Singer/songwriter India Ramey took second place in the Americana category of the 2023 American Songwriter Song Contest with her track “Ain’t My First Rodeo.” Listeners can find it on her 2024 album Baptized by the Blaze. Those who want to be more immersed in the music can hear it during one of the many shows Ramey plans to play in 2025.
Late last year, American Songwriter caught up with Ramey to talk about her life since the song contest, her latest album, and more.
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India Ramey on Life Since the Song Contest
India Ramey was incredibly busy in 2024. Between releasing an album, sharing the stage with country legends like Rosie Flores, and writing songs for her next project, she rarely took her foot off the gas. At the same time, she dealt with anxiety around putting Baptized by the Blaze out into the world. The Song Contest was a confidence boost for her.
“Whenever you put out a new album there’s always a fear, even if the last one did well. You’re always like ‘Is anybody going to like this? Is anybody going to give a sh*t?’ So I had a lot of nerves around the time of the contest,” Ramey recalled. “But I’ve really been so happily surprised by how much people care about the album and how many people loved it and how many lives it’s touching. I have people telling me what these songs really mean to them in their lives. That’s why I do this. That’s why I write these songs. It’s been really great,” she said.
Ramey on Baptized by the Blaze
One wouldn’t have to have a long chat with India Ramey to know that the songs on her latest album are deeply personal and meaningful. Just press play and it quickly becomes evident.
“This album really means a lot to me. I’m proud of most of my work. Not all of it but most of it. This one really means the world to me. So, I’m really happy that people like it,” she said of the response to the record. “My whole motivation when I was putting this album together was that I wanted people to feel empowered by it. We need to hold each other up these days. If I can give anybody something that reminds them that they are powerful, I’m going to do that,” she added.
“Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could stop writing songs because it’s so therapeutic for me,” Ramey explained. “A lot of songs on this album were me processing trauma and things I had gone through. A couple of the songs were specifically therapy aftercare exercises.”
Working with Luke Wooten
India Ramey enlisted producer Luke Wooten to help her bring Baptized by the Blaze to life. Wooten has produced albums for The Steeldrivers (self-titled), Brad Paisley (Moonshine in the Trunk, Wheelhouse, Love and War), Dierks Bentley (Black, Long Trip Home, self-titled), and more. He was also an engineer on Glen Campbell’s 2007 album Adios.
“It was the best recording experience I’ve ever had,” Ramey said when asked about working with Wooten. “When you’re an independent artist, it’s a little intimidating to work with someone on Luke’s level. One would think that he would have a big ego or be hard to work with but he’s totally the opposite,” she explained. “He is just one of the nicest, funniest, warmest people that I think I’ve ever met. It was nothing but a pleasure to work with him. He’s like a genuinely good person,” Ramey added.
“Then, there were all of the musicians. He brought in his A-team to work on this. Those musicians played on Willie Nelson albums and Reba McEntire albums and things like that. Some of them played on Taylor Swift albums. You would think that they would have big egos and that they wouldn’t be personable. Again, it was the opposite,” Ramey recalled. “They had no ego and all they wanted to do was play country music and serve the songs. They wanted to know like what’s this song about, what’s the story, what happens to her in the end. Stuff like that. They were really cool people.”
“Baptized By the Blaze” Showcases India Ramey’s “Phoenix Energy”
The title track from India Ramey’s latest album is a powerful one. During our conversation, she revealed that it is also a very personal song.
“In 2020, I had been on a medication for panic disorder that was caused by my PTSD from being a child of domestic violence. I had been on that medication for 12 years and my body had become really, really addicted to it,” Ramey explained. “I wasn’t abusing it but it is a highly addictive drug. And I decided to get off of it because, during the pandemic, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get my prescription refilled or what. The withdrawals were probably the most painful and terrifying experience I ever had in my life,” she said. I didn’t know if I was going to make it through it. I didn’t know if I was going to live through it.”
After going through that, she knew she had to make some changes in her life. “That’s when I started trauma therapy because I decided I was never going to take a drug to deal with my trauma ever again. I’m just going to deal with it.” That change led her to pen the powerful song.
“I embarked on this healing journey that has taken me about three or four years. When I started to get on the other side of it, I felt like a phoenix. A phoenix makes a decision to set itself ablaze so it can die and be reborn. I felt like I had phoenix energy so I wrote that song,” she recalled. “I didn’t want it to be just for me. I wanted to share my experience with anybody who has trauma, which is pretty much everybody. It was important for me to tell these stories in hopes that it would help somebody.”
The Inspiration for “Ain’t My First Rodeo”
“It’s a song that I wrote out of frustration with a narcissistic energy vampire type person. I remember thinking I know what these people are like. Like, why didn’t I see the signs? Why did I become friends with this person? All narcissists are easy to read and I thought ‘Well, this ain’t my first rodeo.’ Then, I thought, ‘That would make a good country song,’” Ramey said of the inspiration behind her contest-winning song.
“Writing is really therapeutic for me. While I was in the process of writing that song, I felt like I was taking my power back from that person. It was an exercise in taking my power back. The more I played it and the more I worked on it, the more powerful I felt.”
Featured Image by Peggy French
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