Isabel Baldinger
Meet Nora Collins — your typical friendly face around Nashville that has a not-so-typical gift.
The young newcomer’s honest lyrics and stunning voice is making her stand out from the sea of singers in Music City, and CS Country is giving you the inside scoop on what’s soon to be her breakout year.
Nora is set to release an EP produced by Marshall Altman (Natasha Bedingfield, Amy Grant, Eric Paslay, Frankie Ballard) later this summer, and she told us that she’s “very excited” about it.
“I am very excited about about my upcoming EP,” Nora said with a huge smile on her face during our interview at the 2018 CMA Music Festival. “I am very honored that Marshall Altman is producing my project because I adore his work! It’s pretty crazy; one of my earlier concerts that I ever went to was Natasha Bedingfield, and he produced her, so getting to come and then work with him was a big deal to me. I admire his work and it has been so fun to sit in the studio with him and watch him work, learn from him, and ask questions. I feel like he has made me a better singer, he has a great way of getting emotions out of a vocalist and I am just very honored that he heard something in me and connected with my songs and wanted to be a part of it.”
Growing up listening to artists like Patsy Cline and Shania Twain, Collins says that the sound of the EP has a throwback feel to it, but is still a very current blend of country and pop. “It’s fun, fresh, and young,” she shared with us.
Fans can get a taste of what’s to come from the upcoming EP by listening to her new single “Who Knows Who.” Co-written by Collins and two of her friends down in Nashville, the song really shows the listener the emotions behind the romantic games people play.
“[Who Knows Who] is a song I wrote with two of my good friends here in town and it is about the games that we’re all guilty of playing in relationships,” Nora said. “I’ve definitely been there with the story of this song – its about wanting the person that you’re seeing to know that you can be anywhere, doing anything, and they have no idea how much fun you’re having without them. It is a sad game that we play, but we’re all kind of guilty of it.”
The song is also accompanied by a fun, flirty visual that was directed by Slater Goodson and produced by Nada Taha.
“The process was really fun and relaxed! I actually went into that day thinking that it was just a photoshoot, and then we ended up having video content, and so I wasn’t really sure what was happening! I was just having a good time and really listening to the director. We wanted to play up that sassy and playful side of the song and I like the fact that the is a nontraditional music video. I’m not singing along, there isn’t a storyline, its just different attitudes.”
If you’re digging “Who Knows Who,” give Nora a follow on Instagram at @nora_collins to get up-to-date new on when her EP will be hitting music streaming platforms.
