Lauren Watkins

Music has a way of transporting us to different places in time, even if we've never actually been there ourselves.

Some songs and artists take you back to your firsts–first love, first dates, first kisses and the like–while others dig up forgotten memories and moments from our pasts. However, some truly transcendent artists and songs take you back in time to another decade altogether, which is where Big Loud newcomer Lauren Watkins shines.

Fit with Watkins' neotraditional sound and gravely growl, the 23-year-old Nashville native's music transports you back to smokey dive bars somewhere in the '70s. Mixing up classic country tropes with her own contemporary flair, she is on track to become one of the format's newest stars.

Raised just on the outskirts of Music City, a young Watkins was immersed in the artistry of classic country and southern rock, as well as a heaping dose of modern day chart-toppers like Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Chris Stapleton.

After spending her teenage years playing cover sets up and down Broadway, Watkins moved to Mississippi for a stint where she attended Ole Miss in search of a marketing degree. While there, the burgeoning young singer discovered her love for country music's signature storytelling and took her artistry to a collection of Mississippi's local dives and holes-in-the-wall where she proceeded to hone her skills.

Since making her way back to the country music capital of the world and quickly catching the attention of Grammy-nominated songwriter Nicolle Galyon, who signed her to a publishing deal with Songs & Daughters, Watkins spent much of 2022 teasing fans new and old with a string of acoustic covers from Sheryl Crow and Ashley McBryde to Morgan Wallen and ERNEST, while also sharing her own burst of unreleased tracks.

Signing to Big Loud Records / Songs & Daughters in April of 2023, Watkins officially made her entry as an artist with the release of her seven-song EP, aptly titled Introducing: Lauren Watkins.

Featuring standout hits-in-the-making 'Shirley Temple' and 'Anybody But You,' the project lays a strong foundation for one of the brightest and most exciting female artists of this era of country music.