J. ANTONETTE

Undiscovered Nashville’s ‘Pre-Famous’

Saturday June 24, 2023

@ The Clubhouse at Sonny’s in Nashville, TN

(Review By: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Now pushing toward its one-month mark since switching from Thursday to Saturday night, Undiscovered Nashville’s popular ‘Pre-Famous’ songwriter round continues to flourish inside the Clubhouse at Sonny’s in the heart of Germantown.

Where Thursday nights transformed the atmosphere of the quaint and cozy space into a true listening room experience, this week saw a twist in the opposite direction as a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd packed in, got a little loud, and a smidge bit rowdy in support of a stellar night of music that boldly displayed just how deep the Nashville talent pool runs.

Hot off the release of her newest single with Michael Price, “Your Place or Mine,” J. Antonette brought together her powerful vocal, amazing lyrics, and intriguing fusion of pop sensibilities and country music ideals to impress during the final round of the night, which also included strong showings from Remy Garrison and Zac Burrell.

Pouring her rich vocal into “Mean Well,” she immediately took the rowdiness of the crowd down to the normal listening room appeal of The Clubhouse, stunning with the emotional waver embedded in her voice as she captured the painstaking emotion of a lyric that saw her questioning whether her toxic ex had actually ever meant well of if he was just that good at being mean.

“This is the first song I wrote that’s not about me or my own love life, but is actually about one of my friends,” she shared. “We were having burgers one night and she was telling me about a situationship that she had been in for a while now, and how the guy always kind of kept her in his back pocket…and I was like NO! You are front pocket,” she emphatically stated as she turned up the tempo with “Back Pocket,” wrapping into an ultra-catchy melody that had everyone shoulder dancing as she smashed her pop traits into a modern country swagger, expertly placing her voice into its depth-filled range as Remy Garrison slid into the harmony position to add an additional flare to the anthem infused, sing along styled chorus.

“I’m going rogue here because everyone loves Fleetwood Mac, right?” she asked knowingly, injecting the round with a rare cover selection when she played “Dreams,” carefully upholding the original essence of the iconic song while twisting in just enough idiosyncrasies to give it a feel that stayed unique to her own branded style.

Preceded by the true story that inspired “Heartbroken in a Honky Tonk,” where she told of how she broken heartedly ran into the ex who broke her heart during a night out dancing at the honky-tonk, only to reverse the heartbreak and put it back on him when she had the time of her life learning how to two-step, she then got everyone in the venue toe-tapping along as she closed the night with her extremely addictive, breakout single that she’s often told is one of her favorites to play.

The love and friendship between each of the three writers on stage shined brightly during this round, whether it was them swaying along with one another’s melodies or sliding in with backing vocals, lifting an aura that completely transcended the crowd to result in tremendous applause after each song played. 

And that’s what’s so amazing about rounds like this!

Beyond just the memorable singles and fresh, new compositions, the crowd gets a genuine sampling of the spirit of what makes Nashville so unique through the unconditional support that lives and breathes right in front of them as they themselves get invited into the friendship circle one note at a time.

FULL SET LIST
1) Mean Well
2) Back Pocket
3) Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)
4) Heartbroken in a Honky Tonk

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