In years past, if you wanted to become a successful, commercial musician, you went to one of two places: Los Angeles or New York City. Sure, you can make it there today. But the chances are must rarer than, say, Nashville.
When many people are asked about the music in Nashville, the answer is almost automatic: it’s the heart of the country genre. And that’s certainly true. However, there’s more to the city than that: it’s also one of the most thriving places for singer-songwriters.
Many of these singer-songwriters are anything but country. One of the most well-known to be discovered in the city is Mat Kearny, who has several Top 10 hits. In addition, one of my personal favorite ‘groups’ is Ten out of Tenn, a group of ten singer-songwriters from Nashville who tour together. And believe me, Nashville has some of the best talent I’ve heard in a while in terms of the potential to make it big in pop music.
I met the opening act for Five for Fighting’s (John Ondrasik’s) most recent tour, Ben Rector, before a show in Detroit a couple of weeks ago. Besides being extremely talented, he was humble, intelligent, and authentic. Having just graduated from college in May, he had moved in Nashville to pursue a career in music, which, undoubtedly, was a risky move. But, given his career aspirations, I think he made an incredibly wise decision in choosing Nashville over New York City or Los Angeles.
Far too often, Nashville is overlooked as a source of pop music, but I can guarantee that it won’t be long before the rest of the industry realizes what a select few have come to understand: the future of the singer-songwriter-and potentially pop music itself-lives in Nashville.
