CALVERT COUNTY, Md. – Kaitlyn Croker is an 18-year-old singer/songwriter from Calvert County who is now making waves in the country music scene in Nashville. Croker is gearing up to release her second single, “You’re the Hero,” a song dedicated to military families and their challenges.
“You’re the Hero,” which will be officially released on November 10th, details the struggles many face as part of being in a military family and is Croker’s most emotional song yet. Croker, whose father was an F-18 pilot in the Navy and then later transferred to the Air Force to become an F-16 pilot, went over some of the mental struggles she personally faced growing up while her father was away.
“So, luckily, we did not have to move around a whole lot. I was born in California; when I was 11 weeks old, we moved across the country to Maryland, which is where I lived for 16 years. That’s almost unheard of when it comes to Air Force families because they’re always moving around, always on deployment and whatnot. But, due to my Dad being a part of D.C. Air National Guard, we got to stay in one place,” Croker told The BayNet.
“I remember him deploying when I was younger when he was a part of the Navy, and that was difficult with him going overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan. I think it was in 6th grade when he was deployed to Guam for a few months. But, for me, the biggest thing wasn’t missing him; it was the fear of what could happen if they needed him because he was the response to whatever was going on in the world. If someone were sending missiles to a country, my Dad would be the one that gets called in. I missed him because we are such a close family, but it was really the fear of the unknown.”
The idea and motivation to write the song came to Croker when a childhood friend of hers left for boot camp. That’s when she started to tap into the memories and emotions of her Dad being on deployment. However, instead of writing a song that focused primarily on the veterans themselves, Croker wanted to pay tribute to the family members who stayed behind, such as herself.
“I always thought it was kind of weird when people would come up to my Mom and say ‘thank you for your service,’ and I would just go, ‘oh, what do you mean?’ She’s not the one who serves; she’s not overseas, but you don’t always realize the impact it has on the families who stay behind during the deployments,” Croker stated.
Croker has had a busy 2023, with her first single, “Dead Man Walking,” being released back in August, as well as some pretty big live performances such as opening for Shenandoah, Rhonda Vincent, and “The Voice” winner Todd Tilghman.
Croker also performed at the world-famous Bluebird Cafe in July. Many big names such as Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kris Kristofferson, Carole King, Faith Hill, Vince Gill, and the one and only Taylor Swift have graced the cafe’s stage.
Southern Maryland can’t wait to see what Kaitlyn does next!
You can pre-save “You’re the Hero” on Spotify right now by clicking here.
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