Karley Scott Collins Is Nashville’s Underrated Gem
A country-pop star with a classic rock edge
Karley Scott Collins is a 23-year-old country-pop artist who moved from Florida to Nashville in order to pursue a career in music.
Karley immediately stood out to me with her raspy alto voice. It sounds gritty yet smooth as velvet at the same time (I really love alto voices and feel like people don’t appreciate them as much — maybe part of the reason why I am captivated by her voice is that I am an alto myself).
In her music, she aims for a retro sound, and her voice fits that perfectly. She also comes across as wise beyond her years, and she’s incredibly multi-talented—she was an actress before she became a singer-songwriter, she paints most of her own covers, and she’s well-read. She cites Cormac McCarthy as one of her influences for her long-term creative vision.
While I do enjoy country-pop, I often lament that fact that not enough young artists sound timeless and that it feels like they’re trying too hard to sound like Taylor Swift instead of being themselves — not that there’s anything wrong with that, since they still can make good music, but I personally prefer it when people don’t directly try to emulate just one person. They might score a big hit for being radio-friendly, but they’re missing something…
