March 15, 2024 – Today, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter Abbey Cone announces her signing with Downtown Artist & Label Services for distribution, and shares her first release with the group: a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” recorded live at The Ryman.
“One of the many lessons I’ve learned in my almost 10 years in the music industry is how important it is to have a team of people that will actually get in the trenches with you and figure out how to build a sustainable and authentic career,” shares Cone. “Small wins feel bigger when you’re an independent artist. It’s an accumulation of small victories that feel really rewarding when you’re doing it for yourself instead of to impress a label or a gatekeeper. For the first time, I’ve actually been able to make money from my music because I own my masters. It’s empowering to be able to choose how to reinvest that money and also be able to choose who I work with. I feel free. I feel like I finally work for myself instead of working to impress someone else that ‘holds the keys’ to my success.”
Cone is fresh on the heels of several triumphant performances at the C2C Festival in London at The O2, including a surprise appearance at the CMA Songwriter Series, and a 17-show tour across the Western U.S. supporting Trousdale. This follows 2023’s “If You Were A Song”, her first single released as an independent artist that has since amassed over 15 million streams. Last year, she also performed at Stagecoach and CMA Fest before making her Grand Ole Opry debut in August. She was invited by Opry member and 22-time-GRAMMY-winner Vince Gill, following his first-ever live performance of an unreleased song that Gill and Cone co-wrote. She finished the milestone year opening for LeAnn Rimes at The Ryman, where she performed the rendition of “Hallelujah” she’s releasing today.
About the cover, Cone explains: “My first year as an independent artist was surprising in so many ways. One of the biggest surprises was being asked to open up for LeAnn Rimes at The Ryman in December. I’ve always loved this song because of how powerful it is, and how much it moves people. It’s representative of the kind of music I want to create and the way I want to move people with my music, too.”
Cone moved to Nashville when she was 16 and made her mark almost immediately, co-writing with some of Nashville's best-known songwriters and touring with Brittney Spencer, Kassi Ashton, Abby Anderson and Maddie & Tae. With an induction into CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2020 and one of Pandora’s 10 Country Artists To Watch in 2022, Cone has garnered critical praise from People, CMT, Music Row, The Tennessean and more. She’s become known for her emotionally resonant songwriting that connects with the next generation of listeners (and beyond).
