Americana Music Festival & Conference

I'm excited.

It's my first Americana Fest, my first time being at Musician's Corner.

So, you know, I'm a musician that really was on the corner, on the street.

So it just means everything to be able to come back to these type of stages and still bring the authenticity of what I represented in my vibe.

okay because next year shaking hands and yeah you were intending to go to the go to show festivals yeah

so like i went to americana fest last year for the first time and that's where i met you know the little co folks and also like all these artists that again like nick jamerson who i posted a cover of hindman on tiktok um like august 2025 i've

never been to hyman but i love that song

it is my favorite song i've never been i want to go i've

barely been to kentucky but i've been to kentucky i

was just there like i love kentucky like i will go if i can um but i posted that and i was not expecting him to like interact with anyone he did and then a month later i met him at americana fest he's like you're the girl from tiktok and i was like you know who i am like you know uh because that was like the first time somebody like i really got like look up to recognize me and mike what i was doing and that was like

super realizing he's still trying to get hurt too yeah you know what i mean but like in my head

i'm like yeah in my head i'm like this is somebody i look up to so much like he's already of course he's a

I think someone like Stan Lynch or something from the Heartbreakers lives there.

Were you at that Americana Fest? Did you see the Heartbreakers play? I did,

yeah.

I'm jealous.

I've had great times out there and I've got some good friends out there.

I did my fourth record out there with a good friend of mine, David Ferguson, and we were just there the other week as well for the Americana Fest as well.

What do they make of you, though? Because the way you play guitar sounds, got that American feel, but the accent's very British.

Well, yeah, I mean, it's a funny one.

This is Sarah Harralson, your host of the iHeartMedia podcast, Takin' a Walk Nashville.

And this week has been crazy in Nashville with Americana Fest happening.

And sitting here with me today is Brandy Clark.

Brandi, how are you today?

Yeah.

Well, thank you for joining me today.

You have been very busy this week at Americana Fest.

You performed the Martin Guitar Kickoff Party last night.

Like Jason has talked to Sonny War and she kind of mentioned it.

I know a couple of years ago during Americana Fest, we were at Skinny Dennis and I asked you about this and it was still kind of like...

An idea at this moment, but or maybe you guys were working and being very secretive.

But can you talk about first that chemistry you've built with Sonny War over these last few years? And can you really talk about the development into this Smooth Harrison project?

Yeah, I'll start out by saying I was a big fan of Sunny Ward before I even met her.

And we got to meet each other for the first time in Nashville, Americana Fest 2019, I believe.

And Lizzy Ngo, shout out Lizzy Ngo, a fantastic songwriter here.

I think she's in Ireland.

Seven years later, he made a record built on the folk and singer-songwriter albums his dad played around the house.

This last summer, he's been playing Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, and Americana Fest.

We talk about his dad, a co-write that turned into something bigger than him, and why he's trying to write songs without picking them apart.

So now from Nashville, Tennessee, here's Ryman.

Yeah.

Very, very good.

So on that realm, you mentioned Lollapalooza, you're also going to be performing at Americana Fest, Bourbon Beyond, and a bunch of others.

I mean, is this kind of what you've been building for in terms of like the run of shows and sort of the, you know, the things that you're, you're waking up doing every day?