EG Vines

In times of upheaval, people look to artists to help sort through the madness. Nashville’s EG Vines is a voice that stands out above the rest, combining folk songwriting with a sharp wit and nuanced point of view. All of this is on display on his upcoming second album, Through the Mirror, a sizzling rock record from an artist on the rise.

After riding the corporate ladder at a major retailer for a decade, Vines decided to quit his day job in late 2019 with the release of his debut solo album, Family Business. The album landed him recognition from outlets local (Lighting 100) and national (Billboard, NPR, Rolling Stone) and immediately cemented him as one of Nashville’s artists to watch. He looks back at his time splitting life between a desk job and music and says it resulted in him being constantly on edge, carrying frustrations on his back all the time. While he loves and stands by the music he wrote during that period, quitting his corporate job has allowed Vines to pour more of himself into his music, and Through the Mirror is a testament to the positive effect this has had.

Through the Mirror features music written after Vines’s exit from corporate America, and the newfound time dedicated to his craft and studying the world around him has paid dividends. Given more opportunities to reflect and spend hours of the day writing and experimenting, Vines has been able to explore new sounds and thoughts as his star grows. Not content with sticking to one genre, he constantly innovates, pulling sounds and ideas from wide-ranging influences, from folk to arena rock, acoustic jams to intricately produced soundscapes.

Describing the philosophy behind Through the Mirror, Vines says “It’s open-ended enough to where people can take different things from it. It’s definitely a reaction to our uber-politicized world and social media. It’s that social dilemma, people get in their hall of mirrors, and maybe they’re not looking at reality.”

Against a backdrop marked by a pandemic, social upheaval, and national elections, Vines cuts through the noise to deliver profound and moving messages. 2020 single “Them” showcases what to expect of the upcoming LP, as he bemoans the polarized shouting matches that play out every day in the news and on social media. Much of Through the Mirror—which was recorded locally at Nashville’s Skinny Elephant Recording with co-producer Dylan Alldredge—sees Vines drawing inspiration from punk and alt-rock favorites from his youth like Green Day, R.E.M., and Radiohead, both musically and socially. Vines delivers his own views against biting riffs and pulsing drums while encouraging listeners to critically engage with the world around them to inform their own ways of thinking, drawing on his love of Jason Isbell and Bob Dylan as inspirations for his storytelling. Calling the album a Rorschach test for the modern world, Vines delivers his messages through a wide array of subjects on his songs, from American history to what theoretical alien visitors might think when they arrive on Earth.

As he looks around at the music scene, Vines knows he can provide perspectives and ideas listeners crave. “There’s more to say here, and I just decided I wanted to really dig in,” he explains. With Through the Mirror, EG Vines is delivering on his promise and proving himself to be an essential voice in music.