Interview: Aubrie Sellers Learns to Trust Her Gut When She’s ‘Far From Home’
Aubrie Sellers marries real-world struggles and growth with her own life challenges on her sophomore album, Far From Home. She co-produced the album with her stepfather, Frank Liddell, at Sonic Ranch Studios near El Paso, Texas.
Far From Home draws on her desire to connect with people through her music, and it displays the confidence Sellers found in herself as she put her life experiences to paper. The title is a summary of what she was going through when crafting the 12 songs on the album.
“I was literally far from home physically, because I was on tour more than I have ever been before," she tells Taste of Country.
For Sellers, the last song on the album, “One Town’s Trash,” is the song out of all 12 that best portrays her personal growth. The idea is that one town’s trash is another town’s treasure, and it was inspired by uprooting her life in Nashville and moving to Los Angeles.
“It’s a lot of trusting yourself," she says. “If this isn’t where I’m meant to be, I’ll leave and go find the place I’m meant to be."
Sellers opens up about her struggle with anxiety in "Worried Mind." She hopes that her album and specifically that song will be healing to many, and says putting her insecurities on paper really was healing for her.
“All my songs come from a real personal place," Sellers says, but letting people see every facet of her in her music wasn’t something she originally dwelt on.
“It wasn’t a conscious choice in a lot of ways," she says. “These are the songs I write; and then it was like, 'These are the songs I’m releasing.'"
Sellers released her debut album, New City Blues, in 2016, and she was a member of Taste of Country's inaugural class of RISERS alongside Brett Young, Runaway June and more.
“When I wrote my first record, I was young, I hadn’t toured, I hadn’t done any of that stuff, and had a lot more tough life experiences when I wrote this second record," she says. That allows her to bring a level of depth and self-discovery into Far From Home, she adds.
Self-discovery bears a unique weight for Sellers. Her mother is Lee Ann Womack, and her father is songwriter and musician Jason Sellers. It's important to her that she differentiates herself from them.
“I think a lot of people just think, 'Oh, if you have parents who are in that industry, that makes it easier for you.' I have not found that to be the case," she says. “I find that it makes it a lot more difficult for you to make a stamp on your own, because it’s hard to step out of the shadow."
She's come to see her upbringing as having molded her confidence to show who she really is, but acknowledges that her parents' status caused her to question people's intentions toward her when she was younger.
The message Sellers wants to leave people with on Far From Home is to trust your gut.
“Sometimes that takes experiences to learn what to say yes and no to," she says. “It just takes time. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish your intuition from your anxiety. Only you deep down know what’s right for you. Other people’s advice is based on their experiences and their values. You have to make sure you’re always running it through that filter and doing what’s right for you. Knowing yourself and trusting your gut allows for more empathy for others."
Sellers released Far From Home on Feb. 7, and she's included on some of the dates of the 2020 CMT Next Women of Country Tour, which family friend Tanya Tucker is headlining. Though Sellers knows Tucker on a personal level, she’s never had the opportunity to work with her in a professional capacity.
“I’m very excited to see that side of her, because I only know the one that brings her dogs over and cooks chicken-fried steak,” Seller jokes.
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