June Client Spotlight - Natalie Ulenhake
Natalie is one of those artists you don’t just listen to—you feel. Coming out of Mercer County, Ohio and now carving her space in Nashville, she’s building a sound that lives somewhere between country-pop nostalgia and modern-day honesty. Think early-2000s radio hooks, 90s-to-2010s country energy, and lyrics that don’t pretend to be anything other than real life.
She started writing songs at 13 and never really stopped chasing that feeling of turning a moment into a melody. That instinct is still at the core of everything she does—no fictional smoke and mirrors, just lived experience, stitched together with emotion, humor, and a little edge. Her songs feel like pages torn straight from a diary… just set to a beat you can’t help but move to.
On stage is where it all clicks. That’s her element—the lights, the noise, the shared pulse in a room full of strangers who suddenly aren’t strangers anymore. She takes the songs she wrote alone and turns them into something communal, electric, alive. It’s not performance as much as it is release.
In the studio, there’s a different kind of magic. A growing trust, a push-and-pull that’s turned into creative shorthand over time. What started out a little more guarded has evolved into something fluid and instinctive—ideas bouncing, stretching, sometimes clashing, and often landing somewhere better than either side planned.
From the late-night spark of Sunday Best to the cheeky charm of All The Best Things, Natalie writes like someone who can’t help but notice everything—and then turn it into a hook. Her music doesn’t try to overexplain itself. It just shows up, honest and a little bright-eyed, and lets the moment do the talking.
She’s still early in the story, but there’s already that unmistakable feeling: this is an artist who’s not just finding her sound—she’s living it out loud.
Natalie, thanks so much for chatting with us today! Let’s jump right in.
There’s something really clear from the start about your music—it doesn’t feel constructed, it feels lived-in. Like it already exists in real time before it ever gets recorded. If your music could tell the story of who you are as an artist today, what would it say? How do the different sides of your sound, your energy, and your storytelling come together to reflect you?
I’d say it’s a pretty accurate reflection of me as a person. I grew up in the early 2000s on country radio, so I was surrounded by hits from the 90’s to the 2010’s and you can definitely hear that energy and vibe in my music. I’d say it’s also way more difficult for me to write works of fiction in my songwriting. I pretty exclusively pull from my lived experience. So my art is me. It’s what I’ve lived, what I’ve done, what I want, what I think and feel.
Which part of performing do you feel most alive in—writing, recording, or being on stage—and why?
I feel most alive being on stage because that is a shared, immersive experience. It’s where I get to take the music that I wrote on my own, and the songs that shaped me, that I relate to, and share that with other people. It’s a really cool bond, and it’s honestly just a fun experience.
It’s clear that stage energy isn’t just performance for you—it’s connection, which says a lot about how you view your audience.
Your sound is very distinct and upbeat—what’s the secret to keeping that energy authentic in every song you write?
To quote “Breathe” by Anna Nalick - “These words are my diary screaming out loud”. If you know me, you know I’m… a little intense and emotional. It’s gotta go somewhere, so it goes in my music.
We love that song by Anna Nalick - you have great taste in music. Songwriting really is so personal - and you have a way of balancing the line so well. Can you share a moment when a song wrote itself—when the words or melody came faster than you could catch them?
Sunday Best - my first single. I wrote this song in less than 90 minutes on my own. I had been on a break with my then boyfriend. Earlier that day we had gotten into an argument over text, and it made me cry. I decided I was making plans with my friends that night and I was going to forget about him. So I wrote my intentions into a song and did just that.
That’s such a vivid moment - one that we can all relate to. It really feels like the song wasn’t just written from that experience, it kind of processed it in real time.
And that same observational instinct shows up in a totally different way in All The Best Things which has has such a fun, 90’s-influenced vibe—The lyrics are cheeky and clever, like “All the best things come from Kentucky.” How did you come across this idea?
I was driving through Kentucky on my way to show and thinking about how stunningly beautiful it was on my way there. I had also somewhat recently vacationed on a lake in southern Kentucky, and most recently, was seeing a guy from Kentucky. I was driving along and I just thought to myself “Wow, I love Kentucky, so many of my favorite things came from here… wait a second.” When I got to the town I was playing in that night, I found a park, pulled over and wrote more than half of it in one go.
Gotta love it when the song ideas come to you while you’re driving! Did this song come as a natural extension of your sound, or was it an intentional experiment to push into something different?
It was a little bit of an experiment, but it also came very naturally. I was on a little bit of a Keith Urban and Kip Moore kick at the time and I think you can hear those influences.
Absolutely - but it still sounds so uniquely you. Is there a favorite moment in the song—lyrically, melodically, or instrumentally—that you love sharing live? How does the crowd react to this one? (We bet any Kentucky visitors love it!)
This is just a really fun song to do live especially, but my favorite part is always watching people’s reactions. I usually see it click for people and get giggles at the first “My friends wanna know how I got so lucky, All the best things come from Kentucky!” But I actually get to play in Kentucky a lot - so every time I get to do this song in that state, I usually get some hoots and hollers, which is just so fun for me.
Lets chat about your time recording in our Studio with our producer Grady James.
Over time, you’ve recorded multiple songs with us here at Studio45b—how has your relationship with Grady James grown, and how does that trust show up in your music?
I was definitely a little more shy and rigid the first time I came in to the studio, and since then I’ve definitely grown to trust his ideas and I know that my opinions still matter, which has lead to the best version of my music as the end product.
That shift is huge — it sounds like the studio has become a space where you can actually lean into collaboration instead of feeling like you have to hold everything tightly.
Which makes it even more meaningful that you’ve brought other artists into that space too.
You’ve also sent other clients our way—what does that say about your trust in the studio, and what do you value most about working with a team like ours?
I think it says that I trust that everyone is going to get a good product every time, and be met with care, confidence, and professionalism through the entire process, because it has been proven to me time and time again. I will not promote something I don’t believe in.
We can’t tell you how much we appreciate the support!
If you had to describe your creative chemistry with Grady in a sound, texture, or mood, what would it be?
Boiling water. Fast, bubbling, but somehow coming up with something useful.
Was there ever a time that you two disagreed and the end result was better than you expected?
When we did All The Best Things, and we were getting ready to put down vocals, he said “Ok and for the callbacks…” And I said “What callbacks, what are you talking about?” That was absolutely not in my plan, I didn’t think it was gonna work. Spoiler alert, they made the final cut and the song sounds really empty without them now.
Thank you so much for chatting with us today - just before you go can you answer these rapid fire questions?!
Sunrise or sunset? Sunset. Not a morning person.
Coffee or sweet tea? Dr. Pepper
Front row or backstage? Front Row
Road trip or hometown comfort? Road Trip
Acoustic guitar or piano? Guitar
Dance in the kitchen or sing in the shower? Dance in the kitchen
Broadway lights or country sunsets? Country Sunsets
Chaos or calm while creating? Calm
Vinyl or streaming? Streaming
Favorite city besides Nashville? St. Augustine, FL
From early songwriting moments to packed-out live shows and growing studio collaborations, Natalie’s journey is still unfolding—but already unmistakably her own. There’s a clear sense of honesty, instinct, and momentum in everything she creates, and we’re so grateful to have her as part of the Studio45b family.
Thank you, Natalie, for being our featured client spotlight.
You can keep up with her music, shows, and everything coming next here: