Best Singer-Songwriter

Bre Kennedy

Grace Braswell
Oct 8, 2026
7 hrs ago

Color photo of Bre Kennedy, the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Singer-Songwriter, singing into a microphone and playing an acoustic guitar — Bre Kennedy
Photo: Angelina Castillo

Best Singer-Songwriter in Nashville 2026: Bre Kennedy

Celebrating her 10th year in Nashville in 2026, Bre Kennedy has been on fire. She’s released four studio albums, each a direct, genuine reflection of who she was at that time. She’s lived the contemporary Nashville experience, singing about selling her guitar for rent and dancing with her friends at Wilburn Street Tavern. With the release of January’s The Alchemist — inspired in part by time spent caring for her grandmother near the end of her life — the songsmith has come full-circle. Kennedy wears her heart on her sleeve, and her work is inspiring to anyone who’s followed her path.

Artist poses against a neutral background, wearing a white gown and iridescent decorations woven into her hair.

Nashville Music Features

Bre Kennedy Finds Her Best Self in ‘The Alchemist’

Grace Braswell

Winners

Color press photo of the three band members standing outside, wearing winter coats, with a marina in the background.

Best Band

Styrofoam Winos

Cover art of Aaron Lee Tasjan’s ‘Get Over It, Underdog,’ features a photo of the artist wearing sunglasses and looking into the camera. It’s the Nashville Scene’s 2026 writers’ choice for Best Album in Nashville

Best Album

Aaron Lee Tasjan, ‘Get Over It, Underdog’

The Cowgays

Best New Artist

The Cowgays

Color press photo of Laci Kaye Booth, the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Country Artist, leaning against a wall with stripes of floral print wallpaper

Best Country Artist

Laci Kaye Booth

Color photo of Bre Kennedy, the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Singer-Songwriter, singing into a microphone and playing an acoustic guitar

Best Singer-Songwriter

Bre Kennedy

Black and white press photo of John Countryman, the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Instrumentalist, sitting atop a piano and looking at the camera

Best Instrumentalist

John Countryman

Book NOT Brooke

Best Pop Artist

Book NOT Brooke

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best New Western Swing Band

Eddie Slide and His Cowtown Dozen

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best DJ

Amy Darling

Nordista Freeze

Best Indie Hustle

Nordista Freeze

Ronni Raxx, ‘Bitch Get In’

Best Hip-Hop Album

Ronni Raxx, ‘Bitch Get In’

Jack White, ‘Frozen Charlotte’

Best Rock Album

Jack White, ‘Frozen Charlotte’

Color press photo of Elizabeth Cook, wearing a jacket covered in travel patches and looking above and to the right of the camera

Best Country Album

Elizabeth Cook, ‘Great Television’

Allison Russell, ‘In the Hour of Chaos’

Best Americana Album

Allison Russell, ‘In the Hour of Chaos’

Album art illustration for the second full-length album from The Sleeveens, featuring interlocked blocks of muted colors

Best Punk Album

The Sleeveens, ‘National Anthem’

Album art for Jobi Riccio’s second full-length ‘Face the Feeling,’ depicting the title written in red capital letters across a white billboard in a rural area.

Best Folk Album

Jobi Riccio, ‘Face the Feeling’

cover art of Robyn Hitchcock's 2026 album The Confuser, featuring the artist in a dark jacket and sunglasses against a bright blue-purple background

Best Pop-Rock Album

Robyn Hitchcock, ‘The Confuser’

Cover art for Sour Ops’ ‘Bikers Make Better Lovers’, the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Writers’ Choice for Best Power-Pop Album, featuring a photo of the title phrase on a sticker that’s wearing off a rusty bumper

Best Power-Pop Album

Sour Ops, ‘Bikers Make Better Lovers’

Black and white photo of the guitarist performing on electric guitar with a slide.

Best Instrumental Album

Rick Vito, ‘Slidemaster’

Best Chamber-Music Album

Cristina Spinei, ‘Moved by an Interior Impulse’

Cover art for Sayryn’s ‘Novella,’ the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Folk-Rock EP, featuring the title of the record written across an illustration of a full moon flanked by two purple irises

Best Folk-Rock EP

Sayryn, ‘Novella’

Cover art for Bleary’s ‘Little Brain,’ the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Indie-Rock Debut, featuring the band lying in green grass surrounded by silver stars

Best Indie-Rock Debut

Bleary, Little Brain’

Cover art for Anana Kaye’s album ‘Are You There,’ featuring a black and white photo of the artist with her left hand holding a bouquet of flowers behind her head and her right hand over her eyes, palm out

Best Art-Pop Debut

Anana Kaye, ‘Are You There?’

India Ramey, ‘Villain Era’

Best Country Ass-Kicking

India Ramey, ‘Villain Era’

Cover illustration for The Protomen’s ‘Act III: The City Made Us,’ the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Writer’s Choice for Best Sequel, featuring a figure looking across a neon city skyline at a point of light breaking the clouds. The perspective makes it reminiscent of Freidrich’s ‘Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.’

Best Sequel

The Protomen, ‘Act III: This City Made Us’

Color press photo of producer Bandplay and MC Starlito hanging out by a loading dock on a farm, sporting flannel, camo and unlaced work boots.

Best Hip-Hop Collaboration

Starlito and Bandplay, ‘Not the Country You Know’

Still image from the music video for Willow Avalon and Kaitlin Butts’ ‘Hypothetically Speaking,’ the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Country Collaboration

Best Country Collaboration

Willow Avalon and Kaitlin Butts, ‘Hypothetically Speaking’

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Folk Collaboration

Margo Price and Joan Baez, ‘Deportee’

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Country Song

Ashley Monroe, ‘I Hate Nashville’

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Song About Marijuana

Daniel Leyes, ‘Ha Ha Weed Is Legal’

Johnny Blue Skies and the Dark Clouds, ‘Mutiny After Midnight’

Best Album Drop

Johnny Blue Skies and the Dark Clouds, ‘Mutiny After Midnight’

Cover art for The Features’ ‘Exhibit A: Sweet Tea Mix,’ the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Rock Reissue, featuring a close-up of a striped blazer with the artist name and title written on fashion buttons on the lapel and a packet of tea sticking out of the pocket

Best Rock Reissue

The Features, ‘Exhibit A: Sweet Tea Mix’

Ear Up Records

Best Label

Ear Up Records

Cover art for The FBR’s ‘Just Outside of Nashville,’ the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Live Album, featuring the band’s Malarie McConaha playing a trumpet and an electric guitar simultaneously onstage.

Best Live Album

The FBR, ‘Just Outside of Nashville’

Kacey Musgraves, ‘Mexico Honey’

Best Music Video

Kacey Musgraves, ‘Mexico Honey’

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Legacy Project

The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project

Erv Woolsey and George Strait

Best Artist-Manager Partnership

Erv Woolsey and George Strait

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Doorman

Seene at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge

Todd Sherwood, The 5 Spot

Best Bar Tech

Todd Sherwood, The 5 Spot

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Dance Club

The Office

3rd and Lindsley

Best Venue for Top-Notch Blues

3rd and Lindsley

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best New LGBTQ Dance Party

Queertopia

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Rock Showcase

Flipsville

Gay Ole Opry Nashville

Best New Country Showcase

Gay Ole Opry Nashville

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Broadway-Meets-Nashville Showcase

Off Broadway at Analog at Hutton Hotel

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best New Free Concert Series

WNXP’s Summer Line Series

Museum of Christian and Gospel Music

Best New Music Museum

Museum of Christian and Gospel Music

Color photo of a performance during Showtunes at Sid’s, the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Best Musical Theater Karaoke in Nashville

Best Musical Theater Karaoke

Showtunes at Sid’s

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best New Festival

Nashville Jazz Festival

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Jazz Residency

Monica Ramey at Nashville Jazz Workshop

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Opera Programming

John Hoomes

Illustration of a trio of cards fanned out with the Jack of Hearts on top, holding a guitar

Best Choral Programming

Portara Ensemble