Today, the Nashville-based singer/songwriter Abbey Cone releases new single “I Hate Springsteen,” a breakup bop with an electrifying guitar solo from John Osborne of Brothers Osborne. Featuring lyrics like “I love being alone, I hate Springsteen, Texas ain’t home, grass ain’t green,” Cone runs through a list of lies to convince herself that she’s over her ex – only to realize that starting over is in fact hard to do and she loves Springsteen. The song contains a sample of a story Springsteen told at a 1973 show at Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. In serendipitous fashion, Cone recently opened for Orville Peck at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, the legendary venue that has become synonymous with Springsteen.
Listen to “I Hate Springsteen”
Watch the official visualizer for “I Hate Springsteen”
“‘I Hate Springsteen’ is the first glimpse into my upcoming project and a slight departure from my usual boyfriend-themed songs (lol),” shares Cone. “Writing this one was a blast because it’s all lies — I definitely have brown eyes, and I’m a Bruce Springsteen stan. Hence why we sampled him talking about the idea of dedicating a song to someone at one of his shows back in the ‘70s.”
“Having John Osborne deliver an absolutely iconic guitar solo at the end was a dream come true,” Cone continues. “It was one of those crazy ideas I never thought would happen, but it did and now I feel like a cool girl.”
The track release follows Cone’s spring announcement of her signing with Downtown Artist & Label Services for distribution and her first release with the group: a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” recorded live at The Ryman. She recently joined Brittney Spencer at her Tiny Desk performance, helping to arrange the set and providing background vocals. Spencer also brought her out at her Nissan Stadium CMA Fest performance, adding to a busy weekend for Cone with performances at the Dr. Pepper Amp Stage and the Close Up Stage with Denitia and Mickey Guyton, who she will be supporting on select dates this fall after her run with Kimberly Perry on CMT’s Next Women of Country Tour and ahead of her dates with Morgan Wade.
Earlier this year, Cone played several triumphant performances at the C2C Festival in London at The O2, including a surprise appearance at the CMA Songwriter Series, and went on a 17-show tour across the Western U.S. supporting Trousdale. This followed 2023’s smash “If You Were A Song”, her first single released as an independent artist that has since amassed over 16 million streams. Last year, she also performed at Stagecoach and CMA Fest before making her Grand Ole Opry debut in August. She was invited by Opry member and 22-time-GRAMMY-winner Vince Gill, following his first-ever live performance of an unreleased song that Gill and Cone co-wrote. She finished the milestone year opening for LeAnn Rimes at The Ryman.
Cone moved to Nashville when she was 16 and made her mark almost immediately, co-writing with some of Nashville’s best-known songwriters and touring with Brittney Spencer, Kassi Ashton, Abby Anderson and Maddie & Tae. With an induction into CMT’s Next Women of Country Class of 2020 and one of Pandora’s 10 Country Artists To Watch in 2022, Cone has garnered praise from People, CMT, Music Row, The Tennessean and more. She’s become known for her emotionally resonant songwriting that connects with the next generation of listeners (and beyond).