NEW ALBUM: Nightingale

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Kelley Breiding of North Carolina proves she’s ready to take flight as a standalone artist in her new honky-tonk album. Nightingale arrives on the Music Maker Foundation label Friday, July 10, 2026.

Deeply rooted in the music and culture of western North Carolina, Breiding has been a Music Maker Next Generation Artist since 2015, when we began working with her folk trio Spencer Branch. Since then, she has performed across the region with her rockabilly group Kelley and the Cowboys, old-time act Crooked Road Ramblers, and country variety show The Blue Ridge Opry – but rarely, if ever, as simply Kelley Breiding.

Now, on Nightingale, she finally takes the spotlight as a true solo artist.

“Coming out of it, I felt like maybe I threw off a cloak I didn’t know I had on,” she says. “A lot of the things I’ve involved myself with historically involved a persona or a story. No project has been about me entirely. When I walked into Music Maker, there was no armor, no gimmick. It was just me, saying what I want to say.”

Recorded in 2025 at Music Maker Studios in Fountain, NC, Nightingale hearkens back to the classic country albums of yesteryear. The album includes original songs by Breiding, including her mighty-but-funny get-lost anthem “Quit Calling My Husband,” as well as songs by producer Jimbo Mathus, who also contributed guitar and drums. Kirk Russell (guitar, drums), Scott “Paco” Goolsby (guitar), John Kveen (bass), Wesley Jordan (mandolin), Jessie Jordan (fiddle), Matt Singer (banjo), and Nathan Golub (pedal steel) round out the album’s sound.

“Kelley Breiding truly embraced the experience,” says Tim Duffy, co-founder and Executive Director of Music Maker Foundation. “She came in willing and excited, thrilled to have this opportunity, and truly poured her heart and soul into this record.”

Nightingale can be purchased from Music Maker Foundation or streamed on all major streaming platforms.