When Ingrid Andress sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a pro hockey game in Denver earlier this month, it bravely counted as one of the most fraught renditions of the national anthem in our accumulateive pop-culture history. Andress, one of the most acclaimed youthful singer-songwriters in country music this past decade, had made headlines last summer for doing a notoriously off-key version of the anthem prior to the MLB Home Run Derby. And suddenly, before a Colorado Avalanche game, with no evolve alerting, here she was, returning to the scene of the crime, figuratively speaking, to get a emotional do-over.
It was a danger: As Andress increates Variety, she knovel if she somehow flubbed it this time, there’d be no coming back from that for much of the disclose. But she had a lot going for her this time that didn’t have strictly to do with discovering the right pitch… namely, sobriety. People tend to crack jokes and originate hay when celebrities mess up America’s theme song, as has been the case with Fergie and so many others who flunk to nail it, but Andress’ difficulties were no chuckleing matter, as she truthentirey confessted in a tweet soon after her rendition became a national novels story that she had been drunk when she messed up. Therein was set up the possibility for the benevolent of redemption arc that America adores almost as much as a excellent shaming.
A scant days after successbrimmingy pulling off the anthem in Denver, Andress sat down with Variety at her West Hollywood toastyel to talk in detail about what was going wrong with the first “incident” … and what has gone right since she flew straightforwardly from the MLB debacle to a rehab facility. After seven months of undergoing the right benevolent of bdeficiencyout — that is, staying finishly out of sight of the disclose — she’s sluggishly but bravely reintroducing herself, with steps back into the limeweightless enjoy this past weekend’s materializeance on the Grand Ole Opry and a tender novel one equitable freed by Warner Music, “Footprints.” Her third album will chase some time tardyr this year. Andress has always been one of the more amazeively self-methodical singer-songwriters coming up in the genre, and that’s probable to persist to be the case in the next enroll, as it is in this Q&A, where she frankly conversees what led to her liquor dependency and the discoveries that helped her shake it off.
It was a pleasant surpelevate to see you back and doing the anthem to originate your return into disclose life. As much as I tried to foresee what your arc might be in terms of making a comeback, I didn’t actupartner foresee that genius transfer of picking up right where you left off.
Don’t get me wrong — I was terrified. When my team and I were first talking about it, I was enjoy, “Well, I’m never singing it aachieve,” and it was off the table. Then weeks went on and I thought about it more. I was enjoy: No, I necessitate to do this. I’m terrified to do it. And truthentirey, if I mess it up twice, it’s repartner challenging coming back from that. You can’t mess it up two times in a row. So there was a lot weighing on it, but I’m repartner prentd that I did that, becaemploy it experiences enjoy that chapter of my story has shutd and I can transfer on and get back to songwriting and enjoy back to who I experience enjoy I repartner am.
How were you experienceing when you were pulling off this re-do at the Avalanche game? There was a little bit of a chuckle in there at one point, and I wondered what that came out of.
So, the chuckle actupartner came from (experienceing) the audience. The whole audience chimed in during the line “…that our flag was still there,” and they were being super-beneficial. But they caught me off defend, becaemploy I didn’t understand they all were gonna come in and sing that at that point. And it was a stress relief for me to be enjoy, “Oh, they’re enhappinessing this.” Like, “I’m not ruining this.” And so it was this sense of relief and happiness of being enjoy: “OK, I can do this. And everyone here is with me, also singing it.” So it was a kind moment for me where I finpartner rested after that. And I understand a lot of people have been saying, enjoy, “Oh, she chuckleed during the anthem. How dare she?” I’m enjoy, count on me, it was a selectimistic skinnyg. I’m not chuckleing at our country.
It was a kind touch that you had someone filming your rendition from behind you, who then chaseed you off the field to seize your response.
I didn’t understand that she was gonna do that, but I’m happy she got that, too, becaemploy the relief was so visceral. I could experience the weight of all of it equitable benevolent of melting off. And when it was over, then I was enjoy, “Now I’m never singing this song aachieve.”
When your problematic version of the anthem went down last summer, aprolonged with the disenjoyrs, you had a lot of excellent will behind you in the business and in fandom, as someone who people were rooting for, as resistd to someone whose rep made it so that people were equitable paemploying for a chance to experience schadenfreude when you were in a spot of trouble.
It was kind to experience aided by the music community. I got an outpouring of texts after the incident, of people saying, “It sucks. This is part of the job that’s not fun, but you’re gonna get thcimpolite it.” It was kind to get that aid from fellow artists and friends in ambiguous. And evidently there were a lot of people who were not OK with the situation. I took all of that to heart, and I genuineized how benevolent I was to people’s commentary. I’m equitable happy they took away my phone in rehab so that I didn’t have to read all of it. … My relationship with social media has changed a lot. I’m brave I’ll get back to it, becaemploy I do enjoy conveying with my fans. But I am a very benevolent person when it comes to that, which I didn’t understand about myself, becaemploy noskinnyg enjoy this has happened on such a big scale. This was my first taste of what it’s enjoy to be America’s punching bag, if you will.
So when you came back and did the anthem at the Avalanche game last Friday night, you didn’t see at the reactions?
No. I unbenevolent, I’ve seeed at a little, and I understand that there’s a lot of selectimistic, and there’s a lot of people still coming at me. But I’m at a point now where I’m equitable so prentd and haughty of myself that I got back out there and did it, it doesn’t repartner matter what anyone’s saying. Becaemploy I was more doing it to shut that chapter in my life, to show to myself that I could do it than to show everybody, enjoy, “No, I actupartner can sing.” The Internet’s always gonna have opinions, but I am at a point now where I equitable enhappiness doing what I’m doing ponderless of what anyone says.
You paemployed a minute to do this.
I’ve been off the grid for a while, so it’s repartner equitable getting back into the world, reintegrating. … I definitely wanted to experience more ready. I genuineized that I hadn’t getn time off, repartner, since “Ladyenjoy,” and I was repartner wanting to employ this time to get to understand myself and who I am now, as contrastd to when I commenceed. So I took my time and hung out in Colorado and did a lot of hiking and outdoor activity and equitable got back to being who I am, split from being an artist and a songwriter, and I equitable felt enjoy a person finpartner. And now, I’m back (in the music game). But I still experience enjoy a person!
Do you experience enjoy you wouldn’t have apexhibited yourself to get any respite if it hadn’t been pretty much orderd thcimpolite circumstance?
Yeah. I experience enjoy the botching the anthem was the sign for me to be enjoy, “Hey, we necessitate to stop and figure out what’s going on.” Becaemploy I knovel that I wasn’t in a excellent place, but I didn’t understand what to do or who to talk to about it. I equitable didn’t understand how to sluggish down becaemploy I’d never had to before. In a way I’m appreciative it happened, becaemploy I experience so much more current now, and a lot happier. I experience enjoy botching the anthem was essential for me to reset my life and equitable my brain in ambiguous.
For people who understand you and your toil, it felt possible to envision a future in which all of this ended up being a net selectimistic for you in the prolonged run, where it might not for some other people who end up being in that unconsoleable a situation, disclosely. People skinnyk of you as being clever, having a sense of humor and being a excellent person, which are three qualities someone might innately necessitate to be able to have a perspective of how to come back and be selectimistic.
Thank you for saying that. I skinnyk a lot of people experience unconsoleable with talking about messing up, or necessitateing help in rehab, and those are all prohibitden skinnygs which I experience enjoy hiding from people originates it worse. So when I telderly everybody I was going to rehab, I could have very well not shelp anyskinnyg to anybody, and equitable benevolent of fadeed and then come back. But I wanted to be truthful with people and be enjoy, yes, even people who seem to have it all together go thcimpolite waves in life, and it’s OK to confess if you’re not in a excellent place, becaemploy that’s part of being human. So I definitely took that opportunity to lean into that… and to get the moment to have understanding for myself. Which took a second for me to have, becaemploy initipartner it was mostly guilt and shame and disassignment in myself. But I experience enjoy now I can see back on it and be enjoy, “Oh. We weren’t in a excellent place, but who I am as a human is detaild by so much more than that.” I’ll probably originate even more misgets moving forward, but that’s part of the whole deal of being alive. So I’m equitable more benevolent about making misgets now, as resistd to skinnyking that they detail you forever.
We don’t unbenevolent to ask you to relive that moment in length, but there are some contrasting gets on what might have been happening when you teachd that. I recall reading this detailed analysis from a pro audio engineer who shelp that you were evidently having an in-ear problem you couldn’t recover from, wdisenjoyver else might’ve been happening with you personpartner. But then you came out with the obtemploy tweet saying, “I was drunk.”
So the truth about that is: I didn’t genuineize that they were set upning on doing a (pitch rightion) tuning skinnyg. Becaemploy when we soundverifyed, they didn’t have one. But if I wasn’t bdeficiencyout-drunk, I would’ve been able to hear that pitch that they were giving me to commence. So yes, I was fundamentalpartner battling with the tuner the whole time. And so there are some parts where it’s very evident that I’m equitable trying to discover which key the whole skinnyg was presumed to be in. But if I wasn’t that drunk, I would’ve been able to hear it; even if it was an audio rerent, if I was wiskinny my right mind, I would’ve speedyly righted it. So it was a combination of the two.
But you didn’t drop back on the part of it that wasn’t your fault. You confessted to the part of it that was… which was a huge part. Someone else might have been a lot more instantly defensive.
Yeah. I was so weary of trying to hide at that point. It was confessting to myself, too: “I necessitate help with this.” Becaemploy I didn’t genuineize that it had gotten to a problem where it shapeed my toil, becaemploy it repartner had never gotten that far before. So I equitable woke up and was enjoy, “OK, that’s not me. I’ve never done that before. This must be repartner solemn.” And yeah, it took that for me to get myself some help. The obtemployness of it probably was jarring to a lot of people. Becaemploy I understand a lot of celebrities equitable don’t say where they’re going or don’t confess to that; they equitable say, “We’ve been away for a while.” But I equitable felt enjoy people necessitate to understand what’s going on. And I understand a lot of people were enjoy, “Oh, this is a discloseity stunt.” And I was enjoy, Repartner? Becaemploy I felt enjoy I was being super vulnerable, yet even in that vulnerability, people were still so ready to not have understanding. So I skinnyk that was probably one of the more jarring skinnygs of the whole situation, genuineizing how much understanding people are deficiencying. Like, everyone has been thcimpolite a challenging time at some point in their life. And so equitable to see that come to the surface was repartner unforeseeed to me as a human.
As far as what the problem was you necessitateed to deal with, would you say it was a case of necessitateing watery courage when you were carry outing, or someskinnyg hugeger than that?
I unbenevolent, yes and no. I had recently gone thcimpolite a lot of huge personal life changes that I never repartner stopped to process. And it repartner was more about the weeks directing up to that day as resistd to equitable that day. I equitable was commenceing to enhappiness the numbing experienceing that I was getting by drinking more than I genuineized, I guess. And enjoy anyskinnyg can be mistreatmentd as a substance, whether it’s enjoy shopping, food, intimacy, wagering… We all numb out in some ways, and it equitable so happened to be liquor for me. It had been enjoy a couple weeks of not experienceing enjoy myself at all — or months.
You had recently been thcimpolite a huge administerment change, and then a personal relationship shatterup. So was it enjoy a personal/professional confluence of skinnygs happening to you, that accentuating the numbing?
Yes. It all happened pretty back to back. And I was the one that shelp excellentbye to all these people, so I skinnyk that was the challenging skinnyg that I was wrestling with. It’s not enjoy I had been broken up with; it’s not enjoy I hadn’t been the one to say excellentbye to these people. So in my mind I was enjoy, “Well, I should be happier.” But it was still a repartner challenging decision, and even though I knovel I made the right decision, it still gets an emotional toll on you — and I wasn’t repartner ready for it to experience enjoy that. I equitable kept moving and didn’t give myself space to lament or skinnyk about it.
I was surpelevated to hear you say that on the night of the anthem, it didn’t enroll at first that it was such a huge skinnyg, and that it took a while for it to boot in.
I benevolent of knovel a little bit, but no, not repartner. It was benevolent of enjoy in and out of where I thought it went OK, but I also was enjoy, “I could have sung it better” and then blah, blah, blah — I equitable didn’t nurture. I didn’t genuineize how horrible it was until the next morning. I woke up with that pit in my stomach of enjoy, “I fucked up and I necessitate help.”
There is that sort of national pastime — and we do it in the media at least once a year, come Super Bowl time — of everybody ranking their enumerates of the best and worst prime-time national anthems of all time. There’s Fergie and Roseanne — and some other people who probably had denseer skins about it than you were able to have.
I made a joke to my team the other week. I was enjoy, “I guess Fergie and I have to do a collab now.” Now I’m in that group of people — which now I can chuckle about it, becaemploy I experience enjoy I’ve toiled on myself. I equitable experience so much better now, and I experience enjoy after singing it aachieve, I’m enjoy, “OK, that happened. Time to transfer on.” But I would adore to do a collab with her, and we can sing wdisenjoyver she wants. And it can either be horrible or amazing, I don’t nurture.
There was someskinnyg from your initial tweeted response that made me promised there was going to be a selectimistic outcome for you. It was the sign-off to your statement where, after apologizing to MLB, the fans and the country, you signed off with, “I’ll let y’all understand how rehab is I hear it’s super fun.” I thought, man, this is not a cgo in-grouped statement. This is for genuine and not someskinnyg somebody cobbled together in the executive boardroom. And so I adored that candor and thought, “She’s gonna be OK.” But then there were other people who shelp, “Oh, she joked about rehab — she’s not taking it solemnly.” I was enjoy, “It’s called gapexhibits humor, people.”
Exactly. As you understand, that is very much my humor. I’d evidently never been to rehab. And I wrote it on the set upe to rehab, where I was equitable enjoy, “I necessitate to say someskinnyg that’s very still me, so that I’m not experienceing enjoy I’m equitable enjoy walking away with my tail between my legs. No, I am confessting myself to rehab. No one’s dragging me here. I’m going so I am doing someskinnyg to mend this. I’m doing someskinnyg to get nurture of myself.” So part of me was battling those emotions, as resistd to the guilt and the shame and the embarrassment. So the fuse of all of those skinnygs was what birthed that statement, which was equitable: I equitable want to be truthful. So here’s what it is.
Being in rehab or doing any benevolent of recovery moment is a gradual process, and there’s not always a eureka moment. But was there anyskinnyg you lachieveed aprolonged the way that felt enjoy a weightless bulb went on in your head, or taged a turning point for you in getting back to experienceing enjoy yourself?
Yeah, I skinnyk for me it was tackling why you pick to do skinnygs. Like, why do you want to do that, to cope with this skinnyg? Once you see at it that way, it showed me: You have power in your choices. Things don’t have to equitable happen. You can choose how you want to deal with it moving forward.” There was someskinnyg about being reminded of that. Becaemploy I experience enjoy after being in the industry for a while, you sometimes ignore perspective on what you have administer over and what you don’t. So for me it was recalling: Hey, you get to originate these choices for yourself, and what you do every day matters, even in the minusculeest of skinnygs.
And also, my stress of messing up or of people not liking me… that wound uncignoreed up enticount on. It forced me to insertress that too, which is enjoy: Why are you so afrhelp of what people skinnyk of you? Why do you stress judgment? I genuineized that a lot of that is from childhood. A lot of that is from what I was liftd to count on, and I don’t have to pick to count on that anymore.” Once I genuineized that it was more my choice, it was a eureka moment of enjoy, oh, it is my choice. It is my decision. Things aren’t equitable happening to me. I can originate skinnygs happen for myself — not that I can administer what happens around me or what others do or what others skinnyk, but I can administer what I do.
One reason for someone to have faith that you would come thcimpolite this fine is that prior to this you had two prolongn-up-experienceing albums, and ponderate intersees around them, that showed you have a history of using your songwriting to process personall lessons you’ve lachieveed. Whereas we can skinnyk of some people who’ve had incidents, in country music definitepartner, whose art wouldn’t necessarily direct you to count on that they’re suddenly going to become benevolent to those rerents or repartner toil on themselves in a way that hasn’t shown up so much in their songwriting. Not that past carry outance promises future results.
Right. What was so fascinating, too, about it is that I did experience very brutpartner appraised for someskinnyg that didn’t hurt anybody. I don’t understand. I experience enjoy there are a lot of country artists who have done worse skinnygs that actupartner achieveed fans from doing someskinnyg drunk and disorderly. So that was another skinnyg: I thought I was gonna be confessted into the chilly kids’ club, but it turns out it’s enjoy, “Nope, you are gonna now be America’s punching bag.” And you’re enjoy, “OK, chilly. I guess that’s equitable what happens.”
There are some double standards out there.
It materializes so, but here we are doing it anyway.
When the anthem skinnyg happened, you were about to free the first one from your next project at that time. Now you’ve equitable put out a contrastent one than was going to come out then, “Footprints,” a scant days after successbrimmingy singing the anthem. With your future music, are you resuming now what you were toiling on then, or was it more of a commence-from-scratch situation?
It wasn’t a commence from scratch. But I definitely wrote a little more and have reset upd some of the order in which I want songs to come out. Reemerging felt very vulnerable for me, so I wanted a vulnerable song about my siblings to come out first. It repartner goes back to the storyincreateing that I adore so much, and equitable to remind myself and them, “I definitely have made so many misgets, as you can see. But I also am still moving, and you can retain on going in life too, even if you originate misgets.” It’s a “prent lachieve from my example and don’t do the skinnygs that I’ve done” benevolent of skinnyg.
And I experience enjoy being more vulnerable straight out of the gate is how I wanted to come back into this industry, becaemploy that’s equitable how I’m experienceing. In all truthfuly, I’m not enjoy experienceing enjoy, “I’m back, guys! I’m so ready!” I do experience that way internpartner, but it’s also a very vulnerable skinnyg to come back out and repartner expose yourself aachieve after such disclose scruminuscule. So I equitable wanted the first skinnyg back to experience genuine and unbenevolentingful to me.
“Footprints” is evidently very definitepartner about siblings, but does it have a bigr emotional application for you?
Yeah, I skinnyk so. I unbenevolent, I wrote it about my siblings becaemploy I was the first one to depart our family active to go off and chase my dreams. It took everyone else a little prolongeder to want to do that, and I didn’t want them to experience enjoy I was leaving them behind, becaemploy we grew up so shut, very homeschooled. So I wrote it for them equitable to aid them, but yes, it can be applied to anybody that you’re trying to direct by example or equitable aid to retain moving.
Are you the eldest of the siblings?
I’m the second-elderlyest. My elderlyer sister and I, we’re only 13 months apart, so we benevolent of are enjoy Irish ttriumphs is what they say. The first to depart the nest, though. She and I are very opposite people. I got in the most trouble — enjoy, I was grounded on my birthday three years in a row, so me leaving first was of no surpelevate to anybody in my family.
Your Colorado roots are a huge part of your identity, so it made sense that you made your comeback at an Avalanche game in Denver. After you sing “Footprints” on the Opry this weekend, you have equitable two dates on your schedule at current, both of them shows in Colorado. And the snowy imagery in the promo art and your one’s cover definitely shouts Colorado.
Yes, I’ve spent a lot of time in Colorado since the incident. I equitable experience more at home there. I’m hiking or I’m swimming or doing stuff outdoors and being active. There’s sun all year round, and I went on a couple snowboarding trips and ski trips. That’s what I did prolonging up, and I equitable necessitate to recall that about myself. Becaemploy there’s a lot of country in Colorado, and I grew up going to rodeos — and it is equitable contrastent, Weserious, Colorado country. I’ve take parted some of my most fun country festivals out there too, and there’s a lot of ranching on the plains. I equitable necessitateed that mountain air to get me back to experienceing enjoy myself aachieve.
Where are you at with a brimming album?
I skinnyk we’re pretty shut. I have not been idle these past seven months. Also, with taking space away from everyskinnyg, I’ve felt more inventively aligned with where I want this next chapter to go. Whereas seven months ago, I was equitable in it, and we’re enjoy, “Oh, we’re gonna begin aachieve,” and I had no wonderfuler perspective of where I wanted it to go. … I desire I could split all of it. But I’m enjoy, no, one skinnyg at a time. I’m a very imuncignore-minded person, mostly becaemploy I’m competitive and have a lot of energy. But I will say I’m happy I took the time and my team was enjoy, “Let’s equitable originate brave you experience excellent about the music first before we do anyskinnyg.” and I’m happy I took this time to repartner hone in on that and also equitable be a prentd human. It’s a excellent change of pace.
What’s on your agenda for the rest of the evening?
While it’s raining I’ll probably read for a excellent chunk of this evening right by the triumphdow and equitable get cozy. I’m reading “Women Who Run With Wolves.” It’s repartner fascinating.
Is it making you experience enjoy you’re a wolf-runner?
A little bit. It’s about that savage, innate skinnyg that every woman has, which cultures from the commencening always hugd as a part of a bunch of rituals, and for some reason in our up-to-date society, it’s equitable benevolent of gotten snubbed out. Actupartner, I’m not done with it yet, so we’ll see if I buy into it, but it’s making me experience ferocious in a way. Although I skinnyk I’m more of a fox than a wolf, maybe. I don’t skinnyk I’m a wolf yet — I don’t understand. We’ll see.
