FEATURE: Spotlight: Elizabeth Nichols

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Elizabeth Nichols

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THIS is an artist…

that I am quite new to. However, Elizabeth Nicols is someone who I am determined to find out more about. With a debut album coming soon, I think it is a perfect time to shine a light on this Kentucky artist. Last year saw the release of her Tough Love E.P. I really love it, and she has this sound which is instantly impactful and memorable. An artist that is so distinct and compelling, I am exploring some recent interviews with her. However, just before moving to those, I thought I would drop in some biography from her official website. This is someone who I would urge everyone to check out:

“Elizabeth Nichols is a singer-songwriter hailing from Kentucky whose online presence has captivated fans with its blend of relatable storytelling and raw authenticity. At the young age of twenty-two, her lyrics explore commentary on everything from small-town life to current cultural trends. This ability to find universality in the specific has resonated with her audience, creating a sense that she's speaking directly to them. After spending much of her formative years in Kentucky and Oklahoma, Elizabeth is now based in Nashville where she is working with some of Music City's top talent on her debut album”.

I know that Elizabeth Nicols is a major Olivia Rodrigo fan. I do hope that they get to collaborate at some point. I really love her music and am glad that she is coming to the U.K. next month for gigs here. Her gig at The Garage in London is one that I might get along to. She is among this wave of incredible and hugely talented Country artists reshaping the scene.

The Tennessean spoke with Elizabeth Nicols around the release of her E.P., Tough Love. If you are looking for an artist who stands out dream the pack and has the talent and passion to remain in the music industry for years to come, then you should follow her. There is no doubt that Elizbeth Nicols is a very special artist:

“Elizabeth Nichols, 22, is part of a rising wave of young female singer-songwriters reshaping Nashville’s country music scene.

A Louisville native with a flair for bold style — think white peasant dress, square-toed blood-red boots, and a silver miniature Colt .45 — Nichols is making a striking entrance with her debut EP, Tough Love, released June 20.

Nichols’ sound draws more from gospel than traditional country music. Her vocal influences include Marvin Sapp and CeCe Winans, while her country inspirations lean toward Miranda Lambert’s haunting rendition of “Tin Man” and Kacey Musgraves’ "Pageant Material" and "Golden Hour" albums. This blend gives her music a soulful depth that sets her apart.

In Nashville, she’s currently working on tracks like “I Got A New One” and “Somebody Cooked Here,” exploring how Dolly Parton’s early catalog benefited from gospel-infused production. Nichols is especially passionate about harmonies, often layering multiple vocal takes to create a rich, textured sound.

Nichols said that her songs hit so hard because she condenses the process of developing a beginning, conflict, climax, cliffhanger and denouement of an epic novel's arc into three minutes of a song.

"Bible Belt" is a personal, story-driven song that feels like Kacey Musgraves' "Biscuits" in its banjo-driven rootsiness.

"My father texts it to his pastor friends and jokes, 'this song is about you, you dirty, no good, son of a gun.' These stories are relatable because they reflect what they see (from the pulpit) when observing their congregations."

In June, the virally popular "I Got A New One" — a song about toxic ex-boyfriends — was covered, “Kellyoke"-style, by multi-platinum singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson on "The Kelly Clarkson Show."

The song's popularity has also attracted supporters, including Oklahoma-born rising country star Wyatt Flores, who has had her on the road not just as his opening act, but also to play her first and second professional live performances ever.

"I went from shaking like a leaf and feeling like it was a trainwreck to feeling no nerves or stress and hearing the people sing my songs back to me," Nichols said, highlighting how quickly she focused on the opportunity Flores had provided her.

"My songs reflect the full spectrum of my journey to this point," Nichols said, reflecting on what two solid years of honing her craft as a singer-songwriter have yielded her.

"I prayed about finding my purpose in life and in the last year, I've found it," Nichols said, regarding her whirlwind evolution”.

There are a couple of other interviews I want to include before wrapping up. I will come to The Honey Pop. Speaking with her last August around the release of her track, I Got a New One, Elizabeth Nicols also talked about her new music and appearing on Kelly Clarkson’s talk show. When you hear and read interviews with her, she comes across as so endearing and genuine. One of these artist you know is going to be huge:

“Hi Elizabeth! Thank you so much for chatting with us! To start us off, how would you describe your music to someone who is tuning in for the first time?
I’d say probably clever and honest. Those are two elements that I see in all my favorite songs. I try to balance the two. I don’t want to be too clever that I’m not honest, or too straightforward that it kills the clever.

‘Tough Love’ is officially out! This acts as your debut multi-track project! What emotions have been going through your head as these seven tracks now live out in the world?
I am so grateful. If you had told me one year ago that this is where I would be, I would have never believed you. The idea that some group of girls in another state is in the car with their friends, singing one of my songs, is the most surreal part of it all. Music is such a beautiful part of life, and I am honored to be given the opportunity to make it.

We know that ‘Ain’t Country’ was your first jump into writing a country track. What changes about the songwriting process when you’re writing with a genre in mind?
I was about 10 years old the last time I had written any kind of song, so ‘Ain’t Country’ was the first song I’ve written as an adult, and I think that country sound just kind of naturally came out of me because that’s what I grew up listening to. I also love storytelling and lyricism, and country music is a genre that really celebrates those things and makes space for that part of the craft.

Ahead of the release of Tough Love, was there a song you were most looking forward to seeing fans’ reactions to?
I was most excited for fans to hear ‘Tough Love’ because it was the one song that I hadn’t teased at all before its release, so nobody had heard a single note of it. It was also the newest song out of the seven—I wrote it only a few weeks before the EP came out. There is something about how honest it is that I hoped fans would connect with.

We have to ask, ‘I Got A New One’ has officially received the Kelly Clarkson treatment! What was that like for you?
I was and am extremely grateful. Kelly Clarkson is literally an American icon. She is so unbelievably talented, so the fact that she liked a song I wrote enough to cover it is a huge compliment—my family and I were so excited when it happened.

Once again, thank you so much for chatting with us! Before we let you go, what can fans look forward to as we round out the last few months of 2025?
Some more music! I have a new single coming out in August. I’m also playing some shows throughout the end of this year, which I’m really excited about. I love meeting people out on the road”.

I am ending with an interview from Holler that talks about how new Elizabeth Nicols is. Considering her first live show was not too long ago, and Nashville sometimes being stuffy when it comes to new artists enjoying a meteoric rise – this idea that you need to craft and have to have been around for years to be considered genuine and a true Country artist -, she has been welcomed with open arms fdo the most part. She was interviewed ahead of her ahead of her C2C Festival 2026 appearance:

“There's an enchantingly sepia-tinged ambience in tracks like ‘Little Birds’ and her latest single, ‘Oh The Things Men Do’, which is dialled into the traditional country revival, sparked by Ella Langley and Riley Green's ubiquitous hit, ‘you look like you love me’.

“I think that I'm pretty country. I love country music”, Nichols muses, before qualifying this, “But I get a lot of comments from people...Girls will be like, ‘I love Sabrina Carpenter, and I love your music’, or ‘I don't really listen to country, but I love your music’. And I love that my music is country, but the things and feelings I'm singing about are universal. So people of all genres and walks of life can tap in to that”.

Another compelling element of Nichols’ storytelling is the fact that she isn't afraid to poke fun at the country bros of the world. Given how the likes of Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan spent much of the 2010’s dominating the airwaves with songs about chatting up girls in bars and painting women as little more than eye-candy, Nichols’ subversion of this male braggadocio is a breath of fresh air.

Songs like ‘Oh The Things Men Do’ - which jovially criticises the methods men employ to sleep with a woman - make it clear why she has struck a chord with Carpenter's fanbase.

Nichols reflects, “I wrote it with some of my favourite people, Laura Veltz, Steve Rusch and Steph Jones. They're some of my favourite collaborators. They just get me. We were just having a conversation about the things men do...You know, men are so funny sometimes. So we were talking about it, and it ended up turning into something that was very playful and exciting. It started off as a joke, but I really love how, with the music video and the rollout, it has a positive message. It's okay if a guy is buying you things or doing nice things, but make sure it's not performative”.

Much like ‘I Got a New One’, ‘Oh The Things Men Do’ had already gained traction on socials before it was officially released - a rollout strategy Nichols is quickly mastering.

“Right now, social media has made it possible for anybody to break into country music, and anybody can break into any genre of music”, Nichols observes, “And I think that is such a beautiful thing. If it wasn't for TikTok and Instagram, I wouldn't have found my people who want to hear my music. I think that is such a positive thing for all genres, but especially country...You don't have to live in Nashville, you don't have to live in LA to do music, whereas it used to be the case that you have to live in those places to be able to get your music out there”.

And it turns out Nichols has plenty of music she wants to release, “I just want to put out as much new music as possible...I love to write, it's my favourite part of the gig. I have an ungodly amount of songs, and I would like for them to see the light of day”.

Nichols teases a stacked 2026, including a debut album, a Stagecoach set, a trip across The Pond to perform at C2C Festival and C2C Berlin, along with an Australia tour, “Oh, we have a lot planned. I'm so excited about Stagecoach. We are touring a lot more. We're playing a lot more festivals. I played my first show like six months ago, and I have fallen in love with the live aspect...Album is coming sometime next year, which I'm very excited about. The Tough Love EP was so fun to make. But an album is a bigger piece of work, so there's more that goes into it”.

The country prodigy is set to dazzle audiences in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany for the first time as part of C2C Festival, C2C Berlin and C2C Rotterdam in March. Despite still being fairly new, Nichols’ sets are expected to be some of the most popular at each festival, due to her cross-genre appeal and TikTok virality.

“I'm so excited to play in Europe”, Nichols gushes, “I lived in Australia for a year, and it's so cool...I think it's interesting, even in the US, seeing how crowds react in New York versus how crowds react in Texas. So I'm excited to see that in Europe and Australia”.

As well as carrying a level of excitement at the prospect of bringing her sound across international waters, Nichols hints at possibly pushing it into new sonic territories, too.

When discussing her dream collaborations, one non-country name springs immediately to mind, “Beyond the Nashville scene, I love Olivia Rodrigo. I'm like an Olivia Rodrigo superfan. So I would just like to even meet her. That would be so cool”.

It's a link-up we'd love to one day see, and we'd be fascinated to hear how they manage to coalesce Rodrigo's punk-pop flourishes with Nichols’ traditional country textures.

As for a joint track in the country arena, Nichols again shows off her wit with a hilariously tongue-in-cheek answer, “In Nashville, I have a dream collab. This is niche. I want to write a song with Joe Nichols, because I tell people he's my uncle, as a bit - but we're not related. I have never met him, but I think that him and I doing a song together, with some family concept [would be great]. And then I also want to bring in a writer in town, Tim Nichols, who wrote a bunch of Zach Top's stuff - amazing music. So I think that me, Joe and Tim Nichols should all get in a writer's room and write a song, like, ‘Family is Family’” On a more serious note, Nichols cites Morgan Wallen as being at the top of her country bucket-list.

As well as a genre-blurring collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, Nichols toys with the idea of one day dropping a gospel-tinged project - if only to make her pastor father happy.

She explains, “My dad's a pastor. My grandpa's a pastor. So I broke the cycle...I didn't go the pastoral route, but I love Jesus. And, you know, Jesus and God are creative, and I think He gifts people with ideas and creativity, and I'm blessed that I get to partake in that. So God is definitely an influencer. I'm not necessarily singing worship music, but I'm not opposed to that. That'd be so fun. My dad would have a heart attack. He'd be so happy. Maybe on his birthday one year...”

Although more of a flippant aside than an immediate plan to pivot to Contemporary Christian Music any time soon, it again highlights Nichols’ versatility and open-mindedness. Her sound is inherently grounded in classic country, but as her catalogue grows, she continues to embrace various stylistic strands and influences.

It's all the more reason to look forward to what's shaping up to be a huge year, as Nichols graduates from star-in-the-making to a fixture in country music's shimmering pantheon”.

I think that this year is going to be a really big one for Elizabeth Nicols. From Kentucky, this exciting and phenomenal artist is embraced around the world. There will be people reading this who are new to Nicols and her music. I would say to invest in her, as she is someone with a very bright future. This fabulous artist is someone that you…