Ingrid Andress is getting candid. During an appearance on American Songwriter’s Off the Record podcast, the country singer opened up about the national anthem performance that changed the course of her life and career.
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Andress made headlines in 2024 when she flubbed a performance of the national anthem at the MLB Home Run Derby.
Up until that time, Andress told editor-in-chief Lisa Konicki, “something like that had literally never happened to me before because I was always so responsible and never showed up places wasted.”
On that day, however, Andress was “on a concoction of different antidepressants” that she mixed with alcohol. Social media vitriol soon flooded in a rate so great that it surprised the singer.
“To see all of that hate, I was more shocked than anything,” Andress said. “That was my initial reaction to it because I was like, ‘These people literally don’t know me. They don’t care about me. And yet, I am the source of so much hate and anger.’”
On top of feeling shocked, Andress also felt “really embarrassed” by the whole incident.
“I’ve worked super hard at songwriting and singing and for that to be the thing that people know me for, I was so ashamed,” she said. “So honestly, I stayed off social media and everything for a long time. I was just like, ‘That’s just not an accurate representation of who I am. I refuse to see myself that way.’”
Ingrid Andress on the Inspiration for “Now I Know”
In the way many artists do, Andress poured all of those emotions into her work. That culminated with her latest single, “Now I Know,” which she released in February.
“‘Now I Know’ started as more of a relationship song, but after that incident, the meaning of the song kind of took on a whole new direction,” Andress said. “… The now I know is less about relationships. It’s more about just life things in general and just how you think, and grow, and change, and realize that you can. Staying with things that are safe doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always good for you.”
The song also speaks to how Andress often feels unmoored, due in large part to her nomad lifestyle.
“I’ve moved a lot in my life. I’m like a nomad. My parents don’t live in our hometown anymore. There’s no home base really,” she said. “I feel like a lot of people that I meet in Nashville and in country music, everyone goes back home to their childhood home that they’ve lived in before. I’ve never known what that feels like.”
“And so when I say, ‘But I don’t,’ it’s more of like, my life has not worked out in a way to where I can stop growing. My life has worked out in a way to where I am continuously growing and changing,” Andress continued. “… It’s saying it’s impossible to unknow things. I can’t go back to things that I already know. You can’t unsee something. You can’t unknow something.”
Ingrid Andress Teases Her Third LP
The song is one of many that will appear on Andress’ forthcoming album. On her third LP, Andress said she’ll cover a wide range of topics, from introspection to breakups.
“I think there are moments in the album that are very self-reflective about things that I’ve been processing over the past couple years,” she said. “And then there are breaks in the album where I’m like, ‘And also f**k this guy.” And, ‘Done with that.’”
As she views it, an album is “never really about one guy or one relationship or one moment, it’s a combination of everything.”
“Everyone has chapters in their lives, but it’s almost like what happens in one chapter. A lot can happen in one chapter and all can be true at the same time,” she said. “… I’m being very introspective, but then also I’m embracing the fact that you can be a lot of things all at once.”
Before people get to hear the full LP, they’ll get another single from Andress. Next up, she’s set to release “Taillights,” which the singer said she’s “pumped for people to hear.”
“It’s about me being a ho. It’s basically saying, ‘You can’t out-ho me. I know this game because I’ve done this to people before,’” she said. “So it’s basically like, ‘I saw your taillights coming because I knew you were going to leave because I do that all the time. So, ha ha. Joke’s on you.’”
There’s also “All the Best,” a kiss-off anthem to the guys that’ve wronged her.
“It came from toxic boyfriends. That song, I drew from that energy of that experience of wishing someone ill will,” Andress said. “Luckily since then, I’ve had breakups where that’s not the case and I actually wish them the best, but this was from my toxic era when I was just like, ‘But I hope nothing good happens to you.’”
Ingrid Andress on What She’s Learned
As she penned “Now I Know,” “Taillights,” “All the Best,” and the other songs on her forthcoming LP, Andress said she came to realize “how scared I was before to be more honest.” That fear, Andress said, came from the fact that she “didn’t want people to know certain things about me.”
“My writing has always been really honest, but I feel like I’ve always left out uncomfortable details,” she admitted. “So I feel like writing this album, I realized how much I’ve grown in the fact that I don’t mind saying those uncomfortable things anymore, which is great because it shows that I’m trying and growing.”
That realization “was encouraging for me to realize that I was no longer scared to say things that really help the song and help people understand you more,” Andress said.
“That’s the whole goal of writing. Music, for me, is wanting to connect, and wanting to be understood, and wanting to help others feel more understood,” she said. ” If you’re keeping out details from people, it’s like you’re not really being honest with them.”
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