Biography
Presley emerged as the final Pistol Annies participant to issue a solo album, lacking Miranda Lambert’s superstar reach and Ashley Monroe’s seasoned endurance within Music City. Her foundation instead rested on behind-the-scenes songwriting that gained traction only after the trio formed. Once the 2011 debut Hell on Heels achieved commercial traction, a solo deal followed in 2014, bringing American Middle Class to market.
Fifteen years of steady Nashville work preceded the autumn arrival of that first record. Born in Martin County, Kentucky to a school teacher mother and coal miner father, she took up music during her teenage years but treated it as a vocation only after leaving Eastern Kentucky University. The move to Nashville came in 2000 and soon produced a publishing contract; meaningful cuts arrived late in the decade, including “Knocked Up” on Heidi Newfield’s 2008 album What Am I Waiting For? and “Look It Up” on Ashton Shepherd’s 2011 release Where Country Grows.
Her decisive break arrived through Ashley Monroe, a fellow songwriter at the same publisher, who introduced her to Miranda Lambert. The three women formed Pistol Annies in 2011 and wrote the material that became Hell on Heels. The gold-certified set prompted a 2013 sequel, Annie Up, which posted respectable numbers without matching the debut’s performance. A year later Slate Creek issued American Middle Class, which opened at number 29 on the U.S. country charts.
Three years afterward came Wrangled, her second solo album, which included appearances by Morgane Stapleton and Yelawolf along with tracks co-written by Chris Stapleton and Guy Clark.
Fifteen years of steady Nashville work preceded the autumn arrival of that first record. Born in Martin County, Kentucky to a school teacher mother and coal miner father, she took up music during her teenage years but treated it as a vocation only after leaving Eastern Kentucky University. The move to Nashville came in 2000 and soon produced a publishing contract; meaningful cuts arrived late in the decade, including “Knocked Up” on Heidi Newfield’s 2008 album What Am I Waiting For? and “Look It Up” on Ashton Shepherd’s 2011 release Where Country Grows.
Her decisive break arrived through Ashley Monroe, a fellow songwriter at the same publisher, who introduced her to Miranda Lambert. The three women formed Pistol Annies in 2011 and wrote the material that became Hell on Heels. The gold-certified set prompted a 2013 sequel, Annie Up, which posted respectable numbers without matching the debut’s performance. A year later Slate Creek issued American Middle Class, which opened at number 29 on the U.S. country charts.
Three years afterward came Wrangled, her second solo album, which included appearances by Morgane Stapleton and Yelawolf along with tracks co-written by Chris Stapleton and Guy Clark.
Albums
Singles
