MacKenzie Porter: 'You Can’t Force Creativity, But You Can Show Up And Be Ready For When It Strikes'

By all accounts, MacKenzie Porter is having her craziest year yet.

She’s toured across multiple continents. She released her brilliant new album, Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart, while pregnant. She is currently filming an Amazon TV show in North Carolina and has appeared on Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel, and the Kelly Clarkson Show. To top it all off, she gave birth to her daughter.

Currently in town for Ridin’ Hearts Festival 2024, Porter has managed to find a slither of time in her busy touring schedule. Dressed in a shimmery black outfit with feathers on the rim, Porter looks like she should be walking out onto a stage. Instead, we find ourselves at a corner table of a hotel café drinking peppermint tea. Nevertheless, Porter is the personification of refreshed.

“We’ve only been here three days. We’ve done Bondi Beach, then we went out in Surry Hills for dinner last night. I’m loving it,” Porter shares. Her third time in Australia, Porter feels rather at home with Australians, having spent time with many of them in the past.

“Obviously, you guys have Keith Urban. I opened for him, and he was just the coolest. I also know Morgan Evans well. He lives above the apartment we used to live in. I also went on tour with Seaforth. So, I’m practically an honorary Australian.”

The last time Porter was in Australia, she played CMC Rocks. There, Porter says, she had one of the best experiences she has ever had performing at a country music festival.

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“I remember sitting on the plane thinking that no one would know my music. But when I got there, I was literally so impressed. They knew the lyrics to even my deep cuts, too. They looked at the line-up and learnt it all.”

Growing up on a ranch in Canada, Porter’s parents raised her on the country music greats. Wondering what a career in music would be like, she eventually began to write her own music.

A child of the '90s, Porter later became exposed to The Chicks, Shania Twain, and Garth Brooks. She also grew up listening to pop juggernaut Taylor Swift when she was but a doe-eyed teenager singing songs of high school crushes. Now a fully-fledged pop icon, Porter holds Swift partially responsible for greater interest in country music.

“She definitely made it much more relatable to a younger demographic. She still is changing the landscape of things. I remember in high school, the fact that I liked country was very uncool. I used to pretend I liked rock music and pop. Now, it’s become really cool.”

With many mainstream pop artists now releasing country-flavoured albums, Porter believes this changing of the tides was due to an improvement in the quality of country music.

“Country music lyrics have gotten even better,” she says. “There was once a time of ‘bro-country,’ but I didn’t love that time. Now people are just more honest; they write a story.”

This improvement in quality, Porter believes, is also reflected in her own writing. After moving to Nashville, Tennessee, from Canada over ten years ago, the flavours of Porter’s writing have changed. Her songs, like her, have matured.

In addition to the changing nature of the songs, Porter’s creative process has also changed, too. “In Nashville, writing is a job,” Porter freely admits. “You go in at 10 am, then write until 4 or 5 pm. Some days, you don’t want to be there, but you must show up. You can’t force creativity, but you can show up every day and be ready for when it strikes.”

Mostly starting with the lyrics, then moving onto the melody, Porter’s lyrics often derive from conversations with her friends. This, as she tells me, was how the title of her album, Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart, was created.

Speaking of this time, Porter offered, “[Me and my friends] were in a little place outside of Nashville, in a mountain town. We were talking about all the things that fucked us up in the last little while. How we all started this life pure, and then things chip away at your heart. We wrote this song called ‘Nobody’s Born With A Broken Heart.’”

For Porter, though, success has been a slow burn. Having been in the industry for over fifteen years now, it was not until 2022 that Porter finally had her breakout hit in Thinking ‘Bout You with American singer-songwriter Dustin Lynch. The song, in Porter’s eyes, changed everything.

“When COVID happened, everything [in my career] stopped. I was on a trajectory. I had momentum, then nothing. It’s not like any other job where you can go pick yourself back up. I had nothing. Then, a few weeks later, my manager mentioned Dustin [Lynch] was looking for a girl for his song. We submitted my vocals; then he picked out mine!”

The song, in a way, mirrored the trajectory of Porter’s career. A slow burn at the start, it eventually took on a life of its own. Breaking records and reaching (and remaining) number one on the US Country Airplay charts, Porter had found her feet again.

“I remember once we were on tour and went to a grungy gas station because I needed to pee. I remember walking in there and the song was playing. I would be like, ‘This is me.’ I don’t know if the guys believed me because I looked horrible, but still.”

Since then, Porter has been comfortably riding the wave of success. Though Porter now has more to worry about than chart placements and gigs—she has a daughter, an experience that she says has changed everything.

“It has changed my writing. This record is the most mature stuff I’ve done. But I’m even more mature than that now. It gives you perspective on everything. I used to get bummed about having a bad performance. I now have a bigger bird’s eye view of life.”

While she does bring her daughter on tour with her, on this Australian leg, she is going without. Leaving her in the care of her mother, Porter is free for a while. Excited by this prospect, Porter cannot wait for the weekend, offering, “This is the first weekend where I’m like, ‘I can have a third glass of wine.’”

MacKenzie Porter will appear at Ridin’ Hearts festival in Melbourne and Sydney this weekend. You can purchase last-minute tickets here.