Q&A — Denver Fashion Week Western Wear Performer Kayla Ruby Talks New Single, “Even Johnny Stumbled” – 303 Magazine

Fresh off her Denver Fashion Week runway performance during the event’s final night, Western Wear, Denver-based country artist Kayla Ruby recently dropped a huge new single, “Even Jonny Stumbled.” Released on November 29th, the song is a deeply confident embracing of imperfection steeped in nostalgia that sounds big enough to fill stadiums. In this way, it feels very human, vulnerable yet brash. Ruby acknowledges her faults and flaws but argues that they are what leads to what leads to greatness, pointing to country legends Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash in the chorus as examples. Stay true to yourself and maybe greatness is hiding just around the corner.

303 Magazine recently spoke with Ruby about the single, her songwriting process, persevering when the world tries to change you and much more.

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303 Magazine: Hello! I usually like to start these by asking you to tell me who you are in your own words.

Kayla Ruby: Thank you so much for having me! I’m really excited to work with 303 Magazine. My name is Kayla Ruby. I am a 24-year-old country music artist, originally from Denver, CO. I started pursuing music professionally when I was 17 years old, and it has been quiet here these last 7 years. Throughout my career, I’ve opened for national artists like Parker McCollum and Eli Young Band and have sung the National Anthem for many high-profile events, such as MNF for the Denver Broncos in 2017 and 2024. I’ve also been nominated for the Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards’ Female Vocalist of the Year.

303: I also like to start at the beginning. Please tell me about the early days of you first becoming interested in music. Do you have any memories of growing up around it? When did you first start to play?

KR: I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in music. My family loves to say that I could hum a tune before I could even say my first words. For as long as I can remember, I truly have loved listening to and being involved in music.

303: When did you then start to take it seriously and pursue it as a career?

KR: The first time I was seriously interested in music was when I was 11. Some neighbor friends and I started a band as a fun side hobby. As we continued to play around the Denver area, we gained some recognition, making it through a few rounds of America’s Got Talent and putting out a few cover songs that got over 10,000 streams!

When I turned 16, I sang the National Anthem for Colorado’s state wrestling tournament for Colorado High Schools (CHSSA). At the time, I was committed to a college in West Virginia to play soccer, so I wasn’t sure if music would have much place in my life anymore. 9News covered the National Anthem, and it went viral, gaining almost 6 million views. That’s when the Broncos called and I sang for MNF on 9/11/2017. That night, the National Anthem was broadcast on ESPN and gained over 5 million views. From there, I decided to pursue music as my full-time career. I didn’t end up going to West Virginia, I graduated from high school early and signed with a small record label based out of Denver. It was quite the year!

303: What does your typical songwriting process look like? Do you usually start with music or lyrics? How do your ideas become fully-fledged songs? 

KR: Throughout the day, I’ll be humming to myself or thinking of a catchy line and I will pull out my phone and record it so I remember it when I am in front of my piano or guitar. From there, I’ll look through my notebook of lyrics and come up with an idea for the melody I created and some lyrics I randomly wrote one day. Sometimes, I like to just write a whole paragraph on an idea I have and then take certain phrases from the big paragraphs I wrote. It might seem chaotic, but it’s a controlled chaos to me.

303: I want to say I really enjoy the single! It’s a mix of old-time nostalgia and modern, stadium country sensibilities. Tell me how the single came about. 

KR: Thank you! We wrote this song while I was on a writing trip in Nashville. I came to the table with a lot of ideas, but the one that really stuck out was how, throughout my career, different people have tried to change everything about me. I wanted a song that described how I felt while also creating something that allowed me to say, “I am happy with who I am.” I’m really lucky to have a team that helps bring my vision to life.

303: It really does have this big sound, and the chorus is huge. Talk to me a little bit about the production process. 

KR: I think it’s natural for me to write more mid-tempo, laid-back songs, so when I wrote this song, I knew I wanted more of a fast-paced rock and roll sound. When I brought that idea to my production team, they took it and ran with it. There were a lot of recording sessions where we would bring in top-notch players and just have them record a bunch of different versions of the song.

From there, we would pull our favorite takes and add them to the song. Nate Manning, my producer, made sure to include me in every decision. It was awesome to be able to bring this song to life with him, not only lyrically but instrumentally as well.

303: Do you have a particular philosophy when it comes to creating? Any message you really try to put forth in your music?

KR: There have been so many times in my life when people have told me that I am not enough. This last year, I’ve been writing songs and putting out music that is 100%authentic to myself, despite any negativity I have received throughout my career. I’m at a point in my life where I want to create music that is real and true to myself while also holding a space for my listeners where they can feel safe and heard and understood. Music is so vulnerable. As musicians, our identity is wrapped up in all the songs we write and put out. With that, it’s been a very important goal of mine to put out music that is true to who I am as a person, and the hope is that more people will resonate with that.

303: Finally, what’s next for you? Do you have anything else on the horizon or people you’d like to shout out?

KR: I’m back and forth from Nashville a lot, writing new songs and I will be releasing an EP in 2025. I’m really excited for listeners to hear my new songs and also hear different aspects of my life that I’ve never released before. I want to say thank you to my awesome team, Nate Manning and Aaron Rothe, for believing in me and helping bring my ideas to fruition. I also want to thank my family and my husband for always encouraging me to chase my dreams and never stray away from who I am.

Stream Kayla Ruby’s new single, “Even Johnny Stumbled” here! Also, follow @kaylarubymusic on Instagram and check out her website!