On The Row: Erin Enderlin Adds Depth, Grit To Characters On New EP

Erin Enderlin

In 2017, Erin Enderlin put an interesting twist on her album Whiskeytown Crier, allowing each of the songs on that album to introduce another character, all living and interacting in the fictional Whiskeytown.

She recently released a new four-song project, Chapter One: Tonight I Don’t Give a Damn, the first in a series of four EPs that allow her to further plumb the depths of the characters that settled in Whiskeytown.

“I decided to just take that even weirder and make mini-concept EPs. I get to follow one character through three songs on the EP.”

Two tracks, “Broken” and “Till It’s Gone,” are reprised for the new EP. “Broken” traces two young lovers from rough home lives, and the heart-wrenching decision a young mother makes to make sure certain those coping mechanisms aren’t passed on to her son.

A favored songwriter in Nashville’s music community, Enderlin has recently had her music included on Reba’s latest album. Others who have recorded her works include Alan Jackson (“Monday Morning Church”), Lee Ann Womack (“Last Call”), Luke Bryan (“You Don’t Know Jack”), Terri Clark, and Joey+Rory.

Enderlin visited the MusicRow offices to play a few songs from her new EP, Chapter One: Tonight I Don’t Give A Damn. Much like her coveted compositions, her guitar has a story, too.

“Jimmy signed it the first time I got to play the Opry,” she said, gesturing to the signature from the late Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens that adorns the instrument’s polished wood.

Before stepping onstage at the Grand Ole Opry as a performer, Enderlin was a Grand Ole Opry employee for about two years, and watched as Dickens and others took the stage each night.

“He just came in every night and was so positive and excited to be there and excited to give 150 percent,” she recalls.

The same could be said of Enderlin, whose talent and hustle has allowed her to pursue a career as both writer and artist.

Enderlin recently finished a string of performances opening for Jamey Johnson, who produced Whiskeytown Crier.

Chapter One is a collaboration between Enderlin’s Black Crow Productions and label partner Blaster Records, with management by Marty Winsch. A trio of music videos offer visual representations of Enderlin’s stories.  

“It’s interesting how we all hear these songs, like ‘Jesus take The Wheel,’ and with some songs, you know what happens to the character. What happened to the ‘Coat of Many Colors’ girl? She grew up to be Dolly Parton. But with Delta Dawn, it tells a bit of that story but what if there was another song about her falling in love with this guy and what happened to her later on? That’s really interesting for me to think about.”

She notes a second digital EP will be out by the end of June, followed by a third and fourth EP, with a physical release of the music slated before the end of the year.