\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div> \t\t\t\t\tCarter Faith, in her \u201cSpurlettos.\u201d Photo: Lily Nelson*<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tCHERRY VALLEY<\/em> DIDN\u2019T ALWAYS GET A POSITIVE reaction. When she played some folks in Nashville her song \u201cMisery Loves Company,\u201d with the lyric \u201cbirds are circling, something must have died,\u201d they told her it was a little too \u201caggressive,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd my personality is like, \u2018OK, fuck you then! Whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBrown sees Faith\u2019s ability to stay so true to her vision as one of \u201ca million things\u201d that sets her apart. \u201cIt\u2019s her true knowledge of who she is,\u201d the producer says. \u201cA lot of these young artists are so sensitive and impressionable by songwriters that have clout, but Carter\u2019s always known what she wants to say.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPart of her vision is that juxtaposition of elements, and leaning into making her audience feel that sense of discomfort. Faith has explored that thoroughly in her music videos, like \u201cBar Star,\u201d where she cozies up to actor Billy Bob Thorton (\u201cbless his liver and his honky-tonk heart,\u201d she sings brilliantly), or \u201cPearl Handled Pistol,\u201d where she possibly commits a murder in those spurred stilettos alongside Laci Kaye Booth and Baby Nova. <\/p>\n \n\tDue to some revealing wardrobe choices, the three women got their share of \u201cslut-shaming\u201d comments on social media. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely not going to make me want to cover up, if that was your goal,\u201d Faith says. She points to artists like the Chicks as the epitome of women whose mere existence makes people uncomfortable, and who maybe the industry always wanted to find a way to silence.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s kind of happening now, I feel like,\u201d Faith says. \u201cThere are a lot of really successful women, so everyone is like \u2018oh good, this opens up doors for women.\u2019 I don\u2019t really feel like much has changed here. There\u2019s still only a certain amount of spots, and you have to be so much better than a man, obviously. We want to empower our daughters, but not our women.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tShe thinks of another one of her core influences, Lana Del Rey<\/a>, and the arc of her career: especially her first performance on Saturday Night Live<\/a><\/em>, which came with a gleeful handful of ridicule. When Faith appeared on The Tonight Show<\/em> Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/em>, she wore a lace white dress partly inspired by the one Del Rey chose for that infamous appearance. \u201cIt felt like a cornerstone of my life watching pop culture,\u201d she says, seeing an artist she adored torn apart in real time. \u201c[Her performance] was beautiful, and it was real.\u201d<\/p>\n \n