Nashville continues to play host to some of music’s best and brightest. Here are the performers we’re watching in 2022—and you should, too.
George Birge
Like many artists, George Birge found an audience on TikTok, but he did it in his own unique way. An established songwriter on the Music City scene, Birge was advised by country legend Clay Walker to start an account on the social media platform. Soon after joining, Birge saw a made-up song from influencer and music educator Erynn Chambers joking that men in country music only sing about “beer beer, truck truck, girls in tight jeans.” Amused, Birge responded with a twist on the chorus in his new song “Beer Beer, Truck Truck,” to show that there’s more to the genre. He posted a clip of the song to TikTok with the promise that if it went viral, he would credit Chambers as a songwriter. It blew up. The demo garnered 2.7 million views and earned Birge 130k followers in just two weeks. Since then, the song has gone on to earn 10 million worldwide streams. (And true to his word, Birge gave Chambers a co- writing credit.) Now, with a publishing and management deal, Birge is poised to keep his viral momentum going thanks to co- writes with Clay Walker, Matt Stell, Chris Lane, Gary LeVox and Jay DeMarcus, and more.
Hometown: Born and raised in Austin, TX
Years living in/working in Nashville: I moved to Nashville in 2015—going on almost seven years here.
How did you get your start? I was playing in a bar band in Austin, when by chance I met a radio executive on the golf course. I ended up giving him a burned CD with a few of my songs at the end of the day, which was completely crazy, but he called me back a few days later and said, “I’ve never actually called back someone that gave me a demo, but you might actually have something here.” He ended up introducing me to some heavy hitters in Nashville and completely changed my life.
Most exciting thing to happen in your career (so far): Getting to track my first solo record. I have been a songwriter for as long as I can remember. Creating and bringing songs to life is what I live for and getting the opportunity to go into the studio and record a debut album has been a dream for me that I cannot wait to share.
What song of yours best sums up who you are or your career/life thus far? “Mind On You” has been a full circle moment for me. I originally wrote the song when I didn’t have a record deal, so naturally I pitched it to another artist (Jason Aldean). His team immediately responded saying they were interested in the song and not to play it for anyone else. Fast forward six months and my career had started to take off and I signed with RECORDS. I was able to ask for the song back and put it on my debut EP, and it will be my next single to country radio. It has been a pretty special song to me in the fact that it has taken the journey with me from songwriter to artist. Also, it’s inspired by my beautiful wife.