during COVID-19 she took a step back and considered how she wanted to sound, and who she was. 

And since she began her career so young, she was able to look back and see how her sound has changed over time, and how her lens has changed with age as well. 

“I look at life differently now. [Aging] changes how you write songs and approach different topics,” she said. 

Currently, post-graduate young adulthood and the different directions people can, and do, go in is a topic for Rutledge. “You think all these things are going to happen, but it doesn’t. You graduate and everybody goes in different directions.”

With these releases, she’s hoping to represent those who feel similarly, and hopes her transparency aids in that. “I think the more open and honest you are, the more people relate to the music you write and put out,” she explained. 

“Looking back at old songs is looking back at a part of my life … it’s cool to see how far I’ve come,” Rutledge says

And while she’s hoping to help others, the writing process helps Rutledge as well. “Writing songs, for me, is a form of therapy. I’ve learned that if you want to put yourself out there and be vulnerable, you actually have to go and do that and let yourself meet people and date and explore and live. I had to learn to be honest with myself. It really is a feeling of release,” Rutledge said. 

Having a discography going back five years on Spotify, she’s able to reflect on the past. “When I look back on these older songs compared to the new ones, the growth in the span of five years is just crazy.” 

And these songs being on the internet, along with all of her content, for Rutledge, is another way to look back at her life as well. “A woman once told me that the internet is like your own personal scrapbook. Looking back at old songs is looking back at a part of my life. And it’s fun to look back on those eras of my life. And it’s cool to see how far I’ve come.”

Looking at the recent past, Rutledge’s latest release, “Whatcha Gonna Do,” has a bubbly, pastel aesthetic online, and on it, she said they questioned how they could present the track in an unexpected way. 

“The directors were like, ‘what if we made you a Barbie dream world?’ So we had a bubble gun machine and I was covered in bubbles by the end of it, but it was fun. And it’s been very eye-catching with the colours.” 

Rutledge said it’s fun to “lean into country that pushes boundaries. I know some people don’t always love that, but I think it’s cool to change things up. Things should be evolving and things should change.”

Rutledge said a bunch of new music can be expected.