BELLA HUDSON

Pindrop Songwriter Series

Sunday February 26, 2023

@ The Clubhouse at Sonny’s in Nashville

(Review by: Jeffrey Kurtis)

Nashville songwriter rounds happen across the city on every single night in every nook and cranny wherever a platform or a stage can fit. While each are all similar in that they do offer an opportunity for the songwriter to have a stage to play and test their newest material, there are certain qualifications that make some rounds distinctively stand out high above others.

The Pindrop Songwriter Series, which celebrated their one-year anniversary last month (Jan 2023), has made a tremendously quick impact on an overcrowded scene as one of the elite rounds to take in for both the songwriter and fans of the craft.

The songwriter is the lifeblood that pumps the “Music City” brand into the heartbeat of the city, and with Pindrop’s pure listening styled writer’s nights, the series has created an atmosphere where conversations are held to an absolute minimum and songs can truly be experienced.

Within a cozy living room type of ambiance inside the Clubhouse at the Germantown hotspot Sonny’s, many of the hottest emerging talent of the songwriting community have already called this Sunday night stage their temporary home in 2023 including Hayley Payne, Macartney Reinhardt, Liv Lombardi, Jennifer Alvarado, Thomas Kavanagh, and more! 

On a night that featured five songwriter rounds at the top of each hour, the second contained a stellar lineup with Josh David, Summerlyn Powers, Julielle, and a spotlighting performance from Bella Hudson.

While many in the Nashville area recognize Hudson as the voice of 96.7 FM’s Yoco Nashville radio show, 2022 was also a breakout year for the budding songstress with her singles “Goodwill Hunting” and “Your Mom” climbing to a combined 250K+ Spotify streams, adding more fuel to a resume that’s already rich with several big shows in front of ridiculously massive crowds.  

As is always the course for a songwriter, new music just keeps pouring out of them and being inspired by relatable situations of everyday life happenings, making these types of nights often the first chance to hear some of their latest creations.

Hudson threw her name into that distinction over the course of her 3 songs, aptly providing a perfect balance for the crowd as she fused what’s still to come with what’s already made its impact.

“This is my latest song release, and it’s based on a true story that my sister told me about her ex from high school,” Hudson said with a slight pause and confession of, “who I hated!” “But she told me how when he broke up with her, she donated all his stuff. I thought wow, that’s so savage! But if you break my heart than you’re gonna need to buy your stuff back, right?” she smiled slyly as she wrapped an apologetic sass into the ultimate kiss-off, “Goodwill Hunting.”

While the up-tempo song does name check the award-winning movie that inspired the creativity behind the title of it, within the core of the lyrics sits a metaphoric middle finger as she giddily sings the getting even plot of bringing his things to 43 different Goodwill stores just to watch him go through hell trying to find it all. 

“One day, I somehow convinced my dad to buy me a couple of Justin hats. I was obsessed with those hats, and love them, but I started thinking about how I still always wanted a Stetson,” she shared as the soft paced melody of “Bettin’ on a Stetson” allowed Bella to intriguingly tilt her voice into its key ranges to emphasize the punch of the end notes on each line as she brought us through a lyric that pondered her dream relationship scenario of catching her a cowboy as she described the down-home attributes that make their lifestyle so endearing to her.

Though Hudson now calls Nashville home, since she’s originally from Colorado it makes sense that she would tap into what she knows best on the very well-crafted lyric of the extremely strong composition, “Cold in Colorado.”

After gratefully thanking the audience for being so great, and giving a nod to Pindrop for having her on their stage for her debut at The Clubhouse, she placed her voice into a purely emotional cry as she surrounded the confused feelings of not being able to change someone’s heart; skillfully using her home states attractiveness as comparatives, singing about the height of the Rocky Mountains and how Denver will always be known as the “Mile High City,” only to then twist into the ultra-stunning hook, “Can’t change the cold in Colorado, and I can’t change you.” 

Bella Hudson wisely continues to hold tightly to the songs that took her to the dance during each outing, but even more importantly, she always makes a long-lasting impression through what she’s yet to release. By expertly pacing this type of balance, she holds the usually restless Nashville crowd in the palm of her hand, pulling them into each lyric while adding a heightened buzz to what comes next!

FULL SET LIST

1) Goodwill Hunting

2) Bettin’ on a Stetson

3) Cold in Colorado

• Prev
• Next