Catie Offerman's 'I Just Killed A Man' is country's latest most powerful, relatable anthem

Catie Offerman's a humble, evocative storyteller.

She's also a home-schooled, ranch-raised Texan, plus a classically-trained multi-instrumentalist as well-versed in Bach compositions as she is skilled in polka and Western swing.

Sit her in a writing room with the skilled quartet of Ryan Beaver, Joe Clemmons, Jessie Jo Dillon and Benjy Davis and "I Just Killed A Man" -- Offerman's debut single at country radio -- emerges.

However, Offerman's far from a jaded ex-debutante or road-worn Music City songster bitterly expelling anger.

The 28-year-old has been married for a year. When speaking to The Tennessean at Universal Music Group's 22nd-floor offices in downtown Nashville, she is calm yet excited when discussing her well-crafted and ear-warming new single.

"The edge of heartbreak is more relatable to people than murder," says Offerman when asked about how, lyrically, a single that says, "I just killed a man / Left him in his drive / Watch the light go out of his loving eyes / I got in my car / Made my getaway / Couldn't stop the tears / Running down my face," perhaps stings as deep as HARDY and Lainey Wilson's award-winning murder ballad "wait in the truck" hits people over the head with its violent tale of death and domestic violence.

"Heartbreak is one of the most painful emotions in the world," Offerman continues.

Taking the song to an ever-crowded country radio space where female-sang message songs are achieving sustainability and performing well (Wilson's "Things A Man Oughta Know" and Hailey Whitters' "Everything She Ain't" are recent success stories), Offerman's in an ideal position to potentially match that success.

The song's producer is legendary multi-genre craftsman Dann Huff. In his opinion, the ballad is the best material on her strong, forthcoming major-label debut EP.

"We agree it's a song that works as a table-setting no-brainer of a radio debut because it establishes my talents as a great country singer-songwriter. Moreover, it's a great springboard into my other material that's just as well written and composed -- just not so heartbroken or sad," she says with a wry grin.

Whereas other artists on country radio dive deeper into established tropes of the genre's sound ("sometimes it's a tempo-driven song, sometimes it's a viral bop"), Offerman's well-schooled background becomes apparent when listening to her latest.

Currently, her greatest strength is establishing herself as much as a songwriter as a tunesmith.

Signed to Universal during COVID's quarantine, she's been stockpiling a solid catalog of well-crafted music for the past three years. These works had reached their previous peak with her influences of artists like George Strait and Brad Paisley making themselves apparent in 2022's gently caustic heartbreak songs "Get A Dog" and "Don't Do It In Texas."

Offerman notes to the Tennessean that being skilled in "crazy jazz chords" is "cool," but that creating music that operates in the warmly "simple, digestible and believable" melody and rhythm-driven counterpoint to that is benefitting her at present.

"As a singer, too, realizing that God gave me about nine notes doesn't give me the options to match my voice to the style of music I could potentially make. Accepting who I am and what I can do best allows me to grow into a sweet spot where I can make my best music possible."

As it relates to the rest of 2023, where she's being highlighted as a CMT Next Women of Country and CMT Listen Up artist, plus touring with Parker McCollum and Scotty McCreery, Offerman's enthusiastic about working with the content she has to achieve her desired career goals.

"It's game time. And playing the game with songs I genuinely love gives me the best chance of letting success come to me instead of me having to chase it."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Catie Offerman's 'I Just Killed A Man' is country's latest most powerful, relatable anthem