At just 20 years old, Carrie Brockwell is building a career rooted in honesty, individuality and a sound that feels both fresh and familiar.
The Richmond, Virginia native, now living in Nashville and studying music business at Belmont University, describes her music as a blend of Carrie Underwood and Carole King, pulling from country storytelling, singer-songwriter influences and the warm, feel-good sounds of the 1970s.
That combination immediately made sense to me.
Months ago, Brockwell’s “I’d Love Not To” became one of those songs I kept coming back to, eventually becoming part of my regular drive-to-work playlist. During our recent Fast Tracks conversation, I admitted that I had played and sung along to it enough to drive my kids a little crazy.
“You just made my entire year,” Brockwell said.
That playful honesty runs throughout her latest project, That’s Real, a collection centered on authenticity, imperfection and allowing listeners to see themselves in the music.
“I want them, when they listen to the record, to feel seen in the music,” Brockwell explained. “I want it to kind of be an experience for the listener.”
For Brockwell, the title is about more than simply telling personal stories.
“If we just let go of everything that’s for show, that is how we live freely,” she said. “There’s so much peace in that.”
That idea comes through clearly on “I’d Love Not To,” a song born from the universal feeling of simply not wanting to do the things we are supposed to do.
Brockwell said the track came together quickly during a writing session with producer Brian Fikino and her co-writer.
“We were like, wait, everybody doesn’t want to do their dishes all the time,” she laughed. “Everybody just wants to sit out on their couch.”
While that song takes a lighter approach, “Nobody’s Perfect” finds Brockwell exploring a much more vulnerable side of herself.
A self-described overthinker, Brockwell said writing the song became therapeutic.
“I feel very lucky that music gets to be my therapy and that I have that outlet,” she said.
The song speaks to anxiety, comparison and the experience of feeling like you are battling your own thoughts, something Brockwell believes many listeners can relate to.
“There’s so many people in this generation that I’m growing up with and people that are a little bit older than me that I’m looking up to that are also struggling with mental health,” she said. “As an artist and as a human being, it’s so important to know that we’re not alone.”
Her hope is simple.
“If they’re feeling like me, that literally this three-minute song lifts that weight for them.”
Musically, Brockwell’s sound reflects the records she grew up hearing.
Her father spent years performing in a cover band with her uncle, exposing Brockwell to artists ranging from Tom Petty and the Eagles to Carrie Underwood and Sugarland. Family car rides were also filled with yacht rock and artists like Michael McDonald and Hall & Oates.
“I was talking to my producer Brian and I was like, how can we make my music feel like that, but also feel like it has me in it?” Brockwell said.
The result is a mix of country, singer-songwriter storytelling and retro influence that now feels particularly timely as more country artists lean into disco, yacht rock and vintage sounds.
For Brockwell, however, the direction was never about chasing a trend.
It was simply what she loved.
“I just love it so much,” she said. “It brings an energy. It brings a vibe.”
Brockwell has already experienced several major career moments, including being named Country Vocalist of the Year at the Josie Music Awards and performing inside Studio A at the Grand Ole Opry House during a Josie event.
“You can just feel the history when you walk in,” she said of the experience.
She remembers walking off the stage afterward and thinking, “I don’t think my legs work right now.”
And she is showing no signs of slowing down.
After a summer filled with performances in Colorado, Wisconsin, Chicago, Florida, Pennsylvania and beyond, Brockwell recently returned to Belmont while continuing to balance school and music.
She is also preparing to release her own version of Virginia’s iconic “Sweet Virginia Breeze,” with the blessing of songwriter Steve Bassett.
“I’m such a homegirl,” Brockwell said, making the project especially meaningful.
She will also perform again with the Richmond Symphony alongside acclaimed Nashville songwriters Victoria Shaw and Gary Burr, and in February 2027, she will join Sister Hazel’s The Rock Boat cruise festival.
Before we wrapped, Brockwell took on a Fast Tracks lightning round.
The song she would never skip? Carole King’s “So Far Away.”
Her dream collaboration? Carole King or Miranda Lambert.
The thing she overthinks every time? Posting Instagram stories.
If she were not making music, she would be a hairstylist.
And when asked for three words to describe Carrie Brockwell right now, she chose:
“Creative, confident and courageous.”
After spending time talking with Brockwell, those words feel exactly right.
She is young, but there is a clear sense of who she is becoming, both as an artist and as a person.
And if That’s Real is any indication, Carrie Brockwell is building that career by doing exactly what the title suggests: keeping it real.
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