Published with Sound Stage Magazine on October 5, 2026. Even as a die-hard Swiftie of fourteen years, I can admit when Taylor Swift misses. Granted, that didn’t happen until The Life of a Showgirl dropped last year, but I felt insane telling people Taylor Swift had released a new album I didn’t love. I wasn’t expecting much when the deluxe edition of the album, cleverly dubbed “The Encore,” was announced on Wednesday. The four new songs don’t align splendidly with the standar

Gracie Cullison, a Belmont University sophomore, is releasing her third single “Sober” this Friday, October 2. The "Sober" single cover - photo by Preston Todd Inspired by country music and doing daily TikTok livestreams taking song requests from attendees, Gracie’s audience has grown quickly over the past few months. She amassed over 4,000 TikTok followers and totaled nearly 10,000 streams across her two released songs “11:11” and “Lavender,” impressive for an independent ar

When I wrote my spring 2026 music recap, I led with something to the effect of “this was the busiest season of my life”. While summer didn’t beat that, I managed to set myself up for what is looking like an even busier autumn. I’ve since joined two new publications, write promotional material for companies, and run a successful TikTok/Instagram series of songs I recommend for oddly specific situations. Here’s a glimpse of the soundtrack. The playlist cover for my "Spring and

Published with Sound Stage Magazine on September 25, 2026. Lizzy McAlpine’s fourth studio album, Angel, combines sonic elements of earlier albums with her classic cutting lyricism to make a new high-quality, but not necessarily innovative record. McAlpine is a sentimental lyricist of the sad-girl-pop realm with a comforting sound, well-recognized in the songwriting world. She’s journeyed from the bright guitar-led Give Me A Minute (2020) to the often flat-falling five seconds

Published by Back Beat Seattle on September 20, 2026. Avery Cochrane released her debut album’s lead single, “Toy Gun” on September 9. Earlier this year, Cochrane released her EP Male Validation and Other Drugs. The anticipation for her debut album is growing, especially after the inclusion of the Male Validation track “Shapeshifting on a Saturday Night” in the popular TV show Off Campus. The “Toy Gun” single cover – photo by Samantha Klegerman The pop sound of “Toy Gun” is l

Released tonight, ahead of her Americana Fest set at Nashville’s Blue Room, Katie Pruitt’s third album, Fools for the Fleeting, displays Pruitt falling in love and analyzing the corrupt political state of America. As Pruitt told the Belmont Vision in an article published earlier this week, these facets combine a political intention to communicate her views in a way that would “make her conservative parents proud” with a goal to “showcase her queer identity in a more subtle wa

Aubory Bugg’s debut album i think i had something once perfectly encapsulates how it feels to have terrible judgment in romantic relationships. The album title is the most concise meaning of the common Gen-Z term “situationship” I’ve ever seen. Most young adults will describe this meaningless label as “We did relationship stuff but weren’t officially in a romantic relationship”, but if you want to add some pathos to that description, “I think I had something once” suffices. T

Published by the Belmont Vision on September 16, 2026. Katie Pruitt will play Nashville’s The Blue Room at AMERICANAFEST on Sept. 17, the same day her third album, “Fools for the Fleeting,” releases. Pruitt teased that her upcoming album will showcase her queer identity in a more subtle way than how she’s historically presented it. Pruitt’s 2020 debut album, “Expectations,” featured songs “Loving Her” and “Normal,” both central to the album theme of navigating her journey thr

Published with the Belmont Vision on September 15, 2026. Emma Andersen is set to play AMERICANAFEST at Nashville’s prominent 3rd and Lindsley venue on Sept. 16. Andersen dropped out of Belmont University’s songwriting program in her sophomore year after she struck a record deal with RCA Records. Social media plays a massive role in her career, and she said having luck online was a large part of how she got discovered and signed. “I am one of those freaks that loves social me

On August 26, Madison Monroe announced the launch of her company, SWITCH Nashville. Monroe, a Belmont University sophomore, describes the aim of SWITCH, “I want to bring people together who take music seriously.” She discusses a blurry divide in Nashville between people who pursue music as a hobby and those who pursue it as a career. The SWITCH vision is described in the Instagram launch post, “Hundreds of young artists move to Nashville every year with big dreams, but quickl

Have you ever met someone who had “go big or go home” written all over their face? That’s Georgia Webster for me. I’ve kept up with the pop singer/songwriter since 2021, when she was a senior in high school blowing up for her debut single “Tell Your Mom”, a song with the hilarious hook, “Tell your mom to stop calling me!” After seeing that, the only thing that would shock me more than her releasing an album and promptly ditching her smartphone, would be if she was nonchalant

Big Thief at the Ryman Auditorium on Aug. 23. (Louise Geri) Excitement emanated through downtown Nashville as fans entered Big Thief’s second Nashville show of the Somersault Slide 360 Tour on Aug. 23, taking place at the Ryman Auditorium. Word had spread over the 24 hours between this show and the last one, held on Aug. 22, about the brand-new album being debuted at these shows. This was more than just a debut; it was the filming of a movie. A film crew interviewed fans outs

The worlds of all three of Lexi Jayde’s projects collide for me upon the release of her debut album LOVER GIRL. My first memory of Jayde’s music was looping her breakthrough single “Hate To Be You” (2022) while angry about long-forgotten problems in my freshman year of high school. Not long after, I discovered her debut EP a teenage diary, and added its songs, chronicling the end of her teenage years, to my playlist. Now, LOVER GIRL is there for me as I leave my teenage years

Despite all the people who are open about having stage fright, I still don’t think the majority of people understand how hard it is to let loose on stage. For Presley Faulkner, Skylar Love, and Daire, it just looks so natural. Presley Faulkner, photo by Alannah Lavoie, courtesy of the Hit Parader I was immediately greeted by Presley Faulkner’s belting upon entering Nashville’s Hit Parader venue on Monday night. She layered a black lace tank and a purple corset. Her platinum b

Nearly seven months after the launch of River & Row Management, founded by Emma Harger and Annie McNamara, I hopped on a call with Harger and her latest signee, rae. Following the signing of Monica James when the company made its debut in January, Americana-folk artist rae is the second artist on the River & Row roster. rae, photo by Julia Blahnik rae committed to working in the music industry as a young teenager, “I pretty much just, like, tried to hone my writing skills as

I was naïve to think it would be a while before I’d find a true exception to the sentence, “It’s hard to become a successful nepo baby if you don’t have a lot of raw talent already”. Unfortunately, Stella Lefty is an exception. Imagine editing an album the way you might edit a photo on your iPhone. You turn up the “surface level lyricism” level to the max, and you tone down the “mainstream country production” level halfway. Just enough that it could be Americana but sounds li

At eighteen years old, Daire will be headlining the Hit Parader, a Nashville venue tied to the influential Hit Parader rock/metal magazine most active in the latter half of the 20th century. “We’re bringing butterflies to the mosh pit,” Daire states. Wearing a black AC/DC T-shirt with the neck cut out as we hop on a video call, Daire is edgy but relaxed. I note this because few things fascinate me more, artistically, than contradictions. Daire has the fairy image, but special

BMI is one of three primary performing rights organizations (PROs) in the United States, along with ASCAP and SESAC. Songwriters and publishers register their works with these organizations to receive performance royalties. In April, Kaleah Wooten and I met for coffee to discuss her job as a works registration analyst at BMI. Wooten attended Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), a school located 45 minutes southeast of Nashville that has one of the best music business pro

Petal, Ariana Grande’s album of “unfiltered rage”, is not so unfiltered. Ariana Grande is already an anomaly on my list of favorite artists, considering that I’m a lyrics girl and she’s best known for her vocal work. I was curious, going into my first listen of petal, to hear the “unfiltered rage” Grande has spoken of throughout its rollout. I was disappointed when I finished it. Where was the anger? The album cover for petal by Ariana Grande It’s not entirely that the concep

Alina's fourth EP, better left behind, released on July 24th, is more polished than ever. After signing with Columbia Records last year, the singer/songwriter has kept herself very busy, and it shows in the quality of her ever improving work. The better left behind album cover, design by Alina Adams “Waiting On Me”, a lax but contemplative song, has the perfect feel for an opening track. It’s quick to hook you – new sounds enter throughout the song, ensuring you’re never bore