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Exclusive Lyric Video Premiere: "Drag" by Makenzie Phipps
It goes without saying that contestants on NBC’s
The Voice are the cream of the crop. The show does an excellent job of selecting the best of the best, often to the point where it’s even hard to guess who will make it to the finals based on blind auditions. The competition is stiff, yet those contestants usually become great friends behind the scenes. When country artist Makenzie Phipps appeared on Season 28 of
The Voice (Team Snoop), she became close with fellow contestant Aubrey Nicole (Team Reba). They became so close, in fact, that they recently released a duet, “Devil Ain’t in Hell.” A scorcher, adorned with screaming guitars and breakneck fiddle, set to a theme reminiscent of old Spaghetti Western soundtracks, “Devil Ain’t in Hell” will put barroom lotharios in their place with a quickness.
TVTalent & Variety Shows
Grady Sax has once again served as Phipps’ producer. When I spoke with her, she praised his easy-going personality and his ability to always capture the sound she’s seeking. From there, let’s get into the interview as a whole.
Naturally, we focused on the new release, with Phipps giving me the lowdown on the song’s beginnings. “It wasn’t even going to be a co-write, it wasn’t going to be a duet,” she said. “I was just kind of working on the song, and on the show (
The Voice), Aubrey and I became really close. I asked her to come over to my room, as we had to stay in a hotel during the shooting of the show. So she came over and listened to what I had. I had a verse and some of the chorus written and she really liked the vibe of it. We both started talking and I told her I didn’t really know what direction I wanted it to go. I wasn’t sure what route to go with the storytelling and she started putting her two cents into it and putting words on paper with me. We were both tossing ideas back and forth and singin’ along with each other, and once the show was done I told her I really wanted to record the song. I felt like I wouldn’t do it justice alone and I wanted her to sing it with me. She was part of the writing process and it was really meant to be a duet, and I’m so happy she sang with me, and our producer Grady Sax did a phenomenal job.
I’ve interviewed Makenzie Phipps before and she’s a big fan of Grady Sax’s work, and she isn’t wrong, he did do an extraordinary job with this song. She also gave ample credit to Aubrey Nicole for helping to make the record the best it could be. “I really like how our voices worked together. She’s got a really warm, deep tone and I have a brighter tone, so I felt like they complemented one another.”
Listen to “Devil Ain’t in Hell” by clicking HERE.
From where I’m sitting, Makenzie Phipps is busy, and from where she’s sitting, she’s really busy. She related, “There’s a lot going on, it never stops. I’ve been working on different songs and continuing on my tour schedule for 2026. I can’t believe we’re already halfway through the year, Christmas is gonna be here before you know it, so I’m working on a tune I’ll be putting out this year. I’ve been stayin’ busy and workin’ on different merch items to put on my website makenziephipps.com. I’m really excited to see what continues to happen throughout the year.”
Phipps has some good news for fans of unique jewelry. “I have this awesome partnership with JTV, Jewelry Television, and I have my own little spotlight collection on their website. People can go look up jtv.com and type in my name to see all the beautiful pieces I’ve selected to put in my spotlight collection. I went with a 'diamond meets western' vibe. Then there’s fur baby-themed items in there too because of course, I love my fur babies, my little kitties. They’re actually having a special coupon code right now and it’s valid until Labor Day. The code will give you $25.00 off any order over $75.00. Just type in the code JTVMAK25 to access the offer.
Spicy new single, new music in the works, playing shows and jewelry. Seems like a lot, but there’s more! “I do have some songs lined up that I’m going to be releasing for the remainder of the year, and I definitely feel like as I’ve gotten more into songwriting that I fit into the 2000s era of country,” Phipps revealed. I really like the sounds of that time because that’s what I grew up on. I’ve had a lot of people say that my sound and my writing reminds them of Sara Evans, and I will take that as a compliment any day. I love Miranda Lambert’s vibe as well. I hope that people are starting to get an idea of who Makenzie Phipps is through my music now that I’ve been doing this for a while.”
I’m a huge fan of 2000s country music myself. With the exception of a few newer artists, it remains my favorite decade for the genre. If you think of all the monster hits that emerged between 2000 and 2009, you can’t help but admit, it was a banger-after-banger ten year period. Songs like “Before He Cheats” (Carrie Underwood), “Kerosene” (Miranda Lambert) and “Don’t Blink” (Kenny Chesney) are just a tiny glimpse of what we were listening to on repeat back then.
It makes sense that Phipps would be heavily influenced by the country music of the 2000s if that’s what she was hearing as she was coming of age, especially from Sara Evans, who she’s a big fan of. While she hasn’t met Evans in person just yet, she feels like that could happen in the future. Until then, she honors Evans during most of her live sets. She plays the 2004 Sara Evans’ hit “Suds in the Bucket” nearly every time. The song, co-written by Billy Montana and Tammy Wagoner, hit number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, ultimately earning Platinum status. I mentioned how fun it would be to someday have a Sara Evans / Makenzie Phipps collaboration and Phipps wholeheartedly agreed.
It was a summer with a big “first” for Phipps. “I had my first headlining festival on the 4th of July. I was in Rome, Georgia for their Freedom Festival for America’s 250th Anniversary. It was so much fun, and we made it through! I say that because during that time the heat index was over 100 and we had to play for two hours. I was just like, ‘Jesus, take the wheel.’ The Georgia heat is nothing to joke about, it was so dang hot! I told my mom, ‘I’m gonna dress as cool as possible, while still being patriotic and I’m just gonna do mascara. There’s no need for foundation, it’s just gonna melt right off.’ I wore sunglasses for the show, so it’s like nobody could see it anyway. It was a fun event and I still have some shows lined up. I’m going back to Virginia (her home state), West Virginia and I have some private events, one of them in Maryland, and of course, Tennessee. It’s going to be a fun rest of the year.”
Not a whole lot that’s new in her personal life, but there is Jared. Jared? Yes, Jared. He’s a cat, Makenzie’s cat and for all intents and purposes, Jared is a celebrity. If you aren’t familiar with Jared, you can be. I’m a recent convert to Jared’s fan base myself and he’s getting an awful lot of my attention these days. She explained, “I have my hands full with my two little fur babies. One of them, he’s actually got more TikTok followers, likes and views than I ever will. His name is Jared and his name on TikTok is jaredthecrosseyedcat and like I said, he has more followers, gets more views and more everything. He’s just got it all. He’s literally such a nut and I love him to death. He’s just not right.” Not right, perhaps, but this fancy feline (he wears a bowtie) is highly entertaining (with a little help from his human mom, of course). He’s adorable and so worth checking out. I did comment that because Jared’s “just not right,” he’d probably be a musician if he was a human, but I was only partly correct. Phipps added, “If Jared was a human, he’d be a singer because he never stops singin’ whenever I talk or sing. I’ll be singin’ and he just talks and talks.”
Jared also has a little sister, Raven, a sweet little black cat who occasionally makes little spotlight appearances on Jared’s TikTok. I had the good luck of seeing her pop in on one of my very first looks at Jared, and yes, he does have quite the following.
A random question just to learn a little more about Makenzie Phipps brought us almost to the end of our chat. “If you could float in a hot air balloon over any city or place in the world, what would you choose to float over?” She replied, “I would definitely choose France. I’d love to see it. We could see all of the croissants.” Heck with the Eiffel Tower, let’s find the best croissants! I’m in, even though I’d probably be terrified to ride in a hot air balloon.
Finally, I asked Phipps, “What, so far in your life, has been your most memorable ‘Center Stage’ moment? She answered right away. “Honestly,
The Voice, especially with my audition being so stressful and nervewracking, being the last person to go and the last making a team. I still look back at my blind audition and I get tears in my eyes from reliving all the emotions I was going through. I’m just so glad I’m able to relive that moment all over again. Yes, that would definitely be it for me.”
One of the hardest working people in Nashville, Makenzie Phipps continues to be one to watch. Her jam packed schedule is proof that she’s making things happen and as time goes by, we can even say, she’s
in demand. Follow her on social media and let her know Center Stage Magazine sent you!
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