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Kallista Clark is a name to get used to. The 19-year-old aspiring singer has been patiently waiting for her turn to let the world hear the music she’s been working on over the years. Their 10-track debut album, Real for me: That’s how I feeldropped on October 14 and was met with rave reviews when she embarked soon after Brett JungEuropean tour and released a Christmas carol. “I I wanted to release something that would be really honest with myself at this age and era in life,” she said HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY about the album. “It’s about acknowledging emotions even though I’m young and saying you can still feel heartbreak, you can still feel stress, you can still feel everything even though you’re young.”
Callista explained that making the album “helped [her] grow and find out who [she] wanted to be as a person.” She admitted that balancing growth “as an artist and as a person at the same time” was difficult, but the record helped her get there. “Trying to find your own confidence and pace of life and then, ‘Who do I want to be as an artist?’ ‘What have I to say?’ ‘How do I want to sound like?'” said the “Sad” singer.
The Georgia native revealed that she has written most of her music for Real for me: the way I feel”a few years ago,” but the full-length album’s release has been on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Callista has spent the last two years testing her songs in front of a live audience and working on some new ones to add to the record, which was an extension of her EP. “I tried to be very strategic and also very patient,” she told HL, recalling “playing wherever people would let me.” [her]’ during the pandemic.
The singer found lyrical and tonal inspiration in country music of the ’80s and ’90s, including hits from The chicks, The Judds, Travis Tritt, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks. At the same time she pulled off some hint Maren Morris and her “somber”, “honest” work. “For the most part, it was all setbacks,” she said. “A huge mix of things, and that’s always what I love. I feel like you can hear them on the album.”
Callista went on to release her version of the classic Christmas song, “Please Come Home For Christmas,” which highlighted her love of classic rock. “I grew up listening Classic rock, which is probably why “Please Come Home For Christmas” has always been my favorite – it makes me feel like I’m hearing classics on vinyl,” she said of the release.
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