Sykamore, one of CMT’s Next Women of Country, has been nurturing her gift for songwriting long before she moved from Canada to Nashville in 2018. And while her original music does have some pop influence, her country credentials are firmly intact.
For example, her parents met on the rodeo circuit and Sykamore was raised on a cattle ranch near Calgary. She says chose her stage name after thinking of a way to recognize her “rootsy and tenacious” music. After honing her craft through regional songwriting competitions, award nominations, and synch placements, she found a surprising champion in Nashville songwriter Rhett Akins, who discovered her music on Twitter.
Now she’s building up to the release of an EP produced by Michael Knox, a publisher and producer known for his work with Jason Aldean. Today she is introducing that project with a new track, “Record Year,” about the healing power and comfort that music brings.
She tells CMT, “Before I was ever a singer or a performer, I was a listener of music. It has been and continues to be one of the greatest escapes for me when I need to decompress. It occurred to me that I had never written a song about how much music I actually consume, and how much I depend on it. That’s why it was important for me write ’Record High.’”