Hot the heels of the release of her debut album, Crashlanded, Madeline Edwards brought her new single, “Mama, Dolly, Jesus,” to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Surrounded by colorful lights and a silver tinsel backdrop, the rising star delivered a rousing performance of the additive tune along her band.
Co-written by Edwards alongside lauded hitmakers Jessie Jo Dillon, Jimmy Robbins, and Laura Veltz, “Mama, Dolly, Jesus” finds the California-born, Texas-raised artist brushing off the opinions of those who don’t matter.
“You ain’t mama, Dolly or Jesus/ They’re the only voices in my head that I tend to agree with/ So pick your bones and throw your stones/ I ain’t inclined to please ya/ Unless you’re mama, Dolly or Jesus,” she sings.
In a recent interview with Country Now, Edwards shared how she was inspired to write the song after receiving criticism over a photo that appear on the cover of a previously released EP.
“The cover of the record is me with an off-the-shoulder top and they found that to be pretty scandalous,” she laughed. “So I got a lot of really tough criticism from the Christian community for that and it made me kind of pissed off and it made me feel like I wasn’t valued as a Christian and my story of coming back to the Lord.”
When she got into the room with her co-writers they decided to help Edwards write a song about only valuing the opinions of those that matter to her. “I told them the people I care about the most, their opinions of me, are my mom and Dolly Parton and Jesus,” she recalled.
The message of the song isn’t so much about putting critics in their place, but more so about encouraging people to love themselves and others.
“I think it’s really cool, cause it’s kind of tongue in cheek, challenging the critics from The Road record, but also kind of encouraging people that if you don’t love yourself, how do you expect to love other people?”
Edwards recently joined forces with Nashville-based director Quinton Cook to bring the song to life with a music video that features several of Edwards’s friends and a Dolly Parton drag queen. Click below to watch.
Madeline Edwards’ The Late Show performance comes on the heels of a wildly successful year that saw the talented singer/songwriter making her Grand Ole Opry debut and sharing the stage with superstars like Chris Stapleton.
Her album, Crashlanded, was released via Warner Music Nashville and includes 12 tracks she co-wrote alongside heavy hitters like Ross Copperman, Luke Dick, and Trannie Anderson.
“I try to always communicate a lot of love and respect in my songwriting. I try to be as inclusive with my music as I can and I want people to feel challenged but also wrapped in a big hug when they listen cause I am challenging the listeners to do the hard thing,” she shared when asked what she hopes fans take away when listening to the project.
With a whirlwind year behind her, Edwards will enjoy some time off the road for the holidays. She will join Ingrid Andress on tour in 2023 and also perform at a number of major festivals, including Stagecoach, Rock the South, and TidalWave Music Festival.
For a full list of upcoming tour dates, click HERE.
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