Pop singer Bre Kennedy teamed up with country songsmith Tenille Townes Sept. 23 to debut a new song at Nashville's queer-owned bookstore, Novelette Booksellers, during an intimate show.
The duo gave The Tennessean an exclusive peek behind the scenes before the song releases Oct. 2 on streaming platforms. "The Pen" is a new tune about being empowered to write one's own life story, a message that feels particularly poignant as more Nashville-based songwriters are prioritizing career moves to own their own catalogs plus work with indie labels and groups.
Kennedy, who moved to Nashville in 2015, said she felt stifled by the "rat race" of industry deals, so she returned to making music as an independent artist with a variety of Music City collaborators.
"There is an abundance of so many incredible and unique songwriters and artists that have been here and some that are moving here from all over the world," she said, adding that the song's co-writer and producer, Ryan Youmans, introduced her to Townes, who was also on an indie music journey focused on reclaiming artistry rather than trying to hit the metric goals associated with industry deals.
Novelette co-owner Deezy Violet, whose legal surname is Youngdahl, is also a musician from the self-described "heavy pop sludge" garage band Sad Baxter. The bookstore owner said Nashville is teeming with pop-adjacent music and the bookstore will start leaning into community-building with the local indie music scene, especially rock and pop bands.
"I think a lot of indie musicians are both big readers or writers themselves; I have known multiple great songwriters who also write poetry or prose, and you could argue that lyrics are already poetry anyway," Youngdahl said.
This new song encapsulates a broader trend of artists with label deals choosing to return to indie music production, across genres, all while leaning into Nashville's creative community for grassroots events and marketing. For example, country singer Priscilla Block announced Sept. 14 that she made the same move.
As for Kennedy, she told The Tennessean that she "had to get back to owning and understanding the rights to my music again and working as an independent artist ... to know where our music is going, where our money is going and to see the tangible gift of its connection with the listeners."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tenille Townes and Bre Kennedy debut new song together | Exclusive
