Fiona Culley Mixes Her British Charm into Her Country Songwriting

Nashville has become Fiona Culley’s home away from home. After moving to the Southern music capital four years ago, she’s come to love the community she resides in like many other self-proclaimed Nashvillians who moved across the country to live in Music City. Rather than just move across the country, though, Culley made the big leap across the pond in pursuit of her dreams.

Trading in her chocolate biscuits and English breakfast tea for buttery biscuits and sweet tea, Culley moved away from her British upbringing to focus on country music right in the heart of the genre. Although she has grown quite fond of Nashville itself, it’s still the little things that she misses from her native country.

“Mainly, I miss my family honestly. Like that’s been the hardest thing. They try to come out twice a year, but you know it’s a long way and it’s expensive. That’s one thing that I really miss a lot. I actually just Facetimed my mom before I spoke to you guys. So those things I miss a lot. Sometimes I just miss weird stuff like food and just like milk that tastes like English milk,” she explained to Sounds Like Nashville.

Thankfully though, the transition over to the American lifestyle has been pretty easy. As an artist for Marro Records, Culley has let her music and songwriting ease any homesickness she may feel. A song she keeps very near to her heart to make her feel good is “Anywhere with You,” a song she co-wrote with Chris Gelbuda as a pick-me-up tune.

“We went into a write and I basically said I’ve written so many sad songs recently,” Culley said. “I was like it’s time for just a happy song and just something to make people feel good. And he said, ‘I have had this title for ages and I’ve never really known what to do with it.’ It was, ‘There’s anywhere with you and then there’s everywhere else.’ I kind of laughed at him because I was like you’re so soft but really he acts like such a hardcore man. So that felt like the mood for the day and the song wrote itself really quickly. The title was just so catchy and happy and fun and literally an hour later, we finished the song. I went away so excited about it.”

On an upswing, Culley took that spirit into her recording session with the one and only Darius Rucker for their duet, “Life on the Line.” The song, which Culley co-wrote with Tyler Cain and Megan Linsey, revolved around a film script they had read. It was a good thing the up-and-coming songwriter kept her spirits high for the impromptu session because the adventure enough was a story in itself.

“At the time, he was in Charleston, so he was like you need to come down here. It was crazy because he was only free this one afternoon and it was like the day before I knew about this [one afternoon]. So we got in a car, me and my friend Rachel, and we drove to Charleston. It was amazing! It was like a whirlwind because we got in the car after the session and had to drive back to Nashville too, because she was leaving to go back to England. It was like we’re just literally going to pit stop and he was great,” Culley said with excitement.

Even funnier to mention was the fact that while trying to get to Rucker as fast as they could, they managed to get a speeding ticket which was revoked after Culley sang her rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” for the officer.

All stories aside, Culley focuses on one thing for her music: to make it worthwhile. Although she’s learning new phrases and lessons along the way, she has always kept it her mission to have the music matter.

“I like music that makes me feel good,” she said. “I like music that makes me feel something, even if it’s not good, even if you’re like bawling. That’s my thing, you know?”

Fans can keep up with Culley on her Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.