This week our Swag Spotlight shines on a one woman show, Elizabeth Lyons. She is a fiercely talented singer-songwriter with an eye for business and a caring heart, who shared everything with us from her childhood to how she got where she is now and everything in between.

Lyons is a Midwestern girl who has had music in her soul since she was a kid. “Since a young age, I’ve always loved music. I basically learned my letters, so that I could learn to play piano,” she tells us, adding, “I joined church choir […]. I auditioned for musical theatre until I made the music theatre production and I ended up being in 18 musicals. So I always performed.”

Fresh out of high school, the songstress embarked on a new journey south to Nashville, Tennessee, where she simultaneously was a student at Vanderbilt University and an intern at a music publishing company. For her, everything shifted, when she saw Florida Georgia Line’s song “Cruise” take off, despite the fact that they were newcomers on the music scene.

“[They] inspired me to use word of mouth marketing to do what I needed to do to follow my dreams because I wasn’t super confident when I moved down to Nashville, being an artist.” By the time she reached her senior year of college, Lyons released her debut EP, which garnered accolades on iTunes. The singer credits both Florida Georgie Line and Taylor Swift as two artists, who inspired her on her path. “I attribute Taylor for helping me move down to Nashville and Florida Georgia Line for making me pursue my dream.” Of course, Lyons shared that she also loves artists like the Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and the Spice Girls.

Clearly inspired by many powerful women in the industry, Lyons shared her own philosophy on life with us, calling “patience, perseverance, and persistence” her mantra for getting things done each and every day and her reminder to work towards her goals. She recently was invited to sing the National Anthem at Yankee Stadium, which she shares, was on her to-do-list for three years! Lyons encourages others to write and manifest their own dreams and goals too.

“In terms of women in country, over the years, there have been times when women dominated and when men dominated, it would be nice if we all just dominated together,” she reflected, “But I think there are a lot of great up and coming artists […]. There are so many independent artists that are just killing it.”

As an independent artist herself, Lyons is also finding success in country music, especially in regards to the festival circuit. She has opened up for artists like Sam Hunt and Luke Bryan and played her own music at many festivals across the United States. Most recently, she released an inspiring song called “Epiphany” and shared the writing process with us.

“Epiphany is so personal, I really feel like it’s a tale that many people can relate to today in today’s world about how social media and our society influences us to compare ourselves to others and change accordingly,” she tells us, explaining, “I really wanted to write and I just needed this song for myself really and I thought that maybe because I needed it that other people may need it. In all of my music, I try to put a ray of sunshine or a piece of hope in it, so I really did want to make it a bright anthem about being true to yourself.” The song is a beautiful tribute to Lyons as an artist, as well as, to how relatable she is to her fanbase.

Going forward into 2020, the songstress promises to release more thought-provoking music, including a song called “24,” which is slated to be released in mid-January. Of course, Lyons will continue to play shows in the new year too. It will be exciting to see how more and more fans gravitate towards her music and how her career continues to blossom.

To keep up with Elizabeth Lyons follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

“Epiphany” is now available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released music here on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.

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Continuing to shine a light on rising artists and singer-songwriters releasing compelling music, our Swag Spotlight this week is Donovan Woods. A native Canadian, Woods grew up in a working-class town, and what he calls a “country music town” but said at the time, it was what all the dads were listening to, so he was initially drawn to hip hop and artists like Another Bad Creation, Bell Biv Devoe, and Bobby Brown. As he matured, his musical tastes also evolved and the great singer-songwriters like Paul Simon, Billy Joel, and Traveling Wilburys became a staple as his influences.

I was eight years old when I picked up a guitar, my older sister told me to have a skill like that, she could tell I wasn’t hitting a home run in the looks department,” Woods laughs.  “She was preparing me for a life, that I was going to have to work for it, she told me I should develop a skill, and so I picked up a guitar that my mom used to play and kept in the house.”

At first, he released a bunch of records on his own in Canada, eventually making connections and moving down to Nashville to continue to pursue a career as a songwriter and artist. Writing songs that were cut by other artists, Woods is a master at crafting lyrics and stories that others felt the need to tell through music. Songs like “Portland, Maine” recorded by Tim McGraw on his 2014, Sundown Heaven Town album and “Leaving Nashville”, recorded and released by Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley’s solo project, The Driver. “Leaving Nashville” is one of the most honest, raw and real songs about the music industry and although we love Kelley’s version, listen to Woods sing it below.

He explains that he loves modern country music, such as HARDY and Morgan Wallen. “I love anything that feels good, that stuff feels good to me,” he says. “Country music is funny, as soon as we get backlash from that other type of sound, someone like Morgan comes along and doubles down on it, it’s such a strange genre.” We discuss at length the fluidity of music, bending genres and putting labels on music. “Country music, Americana, Folk Music, Singer-songwriter, I take it all as a compliment. I just don’t really pay much attention to it. Kids pay a lot less attention to genres these days. They live in a playlist world rather than an album world.”

Recently, he released a duet with one of our 2019 Artists to Watch, Tenille Townes, an acoustic version of his song “I Ain’t Ever Loved No One”. Townes’ unique and evocative voice particularly shines and complements the bittersweet sentiment of a love story that will never be matched.

His latest release, “Way Way Back” was a solo write, a song Woods knew would work with the right production, working with Todd Clark in Nashville, it was released this fall. His gentle voice along with the most powerful, beautiful lyrics make Donovan Woods one of the most talented writers in Nashville. His dry sense of humor and witty remarks also make him one of the funniest to interview and to see live.

We caught his opening set on the Brightly Burst Tour with Ruston Kelly earlier this fall at Bowery Ballroom and he is now playing shows in Canada as he wraps up 2019. He looks ahead to new music in December and getting into the studio to record at the top of the new year.

To keep up with Donovan Woods follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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SHOP THE HERO COLLECTION

The Hero Collection by NYCountry Swag is inspired by the men and women of the Fire, Police and Military Departments across the country. A portion of sales from each purchase is donated to different foundations that support our heroes. We are dedicated to honoring their service and remembering their sacrifice.