Nicolle Galyon Releases Debut Album, 'firstborn'

Celebrates 20 years as hit writer in Nashville with debut Opry appearance

If you heard that an artist was releasing their debut album, you would probably think the artist is a newcomer to the music industry.  In the case of Nicolle Galyon, you would be wrong.

Galyon has been active in Nashville for two decades as a highly-regarded songwriter with nine Number One hits, a mantle full of music industry awards, Grammy and CMA Award nominations and being honored in 2019 by BMI as their Songwriter of the Year.

A few weeks ago, Galyon finally released her own debut album titled firstborn. The eleven-song project was released via her own female-focused label and publishing house, Songs & Daughters via CmdShft, and received instant acclaim from music critics and industry publications with Forbes calling the songs "candid and vilnerable." Stream/purchase firstborn here.

In another first, on August 19, Galyon made her debut appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, a performance that coincided with the 20^th anniversary of her move to Nashville. Watch a video of Galyon at her Opry debut here.  

firstborn is an extraordinarily personal statement about her life that began humbly in Winner, ND, before moving to Sterling, KS, and then to Music City where she became one of Nashville’s most successful and best-loved songwriters.  Many of the songs on the album take a raw and realistic view of her life of overachieving and the struggle to balance motherhood and career. 

And what a career it has been (and continues to be) with writing credits that include Miranda Lambert’s ACM Award-winning “Automatic” and Dan + Shay’s multi-platinum, ACM Award-winning “Tequila” as well as cuts on Thomas Rhett, Michael Ray, FGL, Kenny Chesney, Lee Brice, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley and many more.  (See a songwriting discography at Wikipedia here.)

All tracks on firstborn were written by Galyon alongside fellow hit writers such as Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Jon Nite, Kelsea Ballerini, hubby Rodney Clawson and more. The album was produced by King Henry and Jimmy Robbins. Following release of firstborn, Galyon was selected as SiriusXM The Highway’s latest “Highway Find” artist as well as the cover honoree of Nashville Lifestyle’s annual “Women in Business” issue.

“It is not lost on me that most artists releasing their debut album are about 20 years younger than me, which is often why the themes of this record rarely see the light of day,” Galyon candidly observed. 

“This record is not for Nashville. Or the radio. Or even for me necessarily,” she continued. “It is for my kids, Charlie & Ford, who I hope—partly because of firstborn—will one day do the precious work of digging deep into their own life stories. I pray they will one day know where they came from…because I fought to leave them something that showed them who they came from. And today this woman is bold and vulnerable and tough and honest and fiercely committed to showing up. Much like my own mother did for me, 38 years ago, when I was firstborn in a town called Winner.”

Keep up with Nicolle Galyon on Facebook and watch her official music videos here. Stream/play/download firstborn here.  #NicolleGalyon