Writers Round with Krystal King, Taylor Hughes & Shelby Dressel- 10.17.25
Krystal King
With a classic sound, freckled face, and a full heart, rising country artist, Krystal King, brings a voice to Nashville that we have all needed. Originally from Hickory, NC, Krystal King has a fresh take on a true country sound, combining raw and emotionally laced vocals with vivid, imagery infused songwriting.
Krystal is your down to earth "next door redneck" with a real, honest, fun, and quirky personality that naturally seeps into her songs. She's not afraid to say what she is thinking.
At three years old, Krystal caught a snippet of Alan Jackson on the radio...and the rest is history. Country music was in her bones. She followed this love of music to college where she studied Music Therapy and later worked as a psychiatric music therapist but ultimately moved to Nashville in 2018 to pursue a music career.
Krystal's sound has been described as 90's country with a bit of folk, blues, soul, and rock. Early influences included artists such as Alan Jackson, Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, Gretchen Wilson, Sugarland, Eric Church, and Chris Stapleton, and Ashley McBryde.
Krystal has released 13 original singles - six of which were produced by Mike Loudermilk (previously producing and playing guitar for Crystal Gayle). In March 2025, she released her self-produced, Debut Album "Pretty Poison.” The first single “Red Wine & White Lies” from the project has over 17K listens on spotify. The most recent single and music video for “Mind Your Own Backyard” was featured on County Line & the Heartland Network with over 27K views on Youtube.
Touring Nationally, Krystal has visited TN, NC, AZ, FL, KY, WI, VA, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. She has had the honor of performing iconic stages including the Bluebird Cafe, The Listening Room Cafe and Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Additionally Krystal has played several festivals with headliners including Walker Hayes, Craig Morgan, Kristian Bush and opened for Beth Neilson Chapman (writer of "This Kiss" by Faith Hill). Recently Krystal played the VIP Lounge for the Ascend Amphitheater for the Lainey Wilson, Rod Steward & Whiskey Myers.
One of Krystal's biggest passions is songwriting, Krystal has had early success in her songwriting career as the 2018 winner of the Hickory Oktoberfest Songwriting Competition, 2019 Old School Songwriting Contest, and a co-writer on cuts from Thomas Kavanagh, Kirstie Kraus, Laura Rabell, Taylor Hughes, and Zach McCabe. "Who Am I Gonna Love" a song released by Thomas Kavanagh and Kirstie Kraus, has been featured on The Ty Bentli show and stations in the UK including BBC Radio. Her song “Jesus and Jail” recorded by Taylor Hughes won the Lexington Kentucky “Song of the Year” earlier in 2024.
Additionally, Krystal is a SiriusXM DJ for Radio Margaritaville on Saturdays and Sundays and had her Trop rock song “Me, Myself, and Islands” featured on the station.
Taylor Hughes
Country artist, Taylor Hughes, is not your typical pop country artist. With blues and southern rock influences, she brings a unique and sassy sound that demands attention. Native of Lexington, Kentucky, she now resides in Nashville where she’s been making quite a name for herself. Award winning gospel singer and vocal coach, Christy Sutherland, describes Hughes' voice as rich chocolate cake with soul along with
being said to be "Country music's answer to Adele” in The Tennessee Star.
After releasing her debut single, “Good Taste,” in 2020, hitting iHeart Radio and multiple other stations, here sophomore single, “Prayin’ to the Whiskey,” got her the attention she truly deserved. She was nominated for “Emerging International Artist of the Year” in the UK followed by “Prayin’ to the Whiskey” being nominated for “International Song of the Year” in Ireland, making the final top 10. She closed out the year being in the final top 5 artists for the Southern Fellow’s “Artist of the Year” for the
second year in a row.
Her third single, “High On Something,” was released at the end of 2021 and it charted in the top 100 on the Texas Internet Radio Charts and continues to climb up daily. Along with this success, she was nominated in the 2022 Josie Music Awards for "Female Country Vocalist of the Year" and the "Fan's Choice" award. Hughes was making waves long before moving to music city though. She has been nominated in the Lexington Music Awards for best female vocalist, best country artist, best singer-songwriter, and song of the year; winning in 2016, 2018 and 2019. She has opened and shared the stage with artists such as Chase Rice, Riley Green, Sam Riggs, Morgan Myles, Angaleena
Presley (Pistol Annies), Striking Matches, Leah Turner, Alexandra Kay and more.
2023 has been a huge year for Hughes. Bringing in multiple mini tours around the country, festivals, releasing her fourth single, “Jesus and Jail,” new partnerships, winning multiple awards and receiving several nominations, and she has 5 songs she wrote being cut by other independent artists. She entered 2023 with four nominations in the Appalachian Arts and Entertainment Awards including "Best Female Vocalist," "Best Country Artist," "Song of the Year," and "Social Media Influencer." She was nominated by fan vote in Country Evolution's "artist to watch in 2023.” She received five nominations in the 2023 Lexington Music Awards and was awarded "Country
Artist of the Year."
Along with this success, Hughes received multiple nominations in the 2023 Josie music Awards and was awarded “Multi Genre Vocalist of the year.” Taylor’s live shows bring the energy, passion, and true country music that fans have been dying to hear. Put rising star, Taylor Hughes, on your radar!
Show at 8:00 pm, no cover, tips appreciated, BOOK ONLINE or call 615-794-5527 for dinner reservations.
We don’t want y’all to miss out on the music, so when booking your online reservation for a show, please be sure to select the correct date for the show you are wanting to attend. The default setting is to automatically select today’s date. Thanks for spending your evening with us!