Meet Karley Scott Collins – the Rising Country Star Piquing Keith Urban and Charles Kelley's Musical Interests (Exclusive)

10/24/2024 03:40 PM

"I feel lucky to have people that I have listened to my entire life, who now want to be a part of my career," the musician tells PEOPLE of her path to success

Karley Scott Collins has saved every notebook she's ever had.

"I've always cut out all of these little pictures of all of the musicians and authors that inspire me, and I glue them to my notebook so that whenever I open them, I feel inspired," reflects Collins, 24, in an interview with PEOPLE. "I have them all."

It's these notebooks that now find themselves sitting on the shelf in the bedroom of her Nashville apartment — notebooks filled with lyrics and ideas and dreams that the Florida native once kept all to herself. But today, these dreams are starting to come true, thanks to the support of some of Nashville's most revered artists such as Keith Urban.

"I feel lucky to have people that I have listened to my entire life, who now want to be a part of my career," says Collins of Urban, who not only formally invited her to make her Opry debut back in June, but also has already sung with her.

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"My producer, Nathan Chapman, is probably one of the people that believed in me first in town, and so we were in the studio recording the song ('Write One'), and I really didn't have any intentions of having anyone featured on the song," remembers Collins, who released her Write One EP earlier this year. "And when we finished it, Nathan was like, I really feel like Keith Urban would like this song. I'm going to send it to him."

And Collins says she couldn't help but laugh.

"Nathan said Keith is always really honest, and if he doesn't like the song, he would tell me," remembers Collins. "And I told Nathan, 'Wwhy would you tell me this? Because now I know if he  doesn't like it, I've got to release a song that I know Keith Urban doesn't like.'"

Related: Keith Urban 'Loves' the Physicality (and the Cardio!) of Performing Live (Exclusive)

Luckily for all involved, Urban loved the song and immediately wanted to be a part of it, which Collins still can only describe as 'insane.'

This surreal feeling also carried over to the day that Collins made her Grand Ole Opry debut.

"I think my hometown was probably half empty the night of my Opry debut because everyone was there," remembers Collins, who started playing the guitar at 9 years old and writing songs at age 11. "I've been hearing about the Opry since I was a kid, because my grandparents grew up listening to the Opry with their parents. I've been watching videos of my favorite artists being in that circle for as long as I can remember."

And on the night of her Opry debut, her life got more surreal when she was joined by Lady A's Charles Kelley, who shared co-writing credits on Collins' heartfelt song "How Do You Do That."

"We hit it off really well," Collins says of singing with the country music hitmaker."Charles has got one of the best voices in country music, and he's so nice. It was the first time we'd ever sang it live together."

Related: Luke Bryan Uncovers Untold Stories in New Docuseries It's All Country — Featuring Sheryl Crow, Luke Combs and More!

Having Kelley on the song was another one of those crazy circumstances for Collins. "When I was about to record ("How Do You Do That"), I texted him and I was like, 'Hey, we're cutting the song we wrote,'" recalls Collins, who is currently out with her addictive new single "Religion and Politics." "And he was like, 'Well if you need a good backup singer, I know one!'" She pauses. "I feel like everything that's happened to me has kind of been an accident in a way. I mean, it's God working in my life, I guess."

And God has been doing some amazing work in Collins' life thus far.

"I feel like there are a lot of people that are a part of my career that feel like family, and there are a lot of people guiding my career that I feel very lucky to have them be a part of it," concludes Collins, who will spend the fall opening for artists such as Carly Pearce, Nate Smith and Corey Kent.

"It's nice to have people that I can call if I run into something that's hard to navigate. I know they have my best interests in mind and that they care. Besides just having a vested interest in my career, they actually care about me as a person."

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