From Food Stamps to Red Carpets: How Demps is Paving Her Path to Stardom
Demps' new single "Boy Bye" is out now
Single mom Katie Dempsey has used her humor and authenticity to build a massive following as a digital content creator, and now, “Demps” is turning to songwriting and music to tell her stories. It’s a natural evolution for the Florida native, who has deep roots in entertainment.
“I've always been a theatrical kid,” Demps tells Amplify Country. “I went to a performing arts school, played the violin, sang in chorus, I did all the things.”
Although Demps has shared her stories through videos and podcasts, she’s finding new ways to express her emotions through songwriting. “There's only so many ways you can express them visually. And I feel like I've done that throughout the years to express them through videos, but now I've found it, it's a lot better to put 'em in a song of all my heartache. Granted, I always said I wasn't able to afford therapy, so this is my therapy for right now.”
As a teenager, Demps moved from Florida to Tennessee with her family in 2009, putting down roots just outside of Nashville, in Murfreesboro. “It was just like a Domino's and a tobacco outlet. And I remember looking at my parents, what place is this? This is awful.” But it stuck, and Demps loves living in Nashville while still being able to visit family in Florida.
Becoming a social media sensation
Demps was working remotely for Dell Technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic and started to experiment with digital content creation on the side. “I was making those cringey videos and all of that. And then I started to find my niche.” She started by supporting local boutiques, who would send her outfits. “I would hurry up while I was on a five-minute meeting, I would hurry up, change my outfit, and then stripped down my sidewalk and ‘shotgunned’ a beer,” she says, adding that she wasn’t even actually drinking the beer. “If you watch those videos back, you can just see me spraying it everywhere,” she laughed.
As those videos started to gain attention, the country music industry took notice, seeing an opportunity to promote artists and their songs. And that’s when Demps took a leap of faith.
“And I remember sitting at my remote desk job, and I was like, God, I don't want to do this. I am not happy. And so I quit in 2022. And mind you, I was not making money at all. I was taking a leap. I was making maybe $1,500 a month off of videos, and I was like, well, we can make this work. I believe in myself. And then sure enough, here we are like five years later.”
Demps helped country music songs trend on social media and began to bring in more income. “I've never seen that much money. I mean, you have to understand, I went from food stamps to red carpets.” That’s when Katie Dempsey focused on building the “Demps” brand. And it’s also how she added singer/songwriter to her resume. She connected with award-winning producer Jimmy Robbins, who started working with Demps.
Kelsea Ballerini’s reaction to Demps’ music
Demps’ first release in 2024 was “Bitch on Wine,” co-written by Kelsea Ballerini, Jimmy Robbins, and Nicolle Galyon. “I was like, are you sure I didn't write this?” Demps told her team. “To come out with my first single to all my haters. I feel like this was it.”
Ballerini also co-wrote “Who’s Who” with Robbins and Galyon, which Demps which also recorded and released in 2024. “When they first pitched me that song, I almost cried. I was like, this song, I feel like she was just waiting for me,” Demps recalls. “I put it out on TikTok and then the next thing you know, I see a comment from Kelsea Ballerini. She was like, I've always effing loved this song. It was like she was meant for you and waiting for you because that song was written in back in like 2021, 2022. So it was just sitting in a hard drive on a computer somewhere for the right person, I guess, to come over and sing it.” Demps described why that moment was so special to her. “For her to say, ‘you sound like an angel on this, I'm so glad she found you.’ That was just like, okay, I'm in the right place at the right time.”
Story behind “Boy Bye”
Now, Demps is leaning into her own songwriting skills to tell her story, crediting her daughter Lily Lynn for helping inspire her latest single, “Boy Bye.” They were on their way home from dinner one night and one of Demps’ exes was blowing up her phone. “She's just like, ‘boy, bye.’ And I looked at her and I was like, yeah, boy, bye! And so I feel like I should give her some pub deal credits on that,” she joked. Demps worked up the harmony and sent the idea to her co-writers Brooke Thompson and Caitlynne Curtis.
“We dissected this man's words in Snapchat, believe it or not. We dissected everything in Snapchat like this man was sending me. So I had so much fun writing that song, and I'm so happy that a lot of other girls can just roll the windows down and just scream it.”
Demps on tour
While it’s still in the planning phase, Demps is looking forward to a headlining tour this summer and showing fans a different side of herself.
“They've seen me do the funny comedy skits and all of that the past years and doing interviews on red carpet, but I think it's a time for them to see Demps really open up and be vulnerable and just be the true performer that I feel like I've always meant to be.”
Fans may be surprised to learn that Demps is more introverted than her online personality may seem. “I know I'm very outgoing and I love people, but behind the scenes, when I'm at home, I'm the most quiet. I don't like to be in large crowds anymore. I get overwhelmed. I'd rather just stay the heck home if I don't have to be out. I'd rather just stay home and not be the life of the party. So I feel like a lot of people would be like, well, dang, I thought Demps was this rowdy person. Let's shotgun beers. Let's take shots. But at the end of the day, I just want to be in my Amazon PJs drinking hot tea and cuddling my cat and watching my new favorite Netflix series or something. I love it.”
Navigating her career as a single mom
Even as her success has grown, Demps still experiences the relatable day-to-day challenges of motherhood. “I think I am at the point where if I have to put another Uncrustable in a lunchbox… I am so over the school year,” she laughed.
Demps hopes her daughter gains confidence by watching her and learns “how to talk to humans” in a society that can often bring people down. “She sees a lot behind the scenes of what I deal with,” says Demps. “I think it just shows her that this world isn't really a nice place, but it can be a nice place. It's just how you make it and everything. So if you want a happy, successful life, you’ve got to do that. Nobody else is going to do that for you.”
Demps’ journey from food stamps to red carpets has been unique.
“Being a single mom, I think I had to take a little longer route to chase my dreams, but my daughter's going to be nine now, and she's like her own little independent person, and it just took me a little while to get here. But I'm here and I'm happy to see where this road takes me from all this.”