Canadian Country Artist Mackenzie Porter Is Proving To Be Unstoppable, Even In Quarantine

Quarantine hasn’t slowed down Canada’s fastest rising star, MacKenzie Porter. While her music’s streams continue to climb, Porter has spent the last few weeks making appearances on the nation’s largest entertainment programs including ET Canada (Canada Together: In Concert), The Morning Show (Global) and eTalk.

On the road, Porter has spent the last 12 months criss-crossing the U.S. and Canada, opening for the likes of Chris Lane, Blanco Brown, Dallas Smith, Dean Brody, and most recently, Brad Paisley on his 2020 world tour.

We recently caught up with Porter about all things career and music. Scroll to read the exclusive interview below and be sure to look out for her Instagram takeover on @style_canada this Friday, June 12th.

MP: The last few months have been pretty wild, to say the least. January through March was the busiest time of my life setting up my single release. I was on tour and also on a radio tour. I think I took around 30 flights in the first couple months of this year. Then all of a sudden, all of our plans changed with COVID-19 and I came to a grinding halt. It’s very interesting releasing music in time like this but I will say that my team and I have had to think outside the box to keep the momentum going and it’s been really rewarding to see it do just that.

MP: We finished my radio tour virtually. Everyday I would meet radio teams on Zoom and hang out and play music for them. It definitely wasn’t how I pictured things going down but it actually had some really cool benefits. My year of live shows has basically been postponed till 2021, so now I’m writing more on Zoom and back in the studio working on new music. I’ve totally had to adjust to what I thought this year was going to be.

MP: I grew up in Alberta on a cattle and bison ranch. My parents are country people and that’s where I fell in love with country music. I always knew Nashville was where I wanted to end up. I started making trips maybe three to four times a year to write and fell in love with the city (and a boy). Finally, when I could afford to fully move, I did. I absolutely love living here.

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SC: What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?

MP: Not to worry so much. I wanted everything to happen so fast in my career. Things take time… especially good things. I’ve learned that even if I work my butt off for the things I want to accomplish, I’ll always accomplish them in the end. I wouldn’t put so much pressure on myself.

SC: It looks like you’ve been spending a lot of time in the studio. What’s up next?

MP: My full length album is coming out! It’s very overdue and I can’t wait for you guys to hear it.

SC: How do you hope your music impacts the world?

MP: I think music really heals. When you have a broken heart, you listen to music. And you’re missing someone, you listen to music. And you need to zone out of your head, you listen to music. This time in particular is super uncertain and scary. I hope my music can take you out of your head for a while or help with that broken heart. I’ve had so many people reach out to me on Instagram to say how my song Seeing Other People is exactly what they’re going through. Music should be unifying like that. To help you not feel so alone in your experiences when everything else in life is does just that.