Introducing Erin Gibney

Photo by Robby Klein

Hey Erin, how the heck are you?

I’m great! Warm weather is coming so I can’t complain.

So, where are you right now? And what are you up to today?

Right now it is 5:23 a.m., and I am drinking my coffee in my kitchen before work. I have a show with the Nashville Tour Stop tonight, and right after I am picking up my family from the airport for a weekend visit. In between all of that, there will be some cooking and cleaning to do to get ready!

Introduce yourself to our wonderful campers.

My name is Erin Gibney and I am a pop-country singer-songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. I grew up in Southington, Connecticut and moved to Nashville after I graduated high school. I have always loved creating music and began songwriting at 13. I came to Nashville at 17 to record my first two singles and absolutely fell in love with the city. I decided to apply to Belmont University for their Music Business program so I could learn about the industry, and I am now a senior, graduating in December!

Tell us something about you that we won’t find in your bio.

Something you won’t find about me in my bio is that I am a twin! (That’s always my go-to fun fact). My twin sister’s name is Emily, and I have an older sister, Allison. I am extremely close to my sisters, and they are a really big part of my support system. My twin sister, Emily, is graduating from the University of New Hampshire this May with a nursing degree, and my older sister, Allison, graduated from Endicott College in 2019 and is a second-grade teacher.

So, what can you tell me about your new single, ‘Easy Like That’?

My new single, ‘Easy Like That’, is a reflection of what my life would be like today if my current relationship didn’t work out. My boyfriend of four years and I began dating at 18, two months before I moved to Nashville and he went off to college in Connecticut. Everyone in my life expected that things would end with the 1000 mile distance between us. I wrote this song reflecting on how I would feel today, at 21, if my relationship hadn’t worked out and it ended when we went our separate ways. This single kicks off a brand new chapter in my career and is a song that I am really proud to share.

You’re a regular song coverer, what’s your favourite song to cover?

My favorite song to cover is ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac because it is such a timeless, beautiful song that everyone in the crowd can sing and relate to. I always have a really unique and powerful connection to the audience when I play it because I think it holds a different meaning for every person in every stage of life. I always get really excited when it’s next in my setlist.

And which song can you just not quite nail?

Gabby Barrett released a song called ‘I Hope’ in 2019 that I absolutely loved, and I thought would be so much fun to play live. I gave it a try at a show I did in Connecticut and failed miserably! Her range in that song is unbelievable and, as hard as I have attempted, I haven’t been able to nail it yet.

That is an excellent song, and you’re right, more complicated than you might imagine. You moved to Nashville a few years ago, what can you tell me about your hometown?

I grew up in Southington, Connecticut, which sits right in the middle of the state. My town has a little bagel shop called Fancy Bagels, and it is always my first stop when I get home. Nothing on earth beats their hazelnut coffee and everything bagels. I worked six summers as a camp counselor at a summer camp in my town called Camp Sloper. The camp sits on a beautiful pond where we would take the kids on kayaks, rope swings, and hikes, and teach them things like art and archery. Then, in the summers, when the week was done, my sisters, friends, and I would drive down to Old Saybrook and spend the weekend on the shore. I loved growing up in Southington, and I know that Connecticut will always have an unwavering place in my heart.

And what do you love and hate about Nashville?

I love that in Nashville, I can walk into almost any restaurant or bar and see live music any night of the week. It’s a privilege to be able to hear new musicians wherever I go and get to hear their stories about what brought them here. It is really rare to have an entire place built on music, and it makes it easy to connect with the people around you because everyone shares a common interest. The thing I hate about Nashville is it’s distance from where I grew up. My entire family lives in New England, so it can feel lonely being 1000 miles away from them. I try to see them every few months to make the distance easier.

What’s your biggest personal achievement over the last 12, weird, months?

My biggest personal achievement over the last 12 months has been signing a management contract with Rock Ridge Music. This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, and I feel extremely lucky to be surrounded by this team. I am so excited to see where my career is going next, and I am lucky to be connected with them through it. On a personal level, I see simply getting through the last 12 months as a big achievement as well. This last year has been an extremely scary and uncertain time, and I see all of us making it through that as something to be proud of. There are brighter days ahead, and it’s my hope that everyone who reads this is proud of themselves for getting through this, too.

What can we expect from you for the rest of 2021?

The rest of 2021 will be filled with new music, new shows, new merchandise, and more! The new music I am releasing this year marks a brand new chapter in my career. I can’t wait to announce all of the new things that are coming, and I am so excited to be back playing shows out live very soon!

Who (or what) has inspired you?

My dad was the first person who inspired me to become a musician. Every night, I would fall asleep hearing him play his guitar downstairs, playing songs like "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffett and "You and Tequila" by Kenny Chesney. I found it really incredible that people have the ability to create music, and so I decided I would take up the guitar as well and begin to write my own songs. My next, and biggest, inspiration is Bruce Springsteen. I strive to have lyrics that are timeless and poetic like his. When I was first beginning to write, my dad and I came up with this adjective, “Springsteenesque.” That meant that there had to be lyrics in the song that Bruce Springsteen would approve of, and if not, I had more work to do. Today, as a 21-year-old woman, Taylor Swift has become a major inspiration for me. She handles her career with poise and grace and is a stellar example of the type of woman I want to be in this industry.

If you could recommend one artist to hear this week, who would it be?

Alyssa Lazar, she is a singer-songwriter in Nashville and she has an incredible new song out called ‘Maybe I Did Change’.

What’s the question we should have asked you today but haven’t?

What my favorite song is! ‘Soldier’ by Gavin DeGraw.

Finally, how do you take your coffee?

Hazelnut iced coffee, cream and sugar.

To find out more about Erin you can visit her official website, or you can check out Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Erin’s also on TikTok.