(Nashville, TN): Kerrigan Barry’s new single “Phase,” released on February 29th, 2024. You can listen to the single here.
Raw, real, and unapologetically reckless, Kerrigan Barry was born with a fire in her heart, stoked by rock ‘n’ roll in her bones. The Cleveland, Ohio native (now a Nashville resident) found catharsis and truth in writing lyrics and melodies after watching Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live as a 5-year-old kid. Quite possibly the only 4th grader in her generation to have The Rolling Stones’ “Tattoo You” on their iPod shuffle, Kerrigan began her lifelong love affair with music earlier than most. It has since proven to be the most beautifully intoxicating relationship she ever imagined experiencing. Barry was selected as a finalist in the 35th Annual American Songwriter Song Competition, praised for her raw approach to putting pen to paper. Her fans have been anxiously waiting for her to drop her new music.
With lyrics, “I’m back in black eyeliner / I’ll probably steal your lighter / Just sick enough to get an inner lip tattoo / My parents used to say/ I’d grow out of this one day / Just reminiscing, shit / What if it isn’t a phase?”, Barry brings us back to the sounds of early 2000s teenage nostalgia, bringing us the modern Avril Lavinge fantasy we’ve always wanted.
“For me, “Phase” is about integrating nostalgia, that feeling so much of us seem to chase, into the right here and right now. If who you were back then in your formative years—the music you loved, the style you rocked, the icons you worshipped—still makes you smile, then why should you have to let that go? You shouldn’t. At the same time, for me as an artist, this song is my first step towards becoming who I always saw myself as, the artist I always admired and truly wanted to be. This genre isn’t a fad for me, it never has been, so I figure it’s about damn time I stop wasting good songs trying to sound the way I think other people might “respect” and start just being myself. It’s a cool realization. Being me is freaking cool.” – Kerrigan Barry
