Calling from her home in Nashville, it’s a rare day off for singer-songwriter, Gabby Barrett. It’s raining outside and the mood of the day is anything but dreary. She’s home with her husband, Cade Foehner, and the 20-next month, American Idol-alum sounds wise beyond her years. 

She may be still carving out what direction her art will take her, or how her songwriting skills will grow, but her self-motto of “keep knocking –  don’t give up on your dreams rings true. She gives advice all the time, she said, that “keep knocking on doors and eventually one’s going to open.”

More like kicked open, with a sassy song and an unstoppable charisma. 

Barrett’s song “I Hope” is roaring its way across the airwaves and recently notched a Top 25 spot. Co-written by Barret, Zachary Kale ( “Dig Your Roots” from Florida Georgia Line, “Only King Forever” from Elevation Worship) and Jon Nite (“Whatever She’s Got” from David Nail, “Tip It On Back” from Dierks Bentley, “Strip It Down” from Luke Bryan and an arsenal of other hits), “I Hope” is an edgy, country track that begs for an  immediate reaction. 

With lyrics like “I hope you both feel the sparks by the end of the drive / I hope you know she’s the one by the end of the night/ I hope you never ever felt more free/ Tell your friends that you’re so happy” Barrett’s vocal prowess and delivery in the track is confident, constrained and anything but timid.

“ ‘I Hope’ was one of those songs that when I wrote it, with a few friends of mine, Jon Nite and Zachary Kale, that some people are able to tell when a song is just going to be a huge, and strong automatically,” she said. “But for someone that has to listen to it, produce it and have to decide, that isn’t always the case. I remember being in the writing room and Jon Nite said that this might be the biggest album of my career. I really started to get excited about it, how many people believed in it.”

Initially released after Barrett’s stunning third-place finish on American Idol, Warner Records signed on the Pittsburgh, Penn.-born singer/songwriter and got behind “I Hope”. Barrett said she was excited that they were ready to push the single to radio.

“Heck yes, I called the whole family, and I remember telling them which station it was going to be on,” Barrett said, recalling hearing the song broadcasted for the first time. “It was played on Sirius XM The Highway. They jumped on it automatically from the beginning. We all listened to it at the same time, and it was just a real exciting time to hear music that you’ve worked really hard on to be played on the radio with your family. I come from a crying family, so tears were flowing.”

Barrett comes from a large family – she’s one of eight children born to Blaise and Pam Barrett. Fans flocked to Barrett’s humble beginnings and she credits her family and her upbringing for helping her achieve her goals. 

“Being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and anyone that knows people there are very hard-working, and very supportive, especially of their local talent, and sports teams,” she said. “I learned from being on American Idol how unbelievably supportive they were and behind me. It’s just very nice to see and have a city so behind you….growing up there it definitely helped shape me into being a hard-working, dedicated person especially towards music. My family did that as well. My family’s all based in Pittsburgh and it just runs in the family, too.”

She’s carried that energy and that love well-into 2020. Just last month she released a lyric video for “Hall of Fame”. Co-written with Kale, Trannie Anderson and Adam Doleac (“Don’t” from Darius Rucker, “Put It Off” from Kane Brown and his own recording, “Whiskey’s Fine”.) The video is a gushy, chemistry-laden pictorial scrapbook of Barrett’s journey with husband (and fellow American Idol alum, Foehner. The photos are actually from her phone’s camera roll. 

The catching lyrics include “You’d be up there on that stage / Shining brighter than the lights/ And I’d be out there in the crowd/ Telling everybody that you’re mine.”

“I just wanted to give people a little more personal look at my relationship with him. The song’s about him so I just wanted to be centered on our relationship. I think it came out really cool,” she said. 

Balancing success and prioritizing family or homelife is paramount, Barrett adds about her marriage. She acknowledged that it does help that her husband is a musician and is more understanding of the in-and-outs of life on the road and on-stage. 

“It’s very important to establish early on, even before all of this happened, and if it didn’t then get management, everyone working around you, of what is your priority,” Barrett said. “To some people, career is more important than anything else, and for other people it’s family over everything else. I always told myself and my husband that my husband will be my first priority over everything. I think that’s probably a key to keeping your marriage healthy. I think it’s important to make sure you’re carving out enough time and communicate with your spouse so that they don’t feel like your career is the first thing for you, but they should feel like they are the first thing to you.”

During the interview Barrett wasn’t able to disclose 2020 tour plans, other than saying she would be making her debut at the world-famous Stagecoach Festival, April 24 – 26, in Indio, Calif. She knows it will be “hot outside” and is stoked for being a part of the atmosphere. She’s locked in for the Sunday performance, and will share the stage with Pam Tillis, Neal McCoy, Jon Pardi, Alan Jackson and Eric Church. 

To mentally prepare for the Stagecoach gig, she said she will treat it just like her other shows and to give people something to remember. 

“I just get really excited and come up with a plan of how I’m going to separate my shows from everyone else,” she said. 

Barrett said she thinks her husband would describe her sound as “edgy country.” It’s safe to say that her fans are calling her sound remarkable.