“It was a very emotional experience,” remembers Temecula Road member Dawson Anderson, 22, in a recent interview with PEOPLE aboutbandmember Maddie Salute’sdecision to leave the bandearlier this year. “Maddie basically came to us and said, ‘I love you all and I love this band. I want to see y’all make it big. I want to watch you guys sell out the Staples Center and I’ll be in the front row. I just don’t want to be on that stage.'”
Suddenly, the band who had spent seven years paving their way in the country music industry via songs such as “Everything I Love” andappearances on showssuch asThe Bachelorfound themselves suddenly without one piece of their distinctive three-part harmony.
But perhaps, it had been a long time coming.
“Maddie’s heart just wasn’t in it,” remembers Anderson, who alongside Temecula Road member Emma Salute could see the dynamic of the band shifting late last year. “If somebody’s heart isn’t in it, you slowly start seeing that.”
So while the news might not have been a total surprise to the newfound duo, it still came with its share of hurt for the remaining members of the band.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking,” says Anderson. “We had been emotionally invested for so long. It definitely hurt. But at the end of the day, it’s such a good thing for not only her, but for Emma and me as well. We have a better relationship with Maddie than we did before, which was already strong.”
In the days following Maddie’s decision to leave the band, Emma says that there was no question that Temecula Road would go on to live another day, just this time as a duo.
“There wasn’t a conversation of, ‘Should we add another member?'” Salute, 23, says. “We were just a duo now. It’s kind of weird in hindsight, but I feel like we’ve been preparing for this for a long time.”
Still, the California natives were somewhat hesitant to share the news with their growing legion of fans.
“About two weeks after Maddie quit, we made the official announcement to the world and it was hard,” says Anderson of the March announcement. “It was tough. We didn’t know what people were going to think. Are they going to still want to listen to our music? Are they still going to be in love with the band? Luckily, we had so many people reach out and say, ‘I’m so excited for you guys and we’re happy that you guys are still rolling because we love what y’all are doing.’ We couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Heading in a direction that Temecula Road says will include “a lot more country, rootsy, organic sounds,” Anderson admits that the band has had to evolve a bit.
“We have been focused on the three-part harmony for the entirety of the band,” says Anderson. “So yeah, there were definitely some transitions. Maddie had sung a lot of leads, so Emma stepped to the plate, and it’s been sounding incredible.”
And it’s this voice that can now be heard on Temecula Road’s new single “Heartbreak in Boots,” which has been a fan favorite since the new duo began teasing it both on their socials and on the road.
“For eight months, the fans have been begging for this song,” explains Anderson of the song which first hit it big on TikTok. “We just felt like with this one that we should keep it a little more tender and a little more heartfelt, while still picking a song that people have been asking for, was a good start for this new duo.”
“It’s really cool because the story is honest and true to us,” adds Emma, who counts the song as her “first cut as a songwriter,” having written it alongside Anderson, Parker Welling and Casey Brown last September. “I personally feel such a connection to the fans with this song because they are all saying that they have been through what we are singing about. There’s just a really true connection.”
And it’s this connection that Temecula Road looks to just making stronger in the coming years.
“Now, 100% of Temecula Road has their hearts 110% in it,” concludes Anderson. “We’ve evolved. We’re growing up. We’re maturing. And we are here to stay.”
source: people.com
