Nashville artists to watch in 2020: Ingrid Andress, Devon Gilfillian, Kalie Shorr and more
Whether they're making country, R&B, rock, hip-hop or soul, there's a new league of artists that Nashville should look out for in 2020. Breakout country success Ingrid Andress tops our list — read on to see who else you should keep your eye on.
Ingrid Andress
One year ago, Ingrid Andress didn’t have music out. The Colorado native was writing songs, celebrating her record deal with Warner Music Nashville and worrying about all she still had to do to get her career off the ground.
Today her critically acclaimed breakout single “More Hearts Than Mine” is the only debut from a solo female artist to break into the Top 20 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2019. She’s preparing to release her first album in March of 2020, and she’s going on an arena tour with labelmates Dan + Shay.
“Ever since February, when the first song came out, it’s pretty much just been like a whirlwind, honestly,” Andress said. “I was not expecting everything to go as great as it is. I’m just very humbled by it.”
A self-described singer-songwriter who said she “writes about real s***,” Andress has honed her craft since she was a child. When she was very young, Andress remembers making up jingles about doing chores – like lamenting the long trip to the mailbox – to make it through the tasks. She wrote her first song on the piano by the time she was 8 years old. But, Andress didn’t realize music careers existed until she saw a brochure in high school for Berklee College of Music.
“I just assumed that everybody got real jobs, and the only way you could be a singer is if you won ‘American Idol,’” she said. “But, I didn’t want to be on ‘American Idol.’ When I found out people go to college just to study music, I was like, ‘What have I been doing with my life? Like, this is ridiculous.’”
Songwriting was Andress’ passage into the performance world. She attended Berklee College of Music and has written songs for artists including Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX, FLETCHER, and Dove Cameron and co-written with Sam Hunt, Alicia Keys and Tori Kelly. She co-wrote her “More Hearts Than Mine” with Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland.
After college, Andress said she planned to move to Los Angeles “like everybody else,” but took a random trip to visit Nashville. Everyone told her it was the songwriting capital of the world, and she wanted to check it out for herself. When she arrived in Music City, Andress said she immediately knew she wanted to stay.
“To this day, I don’t know how I was crazy enough to drive from Boston to Nashville by myself and move there, not knowing anybody,” she said. “But, I feel like you just have to go with your gut sometimes. Nashville just has that kind of community that really nurtures songwriters.”
Andress heard Nashville is a “10-year town,” which implies it takes a decade to breakthrough into country music. Her queue was much shorter. About one year after she moved to town, she met famed producer Frank Rogers who showed interest in her talent. Rogers helped her get a publishing deal, which meant Andress could quit her job as a server.
“It was very quick, which I was not expecting,” she said. “I feel like that was probably one of the best things that could’ve happened to me because it really forced me into the culture of Nashville and writing country songs and learning how to tell a story.”
As country music moved through the bro-country trend, Andress practiced writing meaningful songs. She got frustrated as she watched her friends get cuts on light-hearted ditties while her emotional storytelling was bypassed. Andress went to Los Angeles, wrote pop music and had songs recorded by pop artists. She has no regrets.
“I’m really glad that I just stuck to what brought me joy instead of selling my soul,” she said.
While the release of her debut album is still about three months away, Andress said she’s already working on the next one. She feels like she’s learned about herself through the process and relishes the knowledge she has an outlet to share it.
“I feel like there’s a lot of stuff happening in society right now that people aren’t necessarily talking about,” she said. “I really love the fact that I have this new platform to be able to bring awareness to things that I think are important for our country. It’s ironic that it’s called country music, (so) technically, we should be writing about things that are happening in our country, you know?”
Gabby Barrett
Gabby Barrett didn’t win “American Idol” in 2018, but she may takeover 2020.
In roughly 19 months since she placed third on the popular televised talent search, the Pennsylvania native signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville and her debut single “I Hope” broke the Top 50 at country radio. She has accumulated more than 130 million on-demand streams, and recently racked up more than 100,000 subscribers on YouTube that led to 24.4 million video views. YouTube named Barrett a 2019 Artist on the Rise.
“This has been an overwhelming year in the best way for me professionally and personally,” Barrett, 19, said in a statement. “Seeing the reaction to my debut single, 'I Hope,' is so rewarding. From the response with streams, to hearing the crowds sing all the words at my shows – as an artist/songwriter, it doesn’t get any better than that. The Lord is gracious, and I am truly blessed.”
Her new song “The Good Ones” is out now.
Caylee Hammack
Caylee Hammack bleeds creativity, fire and determination so completely that she’s a beacon in an industry of thousands.
Born in Ellaville, Ga., Hammack prayed nightly as child for God to “just please make me different.” A self-described hippie from a hillbilly town, Hammack used fake IDs to get gigs around her native South Georgia before she was of age. She turned down a college scholarship that would have brought her to Nashville for a boy that ceremoniously broke her heart soon after. She moved to Nashville anyway, slept in her car in a Target parking lot until she could afford a place to stay and then her home burned down in an electrical fire.
“My dad has always said that the most beautiful and strongest things are forged in the fire,” Hammack said in a statement. “Iron is nothing until you work it in a fire. Glass cannot be blown without intense heat. You can’t make anything beautiful or strong without a little heat.”
Hammack released her debut single “Family Tree” – which she co-wrote and co-produced in 2019 – and it was the most-added debut song at country radio by a female artist in more than three years.
Her first album will be released in 2020, and she’ll spend the spring opening shows for Reba McEntire.
Kalie Shorr
Tastemakers across the country took notice of Kalie Shorr's debut album, "Open Book" — and that's no small feat for a self-released effort.
But running her own show works wonders for Shorr, and her feisty, self-penned songs that don't have to mince words or soften their sonic edges. "Book" is a compelling mix of sharp, Swift-esque country-pop and classic alternative angst.
Shorr's set to hit the ground running in 2020 with a new publishing deal and a headlining show at Nashville's Exit/In on Jan. 31.
Devon Gilfillian
Complex and spiritual, Devon Gilfillian’s take on timeless soul breathes with modernity. Socially, he blends the roots of American tradition — rock ‘n’ roll, country, soul — with a modern influence from Kanye West and Jay-Z, the nation’s foremost musical storytellers. Listeners only need to listen as far as his latest single, “Unchained,” for a taste of the depth Gilillian promises with his music.
And listeners should hear more soon from the Philadelphia-raised, Nashville-based Gilfillian. He releases his Capitol Records debut full-length, “Black Hole Rainbow,” on Jan. 10, 2020. A graduate of opening for Mavis Staples, Keith Urban, Brothers Osborne and more, he’ll take the album on the road next year as main support for Grace Potter’s upcoming tour.
Jenny Tolman (Independent)
A 23-year-old independent country songwriter spent three years writing and recording a concept album. Ambitious? Yes. Excellent? Absolutely.
In her 2019 album "There Goes The Neighborhood," Tolman invites listeners to her not-so-fictitious "Jennyville" — a small town where characters bask in a “High Class White Trash” lifestyle, the forecast calls for a 100 percent chance of gossip and working has little to do with a nine-to-five.
She balances tongue-in-cheek quirk ("with Louis Vuitton that were made in Hong Kong" she jests on single "High Class White Trash") with a stinging honesty that's needed from all timeless country albums (I’ve got friends that love the Pope, and friends that love their dope / Guess we’re all just tryin’ to find a higher place" she delivers on "My Welcome Mat"). And she does it with musical depth that pays homage to the artists who influenced her — Amy Winehouse, Dolly Parton and Shel Silverstein.
“It takes people through all of the emotions that we actually do feel as humans," Tolman said of her debut. "It’s OK to feel things. It’s OK to have fun. It’s OK to be challenged.”
Bren Joy (Human-Re-Sources)
In 2018, pop/R&B newcomer Bren Joy began writing his first songs.
Less than two years later, the smooth-voiced Nashville native has racked up more than 3 million streams on Spotify. In May, he released his debut, "Twenties," which doubled down on the towering promise of his early singles. That's especially true in "Sweet," with jazz-meets-G-Funk bounce that's impossible not to nod your head to.
In October, Joy opened for rap phenomenon Megan Thee Stallion at Vanderbilt, and he's about to ring in the new year with Keith Urban, Jason Isbell and co. as a performer at Nashville's "Music City Midnight" concert.