Elizabeth Nichols is one of country music’s most compelling new voices, a singer-songwriter whose sharp wit and unfiltered honesty have quickly set her apart. Born in Texas, raised on a Kentucky farm and educated across Oklahoma and Australia, Nichols has packed a remarkable amount of life experience into her early twenties, and it shows in her writing. After moving to Nashville in 2024 to study law, her plans shifted dramatically when her debut song ‘I Got a New One' went viral, prompting her to leave her course just six months in and pursue music full-time. Since then, Nichols has racked up millions of streams in a matter of months, earning a reputation for clever turn-of-phrase storytelling that tackles modern life, small-town culture and social observations with equal parts warmth and bite.
She has continued to build momentum with songs like ‘Bad Taste,' ‘Somebody Cooked Here' and ‘Oh the Things Men Do' – all delivered in a sweet, disarming drawl that feels instantly relatable. Her breakout track ‘Mama' blends broad-minded cheekiness with unapologetic bravado, drawing comparisons to early Kacey Musgraves and has amassed more than 7.5 million views online. Industry attention has followed quickly, with Sam Barber inviting Nichols to co-write his hit ‘Morning Time' and Kelly Clarkson covering ‘I Got a New One' on her show, a moment that helped send the song to number one on the Country iTunes chart for multiple weeks. Nichols is making her UK debut next month at the C2C festival in London, Belfast and Glasgow before her first headline show in London right after. We caught up with her to talk all about it.
Thank you for your time today Elizabeth and happy new year, if we can still say that!
Happy new year to you too, thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
What a crazy year 2025 was for you!! Viral success, dropping out of college, playing your first show and then playing the Opry!! Was there one thing above all the others that still blows your mind to think about in terms of last year?
It was insane!! You know, I basically started everything last year. I dropped out of law school in January to do music full time. It's been a crazy journey. The most mind blowing thing about everything was getting to play my first shows and really getting to know the people that have been listening to my songs. It was the best year! (laughing)
I can't even think about the Opry, like, I'm obsessed with it. I can't describe how I feel about that!
Let's dig into that law school drop out! Talk me through where the pivot happened and music pushed aside your legal aspirations.
I started law school in August 2024. I loved it. I'm a big school person, it's always been my thing! I was in Nashville doing law and writing songs for fun. I put out my first song, ‘I Got a New One' and people really just connected with it. I called my dad and was like, ‘Hey dad, I'm thinking of taking a break from school to follow this a little,' and we called the headmaster of the school and he was so insistent that I had to drop out! (laughing) That was awesome, he was so supportive.
All my best friends to this day are soon-to-be-lawyers and I want to go back one day and qualify, I would love that, I find it so interesting. It will be so convenient to have a group of friends who are all lawyers, right? (laughing) All you need in life is a friend with a boat and a friend who is a lawyer!
That should be a lyric! That leads me onto lyrics. I can hear the brutal honesty of Taylor Swift and the kookiness of early Kacey Musgraves in there. What artists and writers did you grow up admiring?
Well, you named two right there to start! I love Kacey and Taylor, who doesn't? I feel like the girls of Country music in 2026 are all inspired by those two. I love John Prine, he was a beautiful lyricist. In high school I was obsessed with Childish Gambino – so smart, so sharp. I love reading clever lyrics that make you laugh, think or wonder why you didn't think of that yourself.
I also love Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter – I'm a big fan of the Pop girls and I love listening to them alongside classic Country artists like Keith Whitley. Toby Keith is a huge influence on me because I am very fond of humour in songs – we're doing Country music, right? Sometimes I think we all take ourselves a little too seriously.
You surprise me!
Right!!!! (laughing)
Do you have a favourite lyric or verse or chorus that you've ever written? I love the line in ‘Tough Love' that goes ‘I don't love em and then leave em, I hate them and stay' and I also love that ‘genetic intersection' line in ‘Mama' makes me laugh every single time I hear it.
(laughing) I love that line in ‘Tough Love' I thought of that one too. Thank you for that – that's cool. I love co-writing songs and I bring in a lot of lyrics that come from me waking up in the middle of the night in a state of shock! (laughing) We often base whole songs around single lines or lyrics like that! I appreciate those choices and people who take time to listen to the lyrics.
I have a song called ‘Trailer Treasure,' which is one of my favourites and the bridge of that song is a great lyric that I always love to sing. I don't play that song live but I am going to play it in London in March so watch out for it!
You mentioned co-writers. Who have you most enjoyed writing with in this past year since you came to Nashville?
Oh my goodness. I love co-writing. Even in school my favourite projects were group projects. I love people, I love working with people. I feel like the reason I play music is so that I can talk to people! (laughing) Jackson Foote is amazing – he's co-written and produced a lot of my stuff. Laura Veltz. Steve Rusch. I've written with them a lot on some future stuff – they are geniuses. Travis Heidelman is amazing, he's such a talent, sharp and quick witted. Joybeth Taylor is fantastic, she's proper Country, a good country girl. Everyone I work with is such quality and I'm really honoured to be working with people who know so much more about the craft than I do – I learn everyday and I see every write that we do as an amazing experience to be part of.
Is there a particular writer or artist that we can manifest you getting into a room with this year that you haven't worked with yet?
That's a good question. Ok, I have a bucket list. Dan Nigro is an insane producer / writer, he did all the Olivia Rodrigo stuff. He doesn't really touch Country which is why I think it would be kinda cool. I have a dream writing room collab that I will make come true one day. I'd love to write with Joe Nichols, Country legend, and there's also a writer in town called Tim Nichols who has written with Zach Top. I think we need to all three write together, that would be sooooo funny – all three Nichols'! Let's make people think we are all related! (laughing)
There are lyrics in songs like ‘Oh, The Things Men Do' or ‘Mama' or even unreleased songs you've been teasing on Instagram like ‘Might Go MAGA' which are so sharp and near the knuckle in terms of being shocking! Do you ever self censor and look at your co-writers and say ‘We just can't say that in a song!' or is nothing off the table?
(laughing) Pretty much anything is fair game except that I don't cuss in my songs! I don't censor much at all – can you tell?
You don't seem to be worried about social media comments and kick back either. The comments in the tease for ‘Lions and Tigers and Boys' on Instagram was pretty toxic from a lot of guys.
Listen. It's in an honour for someone to hold an opinion about my art, in any way, no matter what that opinion might be! That is so cool that someone is listening to something that I made and it sparks something in them to feel something – even if that feeling is anger or offense – that is the point of art, to spark emotion. I am very American – I love free speech and I don't filter my comments or lyrics so I want people to feel the same in their comments, it doesn't bother me if they don't like what I have to say. I find it so interesting that one person can love what I have to say and one person can violently hate it! (laughing) It shows how different humans are and I'm glad that my songs are polarising!
Both your grandfather and father were preachers so the church must have played a big role in your upbringing?
A lot! I lived in church, I was in there every day. I was a worship leader in my youth group, I sang choir till, literally, about a year ago because I'm just gone most of the time now. I can't commit anymore but every time I go home I lead worship at my church. I love it.
What was their reaction to your song ‘Bible Belt' then?
(laughing) It's my dad's favourite song! He loves it! He sent it to some of his preacher friends as a joke and was like, this is about you! (laughing) I'm not singing about people at our church in that song……. well, I'm sure some…. but not the majority, right? (laughing)
‘I Got a New One' goes viral and creates this pathway for you. How does it feel when a song goes viral? Does it put pressure on future releases or do you just enjoy the moment for what it is?
It's like a gift from god. It's in my nature not to get anxious or stressed about whether it will happen again though. I'm pretty chilled. My version of success? If you are in the music industry and you are paying bills by being able to play music? That's success. You've hit it. 99% of people pay to do music – they pay for lessons, they spend money to play a gig at the weekends, it costs so much money being a musician these days so if you are in a position to be able to pay your rent and bills, that's success right there. That's the important thing and I feel honoured to be able to do that. I'm content, happy and overjoyed!
You have some very ‘shiny' songs like ‘I Got a New One' and ‘Oh, The Things Men Do' which grab a lot of attention and atmosphere but is there a song of yours that you love that has gone under the radar a little that people like me aren't talking to you enough about? I feel like ‘Somebody Cooked Here' is a little under-appreciated.
I love that song! It's a little more of an emotional song and it's one of my favourite songs. Let's go back to ‘Trailer Treasure.' I think that song is a really clever song and I like that kind of clever, kitschy music. ‘Somebody Cooked Here' was a great song to write, I'm a big fan of that one so I hope people go and seek out both.
Your videos are really entertaining. Do you enjoy being in front of the cameras or is it something that you've had to learn to get good at?
Oh no, baby, I love the camera, the camera loves me, right? (laughing) We have a great relationship. No, I have a lot of fun and the visual side of this industry gets to put the song in a whole other realm, which is so cool. I love brainstorming video ideas – I mean, they are a lot of work, I had no idea how much work it is to put a video together, I can't imagine what doing a movie must be like! I remember the first time we put out music and I was, like, “I could never do a music video,' I literally said that, ‘I'm gonna look so awkward and I'm going to be so embarrassed,' (laughing) I think TikTok has helped me in terms of getting comfortable in front of a camera and now it's something I really look forward to doing.
What can we expect in the way of new music over the course of 2026 from you?
We're going to keep dropping singles. We have a lot of songs…. so many songs! I'm so excited about the music coming. When you asked me about my favourite lyric I was, like, gosh, it's not even out yet! (laughing) I'm so excited to share what we have written. I just tend to go with my gut and pick the song that is right for the moment to release so we haven't settled on what when yet but just know that it's gonna be an awesome year ahead!
We can't wait to see you in London for the C2C festival and your own headline show. Will you be doing any sightseeing around that trip or is it a quick in and out?
For sure!! I'm building that in right now. I haven't been to Europe in a long time. We usually do a hop-on hop-off bus tour in every city that we play in here in the US so we'll jump on one of those for sure.
Check out Elizabeth Nichols' songs in all the usual places and grab a ticket to her London show here or catch her at the C2C festival here.
