The Pop Explosion
NASHVILLE IS synonymous with country music, but a new wave of pop is having its moment. Artists such as charismatic vocalist Jake Wesley Rogers (opening for Kesha this fall), TikTok phenomenon Stephen Sanchez, “abcdefu” singer Gayle (fresh off Taylor Swift’s tour), power trio the Foxies, and avant-garde synth-rock band Jive Talk all represent an often-overlooked segment of Music City.
“This kind of sound has been happening for a long time, but it’s gaining speed because the infrastructure for it to succeed is here,” says Jive Talk singer Oliver Pierce. “Nashville is at its core, a music town. We are plugging into a scene that already existed.”
The difference, he says, is a shift in focus away from overt storytelling toward physical connection.
“There are so many writers that are great in the country and Americana world that will tell you the story before the song,” Pierce says, “but I see bands who are more focused on the performance. Bands like Flight Attendant, that want to deliver an experience and have the audience be included in that.”
At clubs like the East Room, Drkmttr, and the Basement, which hosts a New Faces night every week, bands are demolishing stages and getting intimately close to the crowds — which often include fellow artists. The Foxies’ Julia Bullock says the creative community has become tighter since the pandemic.
“We all know each other. So if Stephen Sanchez or the Criticals release this dope new song, we are all going to back it,” says Bullock, who moved the Foxies from Brooklyn to Nashville in 2016. “If I were to have gone to L.A. and tried to do what I did here, I don’t know where I would be at the moment.”
Pierce concurs. “What’s happening is a focus on community, on something that is new,” he says, “and a step away from the idea of going down to Broadway and hearing ‘Wagon Wheel’ for the millionth time.”