ALYSSA MARIE COON & GRACE TYLER

Undiscovered Nashville’s “Tunes + Tequila”

Tuesday September 5, 2023

@ The Clubhouse at Sonny’s in Nashville, TN

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Since shifting their weekly show’s name from “Pre-Famous” to “Tunes + Tequila” to match the drink specials of their now Tuesday night slot at The Clubhouse at Sonny’s, Undiscovered Nashville has continually risen the bar by bringing the strongest emerging talent to their stage, sliding fluidly between genres to offer a range of styles that expertly suits the varied tastes of their mostly local crowd.

Nicole Croteau, Dakota Danielle, Belles, Paige Rose, and Gracia are among the names who have already graced this stage over this past month, and tonight offered a 1-2 punch during the first two rounds with Alyssa Marie Coon at 7PM and Grace Tyler at 8.

Coon, a now Belmont University student who arrived in Nashville by way of Florida, has spent the past year building strong foundations with her fresh pop country sound, expanding her signature flares while leaning into the characteristics that define her and her music through well-received singles, “Put it Down,” “Real Good Night,” “Break It Fast,” and “A Little Bit in Love.”

Tyler, already a sought-after songwriter within the Nashville music community, has used this past year to really break out and establish herself as an elite up-and-coming artist, releasing highly praised singles that have taken us through all the feels; “Took The Fall,” “Warning Label,” “Sound of You Gone,” and her most recent release, “Jesus In A Bar.”

“This first song I’m gonna play is about not being able to put your phone down when your crush won’t text you back,” Coon introduced as the moodiness of her vocal wrapped around the anxious emotional distractions embedded into “Put it Down,” layering a soft, head bobbing groove into her ultra-modern pop country aura, impressively guiding her voice into a whispered hush through the verses to expertly then lift it into the strike of the chorus to add strong emphasis to the power of each line.

The radio ready “Real Good Night,” a song inspired by a memorable girls night out on the town, showcased Alyssa’s craftiness as a songwriter in a highlight of a complete and total know-how of where to place her voice within the irresistible melody so both the instrumentation and vocals popped simultaneously as the crowd swayed along with their shoulders dancing while Alyssa’s “Whoa Oh’s” had toes slapping in perfect rhythm on the hardwood floor of the venue.

“I wrote this one about two years ago with Maggie Baugh and it’s a song that’s about growing up and how life is always changing,” Coon mused as she opened her diary and softened the pace with “Before I’m Out There,” holding tightly to the natural anxieties and heart racing fears that arrive with the realization that your high school days are nearing their end and you still have so much to learn about “real life” before growing up into your next chapter.

Sliding into the vibey rhythm of her current single “A Little Bit in Love,” Alyssa sang through the hearts flutter of the lyric with a big smile across her face, clearly leaning into the truth lifted from her own story of falling for someone, as the catchy chorus once again had the crowd grooving along with her as the final notes on her first show since moving to Nashville were strummed to a huge ovation.

FULL SET LIST
1) Put it Down
2) Real Good Night
3) Before I'm Out There
4) A Little Bit in Love

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“Well, I’m gonna start with a sad song cause that’s what you do on a Tuesday night,” Tyler smirked as she fine-tuned her guitar. “I went through this period of time in my life where a lot of people I knew were getting divorced and so I wanted to write a good divorce song,” she shared as she soft strummed into “Better Off,” allowing the absolute power of her voice to encapsulate the heartbroken emotions of the lyric, captivating the crowd and instantly turning the space into a pure listening room atmosphere as everyone quieted to a hush while she pulled them in one emotional turn at a time.

After first offering explanation on what the difference between a “Karen” and a “Nancy” is, and then hilariously sharing that she lived next door to two grouchy, bitter “Nancy’s,” Grace dipped into the fun, bouncy melody of the appropriately titled “Nancy,” playfully calling out their agitated bitterness while hitting the crowd with memorable sarcasm and wittiness throughout the chorus, eliciting smiles and laughs along the way.

However, it was when she played her current single, “Jesus in a Bar,” that Grace Tyler delivered the show-stopping performance of the night. Taking us through a picture painted bar scene to only intriguingly flip the script and shine bright focus on the many ways that you’ll find Jesus in the center of it all, she spotlighted the simple, warm-hearted gestures of any given night (a stranger calling you a ride home or the bartender listening with a non-judgmental ear, etc.) to put down a bold, thought-provoking mark as she closed to a hushed crowd who sat in stunned silence digesting the pure truth of the lyric.

FULL SET LIST
1) Better Off
2) Nancy
3) Jesus in a Bar

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