Shaylen

Artist Information

Only Shaylen can write herself into a country song. Because the country singer-songwriter wants every song she sings to tell a real true story from her real true life. That is the inimitable mark she’s making on Nashville with her six infectious, highly-streamed acclaimed songs released under the Two Hats Music Group banner. Since Shaylen took a leap of faith into country music in 2022, she has experienced a meteoric rise, swiftly ascending to become one of the most prominent emerging female artists in the country music scene. “Everyone has a thumbprint. But nobody has your thumbprint. I keep that in mind, and remind myself from time to time that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be,” she says.

Right now, Shaylen is indeed right where she’s supposed to be.

Tennessee and its music are home to her, and now that she’s back after a decade of making pop music in Los Angeles, everything is falling into place. She has already immersed herself in country music, and established herself as the kind of artist with something special enough to stand out. Something she admits is tricky to do, and she’s doing it mainly with her pen. After nearly two years of writing and recording country music, Shaylen just signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV that has given her the chance to write songs that come straight from her journal. “Maybe one day I’ll talk about what I’ve been through. But for now, I’m pouring all of that heartbreak into the songs. Sometimes a song can be great, but you just don’t feel the feeling.”

Her debut country single “What If I Don’t,” right out of the Tennessee gate, was a viral  streaming sensation on every platform garnering over 26 million streams just on Spotify alone. That quickly cemented Shaylen’s status as one to watch. What started as a potential song about waterproof mascara turned into a smash when she opened up about it to her co-writers Seth Ennis, Phil Barton and Lindsay Rimes. “We all know that feeling of, ‘What if he moves on, and I don’t?’ We knew we had to write that song. That’s what we were chasing,” Shaylen recalls.

It’s not just the lyrics that come naturally. It’s Shaylen’s vocals that are about as Southern as they come. She was born in Chattanooga and raised in Dallas, so that nuanced twang you hear is all her. When she was ready for a career in music, she was off to L.A. where she signed a major label record deal and stayed put for 10 years. “Tennessee is where my roots are. But sometimes you’ve got to search to find yourself in different places,” she says, “just to come back to who you always were.”

Treasured Nashville session player and producer Ilya Toshinsky took Shaylen under his wing when she decided to leave California and head east. “I pitched him some songs and he said it would be crazy if I didn’t cut these songs myself. He set up writing sessions for me, and I remember leaving one of the first sessions, and I felt like I’d fallen in love with music again. Everything has been working so well that I keep thinking, ‘Why did I not do this ten years ago?’”

After “What If I Don’t” came more of Shaylen’s pop/punk/rock/country sound, and every song was met with the same level of effusive enthusiasm from country fans — over 300,000 of them across her social platforms — and industry insiders. She gives credit to her time in the pop world for helping her hone her craft when it comes to melody and cadence, and she brings that with her to every Nashville session. “I always have a rough idea of what I want to write about, but sometimes other writers come in with something else that we like better. Those moments are what collaborating is all about,” she says. That’s what led to Shaylen to have so much continued success with the next songs she released: “Roots” (praised byPEOPLE Magazine), “Cowboys Never Cry,” “Do It Right The First Time,” “Closest Thing to Closure,” and her most recent release, “Been There Before” whichBillboard raved “gives off early Taylor Swift vibes at moments, but Shaylen delivers with strong, wisened confidence.” She even partnered with former Hinder frontman Austin John Winkler for a countrier cover of his breakout hit from 2006, “Lips of an Angel.” Next up for Shaylen is the release of “Let Me Let You,” continuing her catapult into 2024.

As an independent artist who has earned over 100 million cumulative streams across the DSPs in just two short years, Shaylen is free to keep her sound as distinctive as she wants. And she does that by listening — or in some cases not listening — to a wide array of music. “I steer clear of listening to anybody in the same lane as me. So I’ll either have deep archives of Max Martin on or just classical music in the car.  Or big powerful vocalists, from Adele to Beyoncé to Whitney Houston. But I also listen to Morgan Wallen, Ashley Cooke, Nate Smith, Kacey Musgraves, just as a consumer of the music they’re making. I’m not trying to follow their leads.”

So far, Shaylen’s 2024 calendar is starting to fill up with writes and sessions and dream-come-true gigs. She’ll be playing on the road with some of country music’s biggest artists, and take the Stagecoach stage for the first time. “I have always wanted to go to Stagecoach, but I have told myself, ‘I’m not going to go until I’m performing there.’ And now I am.”

Before the year is over, more and more of Shaylen’s dreams will be coming true, all because she took the leap of faith that brought her back to Tennessee.