The night Erin Rae made her Nashville music scene debut, she hadn’t even planned to take the stage.

She was back in town after a semester in college and quickly became a regular at a weekly open-mic night at Café Coco — then a 24-hour haven for counterculture teens and twenties. of Nashville.

The night was coming to an end when friends she had grown up with tricked her into singing a song – the one she had done in her high school talent show. So she took to that high stage alone and sang an acapella rendition of “Wild Bill Jones,” a traditional Appalachian killer ballad that dates back at least a hundred years.

By the time she finished, she had found her calling. Soon, she brought her guitar – a high school graduation present from her parents – into the back room of Café Coco and began to find her own voice.

“That’s sort of the reason I started writing songs,” she says. “To have something to play next week.”

In the decade since her debut, Rae has written countless songs, and they have taken her to many other stages, from the Newport Folk Festival to Red Rocks and the Ryman Auditorium. And now she’s released a stunning new album that suggests she’s just starting to warm up.

Rae’s third feature, “Lighten Up,” was released earlier this month and is proving to be a breakthrough. His songs and sound — compared to the mellow, slightly psychedelic folk-pop that swept through California in the late ’60s and early ’70s — garnered praise from Rolling Stone, NPR and Pitchfork.

It was actually made in the Golden State a year ago with producer Jonathan Wilson (whom she had met in Newport) and a group of her trusted musician friends (most of whom she had do not meet).

“It felt more like what I imagine would be a classic recording session – going in with a producer and bringing my songs.”

It was a new experience, just like having a stack of songs she hadn’t been able to try on stage first, thanks to the pandemic. But the past few years have fostered a new sense of self-acceptance and openness in the musician.

When she wrote the project’s first song, “Enemy,” she remembers thinking, “Okay, what’s going on in my subconscious? And that song kind of spread.”

The album begins with “Candy & Curry”, which Rae wrote at the start of the lockdown. It’s a gripping opener, not just because of its lilting melody and dreamy instrumentation, but also its lyrics, which tap into our collective memories of trying to stay centered and productive during a terribly uncertain time.

“I’m making sweets and curry, and a friend in the mirror,” she croons over a sweet bossa nova-inspired groove.

“I see things a lot clearer than before/ I wish I didn’t take you for granted/ I need you more than ever, that’s for sure.”

Rae and her family moved to Nashville from her hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, in 2001. The term “Nashville-raised musician” fits her particularly well. She received early musical advice from one of her mother’s close friends: award-winning country singer-songwriter Kathy Mattea. She introduced Rae to vocal coaches and music educators Phoebe and Bob Binkley, who wrote songs for Marty Robbins.

“It made me feel like I was part of that bloodline,” Rae recalls. “…it kind of provided a lot of encouragement in the beginning when there wasn’t much going on, except I was learning to sing better and write songs better. It was in the very early stages of development, but it felt very magical to me.”

Fast forward to 2019, and Mattea featured Rae onstage at a high-profile “Mountain Stage” concert in Charleston, West Virginia.

In a few weeks, Rae will embark on her very first tour of Australia, where she will support Courtney Marie Andrews. She will return to kick off an opening US tour for Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange) on March 31. Keep your eyes peeled for his next date in his hometown.