The EXCLUSIVE Charles MUSIC Kelley On His Upcoming ISSUE Solo Album 25 Artists to Watch in 2016 + FIVE FITNESS CHAMPS IN THEIR OWN WORDS GET AWAY BONEFISHING IN THE BAHAMAS GO INSIDE A MUSIC MOGUL’S MANSION January 2016 nashvillelifestyles.com 01.16 NL Cover.indd 3 12/16/15 2:55 PM THE BUZZ 2016 FROM INDIE VIXENS TO INDUSTRY VETS AND COUNTRY POP TO FUNKY ROCK, THESE 25 LOCAL ACTS ARE POISED TO TACKLE 2016’S MUSIC SCENE HEAD-ON. DOWNLOAD THEIR SINGLES, SPIN THEIR VINYL, CATCH THEM LIVE—WHATEVER YOU DO, LISTEN UP. BY ALISON ABBEY, VALERIE HAMMOND, KATY LINDENMUTH, MARISSA R. MOSS, AND GAYLE THOMPSON Look for the play button indicating each of our Music in the City 2016 performers, and find all the details on page 26. JANUARY 2016 NASHVILLELIFESTYLES.COM 61 01.16 NL_49-64.indd 61 12/16/15 12:16 PM THE BUZZ 2016 1. Judah & the Lion Judah Akers, Brian Macdonald, Nate Zuercher, and Spencer Cross recorded their upcoming sophomore album in just two weeks—a whirlwind fitting of their frenetic live shows. On next month’s Folk Hop N Roll, the rock-folk quartet adds a layer of old-school hip-hop, à la Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys, to their banjo-friendly groove. Judah & Co. also embark on their first headlining tour next month and vow to bring that energy to audiences across the U.S. “The truth is we love to have fun,” says Akers. “We do go through stu too, but at the end of the day we’re pretty happy and love getting to do what we do every day.” 2. “EVERYONE I’VE MET HAS BEEN Maren Morris HUMBLE AND She’s written tunes for Kelly Clarkson and SUPPORTIVE Tim McGraw, but Maren Morris is about OF THEIR to make her own noise. The on-the-verge star released a stellar self-titled EP last fall COLLEAGUES— and drops her debut full-length later this IT’S BEEN A year. Between touring dates with Charles GREAT LESSON IN Kelley, the Texas native is enjoying life in NOT HAVING TO her new home. “The first week I moved BE A JERK TO here, I went to The Basement to see a BE GOOD.” songwriters’ round and was blown away at the level of talent this town presented,” —Maren Morris she recalls. “Everyone I’ve met has been humble and supportive of their colleagues—it’s been a great lesson in not having to be a jerk to be good.” 3. Canaan Smith His debut album, Bronco, has only been out for six months, but Canaan Smith already has a country music slam-dunk: His first single, “Love You Like That,” reached number one and went gold. Last year also brought the fan favorite’s inaugural headlining tour. “It’s a whole dierent ballgame when you get to bring out your own smoke, lights, and sound,” he says. “The biggest rush is when the crowd sings the last chorus of ‘Love You Like That’ by themselves—the volume always overwhelms me.” This month, Smith hits the road with Brantley Gilbert. SULLY SULLIVAN, LEANNMUELLER, SULLIVAN, SULLY JIM WRIGHT 62 NASHVILLELIFESTYLES.COM JANUARY 2016 01.16 NL_49-64.indd 62 12/14/15 9:56 PM 4. Aubrie Sellers Aubrie Sellers could easily rest on her musical pedigree, but the daughter of country queen Lee Ann Womack and songwriter Jason Sellers has instead gained industry cred by lending her vocals to tracks by Miranda Lambert and David Nail. This month, the songbird releases her debut album, Music City Blues; she wrote or cowrote all 14 tracks and sought inspiration from her hometown. “I am influenced by bluegrass, country, rock, blues, and so many other types of music,” Sellers says. “You can see any of those in Nashville on any given night, which is pretty awesome.” 5. Brothers Osborne The debut album from Brothers Osborne, this month’s Pawn Shop, is a reflection of the Maryland-born siblings’ life experiences—before earning a Grammy nod, they spent years as struggling artists. “If you’re a musician, more than likely you’ve been on both sides of a pawn shop,” says TJ Osborne. “Having to pawn a guitar, the thing you love and need in order to pursue music, is a sobering experience. We’ve been there.” Adds John: “Pawn Shop consists of 11 songs that are held together by what we do as a band. We try to be honest and do things a little dierently, but from our own perspective.” “PAWN SHOP CONSISTS OF 11 SONGS THAT ARE 6. HELD TOGETHER BY WHAT WE Ryan Beaver DO AS A BAND. From his brooding looks to his deep, sultry drawl, WE TRY TO BE Texas-bred Ryan Beaver is country to his core. HONEST AND DO After earning his marketing degree at Texas THINGS A LITTLE State, he turned his lifelong love of music—he DIFFERENTLY, grew up playing drums, piano, and guitar—into a pair of album releases in 2008 and 2011. Now BUT FROM he’s gearing up to share his cathartic third, Rx. OUR OWN Though he’s a Texan at heart, Beaver has fully PERSPECTIVE.” embraced his newer surroundings. “It’s a great —John Osborne time to be a Nashvillian,” he says. “I love the music community’s closeness and [the] inspiration that drives it. There is a support system that exists for musicians like no place else in the world.” ALLISTER ANN, SUPPLIED, JIM WRIGHT JANUARY 2016 NASHVILLELIFESTYLES.COM 63 01.16 NL_49-64.indd 63 12/14/15 9:56 PM THE BUZZ 2016 7. Kelsea Ballerini Singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini’s debut album, The First Time, took radio airwaves by storm in 2015 thanks to the number one smash “Love Me Like You Mean It” and its follow-up, “Dibs.” In addition to being toasted by tastemakers from Billboard to CMT, Ballerini was invited into an elite group— Taylor Swift’s squad—and cameo’ed at her fellow blonde songbird’s sold-out Bridgestone show in October. And though it doesn’t look like Kelsea will get much of a breather in 2016, she loves her time in Nashville. “Having lived here for eight years, it’s becoming home,” says the Knoxville native. “I’m constantly falling more in love with the lifestyle here.” #MITC16 8. Maggie Rose After releasing the country-leaning Cut to Impress in 2013 and the bro-country-endorsing “Girl in Your Truck Song” a year later, Maggie Rose says she’s finally embracing everything that Nashville has to oer. The breakthrough armed her with the courage “I AM NOT A COUNTRY ARTIST. I AM to make music that caters to no specific genre, NOT A POP ARTIST. I AM A NASHVILLE which she’ll cram into her next eort, a soon-to-be- ARTIST. I NEED TO BLUR THE LINES released EP. “I am not a country artist. I am not a pop artist. I am a Nashville artist,” she says. “I need to AND BE DYNAMIC, AND I FEEL THAT I blur the lines and be dynamic, and I feel that I have HAVE FINALLY ALLOWED MYSELF TO finally allowed myself to do that with this EP.” DO THAT WITH THIS EP.” 9. — Maggie Rose Farro Since splitting from Paramore in 2010, indie pop-rocker Josh Farro has reinvented himself as a one-man act. “I knew exactly what I wanted in my mind and the only person that could really pull it o was me—it was my passion, my idea, my vision,” says the longtime local musician. Most of his first album, next month’s Walkways, was recorded in mid-2014, although a last-minute stroke of songwriting genius produced “Clis,” its anthemic lead single. “You grow so much in two years as a writer and musician, so I’m chomping at the bit to get this out,” he says. COURTESY OF ICONIC ENTERTAINMENT, DUSTY BARKER, O’DONOHUE DAVID 64 NASHVILLELIFESTYLES.COM JANUARY 2016 01.16 NL_49-64.indd 64 12/16/15 12:16 PM 10. Keith Urban The known details of Keith Urban’s eighth studio album are sparse: It’s called Ripcord, it’ll be out in 2016…and that’s about it. But the Aussie isn’t being cagey— even he isn’t sure what direction his new set of tunes will take. “It isn’t easy to put it into one category,” he says. “I found myself recording a lot of songs, and I’ve got to try and let them all make sense to what will constitute a record.” Urban has already released two well-received singles from Ripcord, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” and “Break on Me.” 11. Morgan Myles Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, Morgan Myles was inspired by what she calls music’s big belters. “Bonnie Raitt, Shania Twain, Susan Tedeschi, Janis Joplin—back in the day, we had so many,” she says. Relocating to Nashville allowed her to tap into her own powerhouse pipes, and the industry is now catching on: Last fall, CMT premiered the video for her gauzy single “Whiskey Dreaming,” and this month the Belmont grad unveils her debut EP, Miss Morgan Myles. Its title reflects her blend of country sweetheart and soul diva—and is also an homage to the two small children she nannies when she’s not in the studio or on stage. 12. EZA With a million streams on Spotify, Belmont alum Ellery Bonham has electro-pop tunes that are as equally buzzy as her moniker.