All Things Music

Award-winning Nashville songwriter, Nicolle Galyon announced her debut album, firstborn via Instagram on Monday (Jun. 6). Galyon, who has written hits for the likes of Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Chesney and others, shared that firstborn would be released on her 38th birthday (Jul. 22) via Songs & Daughters, the record label where she is president.

Produced by Jimmy Robbins and King Henry, firstborn features 11 tracks, including “Boy,” a song Galyon wrote with Jon Nite that was cut by Lee Brice and “Consequences,” a track performed by former Fifth Harmony member, Camila Cabello that Galyon penned alongside Emily Weisband and Amy Wadge.

The idea for firstborn came to Galyon during the early days of the global COVID-19 pandemic when she re-located her family to her home state of Kansas.

“Certain words kept coming to me, like ‘Sunflower,’ ‘Winner,’” Galyon told Billboard of the album’s beginnings. “I started thinking about what those words mean to me.” 

“[Making my debut album, firstborn] was me making something that was purely me,” Galyon continued, adding, “I felt like, especially having this company [Songs & Daughters] I started to help other females to tell their stories, but I’ve never fully told my own.”

Luckily for Galyon, working in the Nashville songwriting business for 20 years provided her the team she needed to bring her vision to fruition. In the Instagram post announcing firstborn, Galyon said she chose to work with the writers who “made [her] feel the safest.” The album boasts an impressive cadre of writers from producer, Robbins to Shane McAnally to Hillary Lindsey to Josh Osborne to Ballerini, and even Galyon’s husband, Rodney Clawson.

“I joke that I’m a ‘song mom,’ but I had to live my life before I could ever help all of these things that I’m creating…my kids, my other songs, Songs & Daughters, the other artists I pour into,” Galyon explained in her conversation with Billboard. “I felt like I needed to spend a minute to go back and tell that story of how we got here.”

Accompanying the announcement Galyon made via her social media on Monday, she also dropped a visualizer in which she narrates the prologue for firstborn and gave listeners a sneak peek at the project with single, “winner.”

The single describes Galyon’s early life–from her birth in Winner, South Dakota to her eventual upbringing in Sterling, Kansas to her journey to chasing her dreams in Music City.

The song, which is both narrative and introspective, examines Galyon’s tendency to be an overachiever, and just how she left her birthplace of Winner, South Dakota behind, she’s also re-defined what it means to be a “winner” in life.

Galyon’s debut album, firstborn is available for both pre-save and pre-order now.

Check out the full track list–as published in Billboard–below:

1. “winner.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)
2. “sunflower.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Jimmy Robbins, Sasha Sloan)
3. “boy crazy.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Kelsea Ballerini, Hillary Lindsey)
4. “disneyworld.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Sasha Sloan)
5. “consequences.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Emily Weisband, Amy Wadge, Camila Cabello)
6. “self care.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Sasha Sloan, Caroline Baker)
7. “boy.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Jon Nite)
8. “tendencies.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne, Cooper Galyon)
9. “five year plan.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Rodney Clawson)
10. “younger woman.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Hillary Lindsey)
11. “death bed.” (written by Nicolle Galyon, Sasha Sloan, Jimmy Robbins)