Nashville-based country-pop singer-songwriter Erin Gibney is releasing her latest single, “Exit Signs,” today, May 12, 2023, digitally via Rock Ridge Music. Exploring the gamut of emotions that come from sorting through and finding peace with the ending of a long-term relationship, the song was co-written by “American Idol” winner Kris Allen, who also contributes backing vocals on the song. With a gently driving, upbeat music bed, complete with a little twang and grit, the song cruises down a country-pop highway, Gibney’s vocals propel the listener on an emotional journey of reflection and self-discovery.
The song was produced by Paul Ebersold (Morgan Wade). “Exit Signs” premiered earlier this week at Americana Highways, who said of the track, “This breakup song contains a mixture of grief and optimistic hope, set in a countrified arrangement that really allows Erin’s vocals to shine.”
“This is a song that came together at a really confusing time in my life, and it is probably the most honest song I have ever written,” says Gibney. “I wrote it the day I realized that it was time to walk away from the relationship that I had been in for nearly half a decade. Through lots of tears and some incredibly difficult confessions, ‘Exit Signs’ is the song that put my feelings of guilt, fear, freedom, and mourning into words. It’s the most vulnerable I have been in my music, and it is a song I am very proud to release.”
Gibney has been wowing audiences on the road, with a string of dates in late 2022 and in 2023 opening for Sister Hazel mostly across the Southeast, as well as some Nashville gigs. Today’s Country Magazine praised her recent Nashville performance at New Faces Night at The Basement, writing, “…she’s on the fast-track to success. Gibney exuded a vibe that’s confident, driven, and determined as she explored within her signature style to define exactly who she is with an attractive sound that borrows from pop ideals and country avenues to smash together into a sound that is purely modern, and 100% Erin Gibney.” In addition to keeping an eye on her website and socials for additional tour dates this year, fans can also look forward to some additional single releases as 2023 continues.
“Exit Signs” follows on the heels of Gibney’s single “Naïve (Acoustic),” which was released in March of 2023. A stripped-down version of her 2022 fan-favourite track, the minimal instrumentation let Gibney’s vocals and the lyrical message shine. Gibney released the single “That’s What I’m Looking For” in late 2022, an anthem that explored the topic of not settling and figuring out what is most important in life and relationships. Americana Highways called the track an “indie folk song that takes a stand and draws a line in the sand and settles for nothing less than perfect.” The song was penned by Taylor Acorn, Kyle Fishman (Dan & Shay, Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton, Mitchell Tenpenny, Luke Bryan), and Justin Wilson (Mitchell Tenpenny, Randy Houser, Dustin Lynch, Michael Ray, Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton). Gibney recorded the track with Marshall Altman (Amy Grant, Eric Paslay, Frankie Ballard, Colin Elmore, Josh Abbott Band, Raelynn) at the production helm.
Earlier in 2022, she released “Easy Like That (Acoustic),” a stripped-down version of her April 2021 single that offered a completely different take on the song. Wide Open Country called the song “[a look] back on a first love with the wisdom that only comes from heartbreak and healing.” Written by Gibney herself, “Easy Like That” was “a song about the ‘what ifs’ in my life,” she says. “It’s a story of longing and heartbreak.” When the original version of the song premiered in 2021 at Americana Highways, they appreciated the song’s “pop country flare” and “good vibes,” calling it “something we can all relate to.” The video for the original version of “Easy Like That,” which was filmed by an all-female crew, premiered at TheBoot.com in July 2021.
In January 2022, Gibney released the original version of the aforementioned “Naïve.” The track – written by Jennifer Denmark, Nicolle Galyon, Jimmy Robbins, and one of Gibney’s musical heroes, Kelsea Ballerini – was dubbed by Amplify Music Magazine as “both empowering and reassuring… warm and likable” and “pop-country at its finest.” “Naïve” scored playlist spots on Spotify’s “Fresh Finds,” “Fresh Finds Country,” “New Music Nashville,” and “Young Nashville,” as well as Apple’s “New in Country.” The video for “Naïve” premiered on TikTok in April 2022.
Prior to that, Gibney released “Single at the Same Time” (August 2021), which was written by Hannah Ellis, Josh Kerr, and Lauren Alaina. The track premiered at Vents Magazine, who praised the song, writing that the song was “[b]ursting with sunshine… radio-ready and an earworm of the highest order with its vibrant vibe and stick-in-your-head catchy chorus… the success of Gibney’s past releases is no fluke – she’s here and ready to show the world the power of what she can deliver every single time.”
Fans have flocked to Gibney’s music, and she has surpassed 1.5 million streams across streaming platforms. She has also been letting her true self shine through on social media, racking up follower numbers on all platforms, particularly on TikTok, where she has more than 185,000 followers; posts on there have garnered millions and millions of views and likes. To connect with her TikTok followers even more, Gibney has been building playlists to share with fans that are based around relationship themes; the playlists live predominantly on Spotify and have racked up more than 55,000 followers per playlist and 320,000 followers combined across all playlists (fans can also listen to the same playlists on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube). In addition to spreading her wings on the TikTok platform in the past year, Gibney has also scored slots on curated TikTok playlists on both Spotify and Apple Music.
Originally from Southington, CT, Gibney moved to Nashville in 2017, where she attended and graduated from Belmont University (with a degree in music business with an emphasis on music production). Gibney sees herself as a visceral Americana storyteller who invites her fans to ride shotgun right alongside her while she takes them on a deeply reflective interpersonal journey that navigates the emotional triumphs and occasional heartaches of everyday life. “I want you to feel exactly what I feel in my songs,” Gibney explains. “That has been my goal since day one.”
As she discovered the power of her singing voice during her pre-teen years, Gibney realized she could marry her vocal chops with her other natural talents as well. “When my dad encouraged me to pick up a guitar, that’s when I realized I could put poetry and music together to make a song.” A handful of singles followed (“Do My Time” and “Leaving Home” in 2016; “July,” “Boys Think,” and “King of Hearts” in 2019), as well as an EP, Bold, in 2018.
Taking control of her artistic direction as her role models Taylor Swift and Kelsea Ballerini have done ahead of her is something at the forefront of Gibney’s mind. “Artists like Taylor and Kelsea never crack under the pressure,” she points out. “They stay true to who they are — and that’s what I want to accomplish with my career. Just having that kind of strength and independence is something I strive for in whatever I do.”
