Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Billboard
Digital Journal
Exclaim!	8/10
Newsday	B+
PopMatters
Rolling Stone
Spin	7/10

Start Here is the debut studio album by American country duo Maddie & Tae. It was released on August 28, 2015 via Dot Records and Republic Nashville. The album, produced by Dann Huff and Aaron Scherz, features eleven tracks. Its release was delayed so the duo could have more time to work on it.

The album was originally scheduled to be released on June 2, 2015, but Maddie & Tae pushed back the album’s release date to August 28. Marlow said "what we had was good, but we knew it could be so much better", while Dye added "we wanted to get the feel — the sound of it — and the music right. You only make your first album once".

Maddie & Tae stated: "we told our stories in this first album and that’s exactly what we plan to do for the albums to come, we want our fans to come along on this journey with us."

The official album cover was shot by photographer Allister Ann: "The thing about us that really defines Maddie and I is we’re not those girls who want to spend a lot of time getting our hair done," Dye said. "We’d rather be out on a four-wheeler, playing guitar or just hanging out, having fun. That’s what the songs are made of. We thought the pictures should look like that, too".

Four singles have been released from the album, the chart-topper "Girl in a Country Song", "Fly", "Shut Up and Fish" and "Sierra".

Start Here received general acclaim from music critics, scoring an 80 out of 100 on the review aggregate website Metacritic, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic bestowed a four and a half stars out of five rating upon the album writing: " In another's hands, such scheming could seem crass or nasty but placed in the context of Start Here, where it's surrounded by both sweetness and swagger, it simply adds another dimension to an album that embodies all the complex contradictions and unfettered optimism of modern country-pop in 2015."Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan conferring a three and a half star rating out of five on the album saying: "Even when the sentiments are more traditional, though, Maddie & Tae sound tough-minded and stout-hearted."

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