Elizabeth Nichols on Scoring a No. 1 with Her First Ever Song, Writing “Mean” Lyrics - and Being an Olivia Rodrigo Superfan

Meet country music's wittiest new hitmaker.

The internet is awash with interviews where country stars recall the first song they co-wrote in Nashville and the first show they played, usually years before anyone has a clue who they are. It's often an amusing anecdote, including some kind of mishap or embarrassment because the song was cringey, or nobody came to the gig.

Elizabeth Nichols’ story is a little different. The first song Nichols penned with anyone in Nashville was ‘I Got a New One’, which ended up becoming one of the biggest hits of 2026, and currently sits just shy of 19 million streams on Spotify alone.

Her first show? Six months ago, at which point the Kentucky native had already amassed a loyal, burgeoning fanbase courtesy of her viral TikToks and witty, infectious songwriting.

Given Nashville's proudly self-assigned - and highly mythologised - “Ten-Year-Town” reputation, you can imagine some of the industry's old-heads scoffing at Nichols enjoying a meteoric rise, rather than grinding it out on the local touring circuit.

Thankfully, as she explains to Holler ahead of her C2C Festival 2026 appearance, Nichols has generally been welcomed with open arms into Music City, “Nashville has been so good to me, and has been so accepting and kind to me. I am very blessed to say this...but I like everyone here. I like all the people who work on my projects, the people who don't work on my projects. I just think it's a great city, and it's very accepting. Even in LA, I've experienced the same thing...They just like music. I don't think people care that much where it comes from - if it's TikTok or wherever. That's my experience, at least, so I'm blessed to have that”.

At the end of the day, this is because it's been evident from the start that Nichols is no mere flash in the pan or one-hit-wonder. Her songwriting carries a sense of biting humour and light-hearted sarcasm, while her ear for an irresistible hook is as dependable as any top-tier Nashville songsmith of the moment.

There's an enchantingly sepia-tinged ambience in tracks like ‘Little Birds’ and her latest single, ‘Oh The Things Men Do’, which is dialled into the traditional country revival, sparked by Ella Langley and Riley Green's ubiquitous hit, ‘you look like you love me’.

“I think that I'm pretty country. I love country music”, Nichols muses, before qualifying this, “But I get a lot of comments from people...Girls will be like, ‘I love Sabrina Carpenter, and I love your music’, or ‘I don't really listen to country, but I love your music’. And I love that my music is country, but the things and feelings I'm singing about are universal. So people of all genres and walks of life can tap in to that”.

Another compelling element of Nichols’ storytelling is the fact that she isn't afraid to poke fun at the country bros of the world. Given how the likes of Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan spent much of the 2010’s dominating the airwaves with songs about chatting up girls in bars and painting women as little more than eye-candy, Nichols’ subversion of this male braggadocio is a breath of fresh air.

Songs like ‘Oh The Things Men Do’ - which jovially criticises the methods men employ to sleep with a woman - make it clear why she has struck a chord with Carpenter's fanbase.

Nichols reflects, “I wrote it with some of my favourite people, Laura Veltz, Steve Rusch and Steph Jones. They're some of my favourite collaborators. They just get me. We were just having a conversation about the things men do...You know, men are so funny sometimes. So we were talking about it, and it ended up turning into something that was very playful and exciting. It started off as a joke, but I really love how, with the music video and the rollout, it has a positive message. It's okay if a guy is buying you things or doing nice things, but make sure it's not performative”.

Much like ‘I Got a New One’, ‘Oh The Things Men Do’ had already gained traction on socials before it was officially released - a rollout strategy Nichols is quickly mastering.

“Right now, social media has made it possible for anybody to break into country music, and anybody can break into any genre of music”, Nichols observes, “And I think that is such a beautiful thing. If it wasn't for TikTok and Instagram, I wouldn't have found my people who want to hear my music. I think that is such a positive thing for all genres, but especially country...You don't have to live in Nashville, you don't have to live in LA to do music, whereas it used to be the case that you have to live in those places to be able to get your music out there”.

And it turns out Nichols has plenty of music she wants to release, “I just want to put out as much new music as possible...I love to write, it's my favourite part of the gig. I have an ungodly amount of songs, and I would like for them to see the light of day”.

Nichols teases a stacked 2026, including a debut album, a Stagecoach set, a trip across The Pond to perform at C2C Festival and C2C Berlin, along with an Australia tour, “Oh, we have a lot planned. I'm so excited about Stagecoach. We are touring a lot more. We're playing a lot more festivals. I played my first show like six months ago, and I have fallen in love with the live aspect...Album is coming sometime next year, which I'm very excited about. The Tough Love EP was so fun to make. But an album is a bigger piece of work, so there's more that goes into it”.

The country prodigy is set to dazzle audiences in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany for the first time as part of C2C Festival, C2C Berlin and C2C Rotterdam in March. Despite still being fairly new, Nichols’ sets are expected to be some of the most popular at each festival, due to her cross-genre appeal and TikTok virality.

“I'm so excited to play in Europe”, Nichols gushes, “I lived in Australia for a year, and it's so cool...I think it's interesting, even in the US, seeing how crowds react in New York versus how crowds react in Texas. So I'm excited to see that in Europe and Australia”.

As well as carrying a level of excitement at the prospect of bringing her sound across international waters, Nichols hints at possibly pushing it into new sonic territories, too.

When discussing her dream collaborations, one non-country name springs immediately to mind, “Beyond the Nashville scene, I love Olivia Rodrigo. I'm like an Olivia Rodrigo superfan. So I would just like to even meet her. That would be so cool”.

It's a link-up we'd love to one day see, and we'd be fascinated to hear how they manage to coalesce Rodrigo's punk-pop flourishes with Nichols’ traditional country textures.

As for a joint track in the country arena, Nichols again shows off her wit with a hilariously tongue-in-cheek answer, “In Nashville, I have a dream collab. This is niche. I want to write a song with Joe Nichols, because I tell people he's my uncle, as a bit - but we're not related. I have never met him, but I think that him and I doing a song together, with some family concept [would be great]. And then I also want to bring in a writer in town, Tim Nichols, who wrote a bunch of Zach Top's stuff - amazing music. So I think that me, Joe and Tim Nichols should all get in a writer's room and write a song, like, ‘Family is Family’” On a more serious note, Nichols cites Morgan Wallen as being at the top of her country bucket-list.

As well as a genre-blurring collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, Nichols toys with the idea of one day dropping a gospel-tinged project - if only to make her pastor father happy.

She explains, “My dad's a pastor. My grandpa's a pastor. So I broke the cycle...I didn't go the pastoral route, but I love Jesus. And, you know, Jesus and God are creative, and I think He gifts people with ideas and creativity, and I'm blessed that I get to partake in that. So God is definitely an influencer. I'm not necessarily singing worship music, but I'm not opposed to that. That'd be so fun. My dad would have a heart attack. He'd be so happy. Maybe on his birthday one year...”

Although more of a flippant aside than an immediate plan to pivot to Contemporary Christian Music any time soon, it again highlights Nichols’ versatility and open-mindedness. Her sound is inherently grounded in classic country, but as her catalogue grows, she continues to embrace various stylistic strands and influences.

It's all the more reason to look forward to what's shaping up to be a huge year, as Nichols graduates from star-in-the-making to a fixture in country music's shimmering pantheon.

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