Check Out Presley Roan’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Presley Roan

Hi Presley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Presley. I am a country singer and songwriter here in Nashville! I am originally from Garner, North Carolina but moved here about 3 years ago to pursue my dream. Moving to a town where most everybody is also a singer and songwriter is quite intimidating and discouraging, but there’s no other place quite like it.

I am a huge classic country fan and I love immersing myself in its rich history. People say it’s hard to find even the smallest taste of classic country history in Nashville anymore. Unfortunately that is true, but if you know what to look for, there’s still a lot left and I soak it up as much as I can before even those small hints are gone. You can often find me wandering the rooms of the Country Music hall of fame, peering in the dusty windows of the Ernest Tubb record shop, running my fingers along the Ryman bricks or following an old Opryland sidewalk to nowhere. I was just born too late, I’m often told.

I started playing guitar at a young age as I received my first guitar as a Christmas present from my grandma. I was just 5 years old. My parents encouraged me to take lessons but I never really clicked with an instructor. I was homeschooled from kindergarten through Highschool and my mom would add guitar practice to my “homework.” In a way, I was quite self taught, pulling a lot of learning out of a ragged Hal Leonard Tom Petty guitar book.

My dad is a writer and an author and I feel like that and being homeschooled led me to take up writing, just I fell in love with the songwriting direction. I remember being fascinated by the fact that you could just basically create a song that no one ever heard before right out of thin air. Like it didn’t exist and now here’s a whole song that’s stuck in my head. I started trying to put them to music as most of my “songs” were not much more than melodic poems and my songwriting bug totally took off. Finding some of my middle school songwriting notebooks have definitely made me wonder why I thought they were gonna set the world on fire but they also have shown that I grew significantly in my craft and have the potential to continue to do so.

I also love studying songwriting styles. Dolly is my favorite songwriter. When you sit down and study her lyrics you can’t just not be mind blown.

I love performing and I do anywhere and everywhere they let me. Covers, originals, a mix. Just me and my guitar and some bad jokes and some crazy stories. I often tell places if I can have a tip jar- I’ll play for free, I just wanna make music.

I pull my styles from the music I love and that’s country. Classic country to be specific. My favorite music is that of the Judds, early Dolly Parton (like I love all of DP’s music, I just adore her late 60s, early 70s stuff), Jerry Reed, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Tammy, Loretta, Tanya, Reba, Barbara Mandrell and so on. I’ve been told by people that I need to make music like they make today and not try to sound like a modern day version of the music I love and I don’t see why I can’t make the exact kind of music I want. It’s up to them to listen or not. My music will find its audience, it’ll make its audience. And the two most important things: it’ll be the music I want to make and it’ll hopefully bring back those styles and show younger folks the very music that inspired me.

I’ve gotten to meet some of my heroes. And at this point I love hearing their advice more than their concerts. I believe in respecting my elders, learning from their mistakes, learning from their successes and overall just listening. Heroes become mentors. Favorites become friends. Just hearing some of them saying my name because they remember me is a feeling I can’t describe. Wynonna Judd and Tanya Tucker have been such bright, kind and encouraging souls to me, with such a spiritual sweetness that connects almost immediately. I could name so many people big and small that have been such guiding lights for me.

Like Miranda Lambert’s (another hero) song, I wanna be that “keeper of the flame.”

I have 2 acoustic demo like songs available on Spotify and all the other places you find music. One is titled “Miss Smith” and is about Connie Smith and me longing to meet her. I actually met her about 3 days after submitting the song to streaming and it came out the next week. Someone made me tell Marty Stuart about it and I wonder if he ever listened to it. My other song, which has a music video on YouTube as well as streaming is called “4.30” and is about the passing of another hero of mine, Miss Naomi Judd. Her death hit me super hard and I tried to put that pain into the pen and that’s how “4.30” was born. I never knew that that song would have people sharing their testimonies about such a hard topic, it’s been surreal and a blessing in many ways.

I know socials are a big deal in the music biz these days but I’m so bad at it and I run when the drama shows up. But I try my best. I’m on instagram and I’m on TikTok and YouTube and I don’t even touch my public Facebook which is bad and my website is in the works.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Moving to Nashville was surprisingly easy. It was definitely a God thing because there’s no way all the dots would have connected the way they did without Him.

Getting gigs is hard especially when you don’t wanna get stuck in a contract, deal out money to a booking agent or sell your soul to Broadway.

I’ve found a lot of snakes. Narcissists come for you. Liars promise you things, tell you who they work for and all they can do for you, when it’s nothing but, well… nothing. There’s people only helping out their friends and you’re not one of em. There’s people who think I’m a child, there’s people that don’t even give me a chance. Oh how many times I get told to change the way I do stuff, like write or sing and always the classic “you should try to make music like Taylor Swift.” I’m sorry but I’m only capable of making music that sounds like Presley Roan.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a country singer and songwriter whose sound is richly influenced by her heroes that make up classic country music. I love vintage fashion and music and try to reflect that in the way I perform and present myself.

What matters most to you? Why?
My family matters to me. That includes blood and not. It includes those that believe in me, show up for me, root for me, care for me, love me. It also includes my four legged babies.

My dreams also matter a lot to me. My dream is to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. My dream isn’t to play the Opry because in order to be a member you have to have already played there so that dream is included in the other and that, my dear, is how you dream big! Hey and meeting Dolly Parton is probably next. I adore her so.

God. He matters above all.

Pricing:

• Flexible booking prices.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linkr.bio/presleyroan
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/presleyroan
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/presleyroan
• Twitter: https://x.com/presleyroan
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@presleyroan6952
• Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@presleyroan