Mm.

But what we've always done is not sustainable for artists, which is why when I see someone like Charlie, um, or someone that's at the top of their game, you know, they feel the frustration from the fans 'cause they wanna hear that music live.

But it's just a really lonely experience, or at least it can be, unless you do it where you're in your city.

And when I'm in my city, anything that happens, I'm so backed here.

Like, I feel so safe here because everyone that makes me safe is, like, 10 minutes away, so it's awesome, you know? And, like, when the plane's catching on fire and my friend is dying and I have COVID and I'm on the phone with my therapist, it would just be so much better-

Why a horse?

'Cause that's me.

Horses represent What I was, like, growing up in Nashville, it's grounded- Mm ... it's who I've been, but it also represents to me power and freedom and a wildness, but they can also be tamed, and they can be molded and trained, and they can also be...

Mm-hmm.

My song is clearly about breaking free and being out of a cage, and being able to be truly who you are.

And if you see Hannah Montana through that or mad because you don't, like, turn on Disney Channel.

That's where my show is.

My show is still on the air.

I'm not done doing Hannah Montana.

My music just isn't forever gonna be Hannah Montana music because that's not where I am in my life.

Um, what do you wanna tell to your fans and non-fans right now about that album?

Mm-hmm.

My song is clearly about breaking free and being out of a cage and being able to be truly who you are.

And if you see Hannah Montana through that or mad because you don't, like turn on Disney Channel.

That's where my show is.

My show is still on the air.

I'm not done doing Hannah Montana.

My music just isn't forever gonna be Hannah Montana music, because that's not where I am in my life.

Um, what do you wanna tell to your fans and non-fans right now about that album?

And I'm excited to talk

about it a bit later.

I feel like the title of Something Beautiful actually resonates and really compliments, you know, reclaiming and what your platform and what your podcast stands for.

Something Beautiful, just the title alone, carries a lot of power, a lot of weight, a lot of energy.

And we all experience, you know, I don't actually want to narrow it down to this specific time because as you know as much as anyone, every generation and every society and community experiences different struggles.

So it all feels like...

We're all experiencing the worst of the worst, you know, in our own way.

Is it

Oh.

Uh, uh, I call it the last lap around the sun in this particular way.

This album is my newborn, and it's keeping me up all night, and it's exhausting.

And I am really grateful for this record.

It's worth it for me to put this much into this creation because, by the way, I already have.

I've been working on this album for two years.

I've already put so much that this last little stretch, the album is-

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

And there's certain years that I feel I wish I could just kind of skip over and get to the place that I am now.

But the place that I am now is not near as interesting or as meaningful if you don't actually go through some of the guts of my timeline that carries a little bit more of that guilt and some of the, you know, honestly trauma, and some of that, that, those triggers.

So, knowing that you went straight to kind of the beginning of my career and you're looking at it from a place of I see how much joy you brought people, how much laughter you put into the homes of families all around the world, that's something that I'm really proud of.

Mm-hmm.

You know, this album, for me, this is not in any way a, a, a retirement or a goodbye, but it is the last lap.

Uh, uh, I call it the last lap around the sun in this particular way.

This album is my newborn, and it's keeping me up all night, and it's exhausting.

[laughs]

And, and I wouldn't say that all my albums are even necessarily reflective of what I would say or who I would say I am as an artist or a musician.

Sometimes my albums, you know, are experimentation for me, and they end up being shared.

And so with Something Beautiful, I wanted to, uh, you know, reclaim and reimagine the word beautiful and what it means to me.

Some of the most beautiful moments in my life, you know, I am also a very emotional...

I get, I cry about everything, so I'm fine.

You know, but when I think about, you know, being born, the first person that I saw was my grandma, and it gets me emotional.

Of course.