Hailey Whitters - The Dream (2020)

Singer-songwriter Hailey Whitters started off 2019 as a Nashville songwriter with a handful of modest successes, but at the top of 2020, the “Ten Year Town” singer is now a buzz-worthy performer with a highly anticipated album on the way. Titled The Dream, Whitters’ self-financed new album will be released on February 28th.

Whitters, who had previously scored cuts as a songwriter with Alan Jackson, Little Big Town, and Martina McBride, came to prominence after her song “Ten Year Town” — a meditation on waiting for those big dreams to pan out — was added to streaming playlists and started gaining momentum. Her song “The Days” followed suit, and she was chosen to open a few dates for Maren Morris.

“Ten Year Town” and “The Days” are included on The Dream, along with four other songs from Whitters’ independently released 2019 EP The Days. New tracks penned by Whitters include “Janice at the Hotel Bar,” “All the Cool Girls,” and “Happy People,” a Lori McKenna co-write that Little Big Town cut for their 2017 album The Breaker. Additional collaborators include Hillary Lindsey, Nicolle Galyon, and Brandy Clark. The album also features a couple of outside songs from A-list talent: Chris Stapleton’s “The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice” and Brent Cobb’s “Loose Strings.”