WHAT IT IS: Over the years, Giveon has developed his baritone delivery and pensive lyrics while perfecting an amalgamation of Rat Pack-style pop and contemporary R&B. During his journey from songwriter to artist, he caught the attention of multi-platinum singer/songwriter August 08, who became a mentor for the up-and-comer. After independently making his debut with “Garden Kisses” and “Fields” in 2018, he joined forces with producer Sevn Thomas last year and further honed a signature style of his own. Coming into 2020 with a feature on Drake’s surprise release, “Chicago Freestyle,” the Long Beach, Calif., native dropped his debut EP, Take Time, further cementing his status as an R&B artist to watch.
ALBUM: Take Time EP
RELEASE DATE: 3/27
SINGLE: “Heartbreak Anniversary”
LIVE: Snoh Allegra fall 2019 tour; performed at Soho House
INTERNET: 1.3m+ Spotify streams on single, 649k+ monthly listeners; 66k+ social-media followers
RADIO: Impacted Urban AC on 4/20
PRESS: Wonderland, Teen Vogue, Flaunt, HYPEBEAST, V Magazine, Essence, Fader, Okayplayer, Complex, Long Beach Press Telegram, ELLE, Genius, DJ Booth, OTW, E! News, more
BOOKING: Caroline Yim/CAA
MANAGEMENT: Isla Management

WHAT IT IS: Family man and country star Walker Hayes spent more than a decade trying to break into Nashville’s music scene. From graveyard shifts at Costco to becoming one of the two flagship artists signed to Monument, the Mobile, Ala., native made a name for himself with his debut album, boom, in 2017. The album, which he co-produced with Grammy-winning Shane McAnally, includes the RIAA double-platinum-certified hit “You Broke Up with Me.” That, coupled with his most recent singles, “Don’t Let Her” and “90’s Country,” and the third iteration of his direct-to-fan model of releasing new music, “8Track Vol. 3 Black Sheep,” have accounted for nearly 500m streams to date. With his genre-bending style and soul-baring subject matter, Hayes is carving out a new lane for himself.
SINGLE: “Trash My Heart”
TV: Premiered single on Fox’s new livestream series on 4/24; previously performed on NBC’s The Today Show and ABC’s Good Morning America
LIVE: Forthcoming headlining Triple Play Tour; 2019 headlining Dream on It Tour; supported Kelsea Ballerini’s Unapologetically Tour, Thomas Rhett’s tour, more
INTERNET: 1.7m+ monthly Spotify listeners, 218k+ Instagram followers, 55.9k+ Facebook likes
RADIO: Impacting Country on 6/8
PRESS: Country Now, Music Row, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, People, American Songwriter, more
BOOKING: Aaron Tannenbaum/CAA
PUBLISHING: SMACK Songs
MANAGEMENT: Robert Carlton/SMACK

WHAT IT IS: Hailing from Quincy, Ill., female trio Avenue Beat brings bright, fresh melodic elements to the country-pop music scene. Growing up ingesting social-media platforms and theater groups, the Gen-Z collective consisting of Sami Bearden, Savana Santos and Sam Backoff released their debut self-titled EP—produced by Santos alongside David Garcia and Ashley Gorley—in 2019. With the stretched staccato vowels of “Delight,” the female-empowerment anthem “Be a Bro” and the post-breakup track “Broke,” the BFF trio beckons listeners with pillows of narcotic harmony, glistening melody and lyrical insights. Latest tracks “Ruin That for Me,” which is rising at Country radio, and “thank you anxiety,” which serves as a pressure value from the genre-fluid creators, capture Avenue Beat as the fresh face of new feminism.
RELEASE DATE: 7/26/19
SINGLE: “Ruin That for Me”
LIVE: Supported Mason Ramsey on 2019 tour; Rascal Flatts’ Farewell: Life Is a Highway Tour 2020
INTERNET: “Ruin That for Me “ has 8.6m+ streams across all platforms within a year, 880k+ monthly Spotify listeners
RADIO: Single impacted Country radio 3/23
PRESS: The Boot’s 2020 Artist to Watch list, Sounds Like Nashville’s Ones to Watch 2020, MusicRow’s 2020 Next Big Thing, CMT Next Women of Country Class of 2020
BOOKING: Kylen Sharpe & Marc Dennis/CAA
PUBLISHING: Tape Room Music
MANAGEMENT: John Dennis & Charly Salvatore/Dennis Entertainment