Before Teagan Stewart surpassed half a million streams, earned recognition for her songwriting, or began filling rooms across Nashville, she was one of countless working musicians balancing creative dreams with demanding jobs. Between writing songs and playing shows, she spent long shifts behind the bar and serving tables, a reality that eventually led to the unfiltered TikTok rant that introduced her story to millions and opened the door to a new chapter in her career.
What started as a moment of pure exhaustion quickly racked up over 5 million views, sparking a viral wave of solidarity from people across the country, including acclaimed artist Brittney Spencer. That viral moment quickly evolved into a high-stakes co-write at Warner Chappell, giving birth to Stewart’s single, “The Waiting Game.”
Featuring Spencer on background vocals, the track is a sharp, authentic Americana anthem for anyone who has ever felt overlooked, underpaid, and pushed to their limit while chasing a dream.
As Stewart enters this new stage of her career, “The Waiting Game” opens the door to a larger conversation about ambition, vulnerability, and the realities behind building a life in music.
Through this conversation, Teagan Stewart reflects on the experiences that shaped the song, the creative connection she found with Brittney Spencer, and the lessons she is carrying into the next phase of her career.
Looking back now, what did writing “The Waiting Game” help you understand about yourself that you hadn’t fully realised before?
I didn’t realise how much I’d been at the end of my rope. I’m pretty good at lying to myself that I have it all together, that everything’s fine, I’m not stressed, I’m not stretched too thin. But in writing “The Waiting Game,” I finally had the space to admit I am stressed, I am over this dumb job, I’m over being treated like I have nothing to offer when I tie on that apron, and I’m over waiting for pieces of my life to just fall into place. It felt really cathartic to acknowledge that and then move past it through music.
The song speaks to being overlooked, underpaid, and pushed to your limit. Was there a lyric or line that took the longest to get right because it carried the emotional weight of the whole track?
The last line of the chorus, “Nobody knows the hell of a waitress, playing the waiting game,” was one that Brittney and I turned over and over until we got it right. It felt like rolling around a ball of clay until it was a perfect sphere—we tried one angle (“nobody knows how to wait like a waitress”) and then another (“no one knows patience like a waitress”) until it finally clicked. When it did, we felt the magic in the room of finally saying what we wanted to say.
Before the TikTok went viral, you had already spent years building your career in Nashville. Did the sudden attention feel validating, frustrating, or a mix of both, and why?
In the moment, it felt validating, silly, and scary all at once. It’s exhilarating to see thousands of comments and notifications that people agree with your perspective and are rooting for you. Cool, you’re feeling important — then you remember that this is an expletive-filled rant on the internet and not at all what you wanted people to know about you, which is your music. Then the fear creeps in—will I make the most of this moment? Can I cross over this attention to music?
Brittney Spencer’s comment became a songwriting session at Warner Chappell. What did that collaboration reveal about the difference between being understood online and being understood creatively in a room?
Being understood online feels like a stranger yelling a nice thing out the window as they speed past—you don’t really know what their impression was of you or what resonated or how long-lasting that moment is. But being in that writer’s room was another beast entirely. I was trying not to be a ball of nerves and overthink everything, but as soon as Brittney walked in the door, it felt like just another co-write, in the best way. We both love carving out the melody and spitballing lyrics until you get that YES! That’s the line!
Brittney was super helpful in reminding me that each of our perspectives as songwriters is singular and worthy of being shared—no diminishing or downplaying your ideas is allowed in here.
How did you and Brittney Spencer translate that initial internet solidarity into the actual room at Warner Chappell to write “The Waiting Game”?
After she commented on my video, I panic-called one of my songwriter friends and asked if it would be crazy if I just DM’d her and asked to write a song with me (crazy? Yes. Do it? Y E S). So I messaged her and said thanks for her comment and for understanding what it was like to be in the trenches. I said I had always wanted to write a server anthem and would love to write this with her if she’s down. She said yes (?!?!?) and reached out to her publisher to book us a writer’s room at Warner Chappell, and we made it a date!
When thousands of people began sharing their own stories after your video, was there one message or interaction that stayed with you longer than the others?
One guy DM’d me that his mother had been a waitress at a Nashville Cracker Barrel for decades. Sometimes, he’d see her come home crying, and she endured being cursed out, hit on, and just downright disrespected. I had so many people share their experiences as a server or bartender, and everyone expressed the same sentiment—service jobs are HARD, and every single one of those people deserves respect.
You’ve connected with listeners through streaming, social media, and live performance. Which of those spaces feels most honest to who you are as an artist today, and why?
Right now, social media feels most honest to me as an artist because I can be more versions of myself—from making Kacey Musgraves parodies to going on rants to creating a whole visual world to accompany my music. Live performance is definitely my first love, but I’m really enjoying playing with the infinite stage that is social media.
Your upcoming project comes after a very public turning point. Are there songs on the project that intentionally push against the expectations people may now have of you?
People might be expecting me to always be this brash, sassy version of myself, shooting my mouth off and getting the last word, but these songs are not all that persona. Sometimes I’m a girl who misses her boyfriend’s cologne! Sometimes I’m a girl who has a soft spot!
Between your debut EP and the music you are recording now in 2026, your sound has steadily evolved. What is the biggest creative risk you are taking on this next project that you wouldn’t have dared to try back when you first arrived in town?
When I first got to town, I would never have dared to meld my sound with pop, which is what my next project will be! Think banjo, synths, and complex lyrical ideas but shorter, punchy lines. This next project will be a mixture of the power and soundscape of my song Unsay It with the earthiness and lyrical specificity of The Waiting Game. I can’t wait to share it!
Is there anything else you’d like to say to everyone who feels seen by “The Waiting Game”?
Your job is not for the weak. You are smart, you are highly skilled, you are doing great, and you deserve all the money in the world. Don’t let any job dull your shine or make you think otherwise.
What can listeners expect from Teagan Stewart as she enters this next chapter?
In this next chapter, you can expect to be transported into a visual and sonic world that has the fingerprint of my previous work on a new, velvety canvas.
STAY TUNED TO TEAGAN STEWART ON INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, AND YOUTUBE.
