Meet Kitty
Press Release
"Road-savvy songstress Kitty Steadman steps away from her national touring band and takes a bold step forward with her recent solo release, “Truck Driver’s Daughter.”
The Nashville-based Steadman, the lead singer and co-founder of the successful
touring act, Drop Dead Dangerous, wrote or co-wrote all 10 tracks on the
autobiographical project, backed by a rock-solid lineup of studio pros.
Although her father is a recently retired long-haul driver, the record is not a
collection of stereotypical truck driving songs, but instead explores the similarities
of his life on the road and hers.
On the title track, Steadman sings:
'Up at dawn just like her old man
She’s got somewhere to be and a coffee in hand
That radio report and a hold of the wheel
Its just her, the tires and that windshield'
“It’s not easy. I literally spent the morning going over how much money I made in
admission, how much money I made in tips, how much money I made in sales, the
bills that have to be paid,” said Steadman, coming off six shows on a two-week
tour with 5,000 miles of driving.
“It’s not very different from running a truck,” she said. “Like, what’s your
payload? What’s your maintenance? What’s your budget? Did you have to get a
truck wash? Oil change? Tire rotation?
“It’s not that different. What did I spend in parking? What did I spend in hotels?
It’s the same,” she said. “But instead of getting paid to pick up and drop off
pallets, I’m getting paid to pick up and drop off stories.”
The record slides comfortably into the loosely defined genre of Americana, said
Steadman, who recently turned 30.
“There’s a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll, there’s some electric guitar all over it,” she said.
“I feel like my crowds are the ones that want to know the songwriter, they want
to know the storyteller.”
The concept for the project actually date back to her college years, but was put on
hold with the formation of Drop Dead Dangerous and the commitment to
establish them on a national level, including the so-called Trop-Rock circuit often
associated with music of Jimmy Buffett and carried forward by the likes of the Zac
Brown Band.
“That’s why the Trop-Rock community is so supportive,” she said. “A lot of them
are there because they love the storyteller that is Jimmy Buffett. There’s a large
portion who don’t care if he ever wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise, because he’s
putting out tunes like Captain and the Kid.”
That popularity has led to an upcoming part-time residency at Margaritaville in
Key West, beginning in February 2025 through June, two weeks out of each month.
“The idea is to convince people to come experience my show and my music in Key
West,” she said.
The continued support of her loyal fan base has led to the formation of fan club,
aptly named “Steadheads,” through the online community platform Patreon.
She also maintains an active online presence with a popular almost-weekly live
stream called “Coffee with Kitty.”
But whether it’s on stage, online, or behind the wheel, Steadman’s music and
keep-grinding approach reflects her dad’s influence and her obvious pride in what
he represents, which helps make her songs universally acceptable.
Or, as she sings in Motors Don’t Run on Dreams:
'The path is paved with broken hearts
And the highway can be mean.
Your miracles are miles away
And motors don’t run on dreams.'
“It’s not a glamorous occupation. Not a lot of people say, ‘I’m going to grow up
and drive trucks for a living,’ especially decades ago when my father was saying
that,” Steadman said. “He just wanted to work. He just wanted to go to work and
provide for his kids. And, it absolutely passes down a certain mentality to my
generation, and the truck drivers’ children generation.”
And if anyone knows what that means, it’s Kitty Steadman." - Jim Hoehn