It may be a cliché statement, but 2023 really is going to be Ernest’s year.
Prior to the release of his own studio album, the singer-songwriter was most renowned for his work on Morgan Wallen’s popular Dangerous: The Double Album.
And this year, he’s already making more waves, announcing his own deluxe album, Flower Shops The Album: Two Dozen Roses Deluxe, alongside some early song teases, but he will also be one of the opening acts on all of Morgan’s One Night At A Time Stadium Tour.
But in his biggest move so far, Ernest has also kickstarted his own publishing project, Ern’s Cadillac Music, as an extra support for aspiring songwriters.
In a Billboard interview, Ernest shared that the hardest part of getting a start in the songwriting space is finding someone to believe in you enough while also being connected enough to get you into writing rooms, and he wants to pay it forward for promising songwriters trying to make their way in the industry.
He recalled that one of the game changing moments for him as a writer came with his relationship and ties to The Warren Brothers, a popular songwriting duo in Nashville. The Brothers became advocates for Ernest as well as Mitchell Tenpenny early in their careers, allowing them into writing spaces they normally wouldn’t have had access to:
“I want to be a source for young writers who haven’t gotten a chance yet to play ball. That changed our lives because we were in writing rooms we had no business being in, but we were getting in them because The Warren Brothers vouched for us, and then we had to do the rest on our own.
But getting that one person that could bridge the gap, that’s the hardest part in this town. I want to create an environment where more writers can get a break.”
As far as the name for his new project goes, Ernest seems to be nodding to the cover art for his popular “Flower Shops” single, which features a Cadillac he purchased last year:
“Cadillac music, that’s kind of what I’ve been joking and calling any of my demos that I’d listen to in the Cadillac. It’s gotta pass the Cadillac test.”
For the “Tennessee Queen” singer, this new adventure adds another tier to his current status of living out his dreams, and he says that this has always been part of his five-year plan, though it has come together more quickly than he’d originally predicted.
His vision for the publishing company is that they will continue to work closely with the Big Loud writers, expanding on the Big Loud vision to keep “young creatives [in a space] to just be free, creatively.” He is encouraging his writers to be in writing rooms in both spaces.
Ern’s Cadillac Music has already signed several writers of promise including Chandler Walters and Cody Lohden in conjunction with Big Loud Mountain Music, and Mitchell Tenpenny’s brother, Rafe Tenpenny, in conjunction with High Dime.
