Mickey Guyton reflects on making her debut album while pregnant with her 1st child
Mickey Guyton recently opened up about the process of making her full-length studio debut, "Remember Her Name," while pregnant with her first child.
"Pregnancy wasn't in the plan," the country artist said during a recent CMT interview, adding: "God gives you exactly what you need at that exact moment."
Guyton said becoming a mom meant focusing less on the criticism and pressure she faced from the country music industry, not only as a new artist, but also as a Black woman.
"I know that I needed this beautiful boy to take my mind off the industry's pressure and put that energy into this precious human," she said.
Guyton, who welcomed her son, Grayson, in early 2021, said her pregnancy brought logistical challenges to the album-making process. "Recording and singing with a baby in your belly is a lot," she said. "When I first found out that I was pregnant, the first trimester was the hardest for recording."
Guyton said early pregnancy symptoms like nausea made it difficult for her to predict when she'd be able to work, and later on, as the baby grew, it became physically difficult for her to sing.
"Then, in the final trimester, I had to learn how to sing with a six-pound baby in my belly. While recording the song 'All American,' for instance, there was no room for my diaphragm, so I had to wait for certain times of the day to record," she recalled. "If I had just eaten, I literally couldn't sing 'All American,' because my voice couldn't hit those notes..."
Also on the track list of "Remember Her Name" are songs like "Black Like Me" and "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?"
She also opened up about the impact she hopes her debut album has in the realm of country music.
"When I first got signed ten years ago, I wanted to make an album just like everyone else," she told CMT. "But, ten years later, after seeing Nashville's flaws, I'm instead making an album that I hope continues the conversation about people of color gaining equity and increases opportunities for other artists of color to succeed in country music."
