Before Jenna Paulette was a rising country artist in Nashville, she was a cowgirl on her family’s ranch in Texas. Her debut album The Girl I Was—which released March 31—laces together tributes to her roots with bright hope for her future as she rediscovers her identity following a toxic relationship.

Paulette’s music has grown with her and followed her journey from listening to classic country cassettes with her grandad to writing her own records. In a recent visit at the MusicRow offices, Paulette shared a bit about her upbringing and what led her to Nashville.

“I sang [The Chicks] songs at the top of my lungs on the back of a four wheeler checking cows with my granddad,” she says. “I sang ‘Wide Open Spaces’ and ‘Cowboy Take Me Away.’ What I was living is what I got to sing about in the environment that made me feel the most like it was real. That’s what made me want to sing country music.”

When it comes to her dreams, Paulette had a key inspiration: fellow Texan George Strait.

“I always told people I wanted to pull a George Strait on this town and do what he does—do the cowboy thing for real but tour on a high level and produce the best country music I possibly can while living what I sing about.”

She adds, “I had just figured out in college that you could actually write songs for a living. I always knew I wanted to sing country music but I didn’t think that songwriting was an occupation. So I started looking at the songs I loved and seeing who wrote them, and what made me hear them in it. Ashley Gorley was one of the most consistent [songwriters I saw credited] because he is massive.”

After meeting Gorley while visiting Nashville, he became Paulette’s mentor, coaching her through the writing process with weekly phone calls and encouraging her to make the move to Nashville. Paulette is not one to shy away from criticism, and eagerly learned all Gorley offered to teach her. From him, she learned that it is identity and authenticity that makes people stick around—not just one good song.

When Gorley asked her to pick between being a songwriter and being an artist, Paulette chose being an artist.

“It’s awesome to experience a record from top to bottom. I made [The Girl I Was] because I want to be an artist that puts out records,” she says. “I wanted people to have a lens to experience everything through.”