While her upcoming show is called “From Viral Fame to Country Stardom,” and while she is usually labeled as a rising country music star, Maggie Baugh is a multi-genre entertainer who sings and plays several instruments. She will perform for one night only, Friday, Oct. 17, at Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael, 1 Carmichael Square, Carmel.
The Reporter spoke with Baugh about her life, her music, and what guests can expect at her upcoming show.
Baugh has been on tour across the U.S. and parts of Europe almost all year. When asked how many states she had visited so far this time, she said, “I’ve been on tour since February. So I mean, everywhere. Cue the song ‘I’ve Been Everywhere,’ man.”
Baugh started classical training on the violin at 6 years old and told The Reporter started singing at 12.
“I started going to Nashville [Tenn.] when I was 13 and started songwriting around the same age,” Baugh said. “I put out my very first record when I was 13 years old. I’m actually from south Florida and it’s a festival season all year round in south Florida, so I toured a lot there. I started touring at the bigger venues and all the way up and down the state and up into Virginia. Then when I was 18 years old, I moved to Nashville and started touring a bunch. Last year I was on tour with Keith Urban and it’s been a crazy wild journey, man.”
Baugh does not come from a family of musicians.
“Nobody in my family plays music,” Baugh said. “I’m literally the only one. Isn’t that crazy? I’m the oddball. My dad is a microbiologist, and my mom is a stay-at-home mom who runs a dog training business on the side.”
The show you see at Feinstein’s in October will be a unique performance with no real set list.
“No two Maggie Baugh shows are the same, that’s for sure!” Baugh said. “There’ll be a bunch of high energy. There will be some awful dad jokes. I’ll be running up and down the audience. I’ll play anything from rock and roll, bluegrass music, and everything in between, so it’s gonna be a party for sure.”
When asked for one of those dad jokes, Baugh said, “My dad’s a microbiologist, so you can say he’s a fun guy!”
Outside of her life on stage and behind the mic, Baugh admitted she is a “closet dork.”
“I try to come off like this badass human, but let me tell you, I am a knucklehead,” Baugh said. “I am such a dork. I love reading books. I spend a lot of my time thrifting and hanging out with friends, so I’m a closet dork. Don’t even get me started. I’ll go to a Barnes & Noble all day.”
Even so, music is her first love.
“I’m just so lucky that I get to call music my job,” Baugh said. “I literally get to see so many amazing things and see so many things that people dream about. And I don’t take a single day of it for granted.”
Baugh became a viral success with her TikTok series, “Finish the lick,” but said that having 40 million views across social media did not feel like success to her. Instead, it’s all about the live audience.
“It’s so crazy to me because I’m not the kind of person that looks online and sees all these numbers and thinks, ‘Oh my God, I’m a viral person,” Baugh said. “I can measure success – for me – by the bodies out in the audience. I’m such an entertainer. I love being on stage. I love touring. My definition of success is when I see a bunch of people out in the audience cheering.”
You can be in that audience on Friday, Oct. 17 at Feinstein’s. If her show is anything like The Reporter’s interview, it promises to be highly entertaining with a relaxed and fun atmosphere that most modern shows are unable to achieve.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for dinner and drinks, with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Get your tickets online at tinyurl.com/MaggieBaughAtFeinsteins or call (317) 688-1947.
