Before Nashville became her home away from home, Brooke Lee had to earn her place in the city with late nights on Broadway, early mornings at day jobs, and a whole lot of networking in the community. That grind helped shape her into the artist she is today, as she prepares for a big year ahead, including a national campaign spot, a major tour opportunity, and the release of her sophomore EP.
Music has been a part of Lee’s life for as long as she can remember, but a concert at 13 with her dad showed her she was destined for the stage. Her dad continued to support her dreams from that moment forward, acting as her manager in the band she formed a few years later. This would eventually give her the boost to move to Nashville at 21 years old and launch the next phase of her career.
Now working alongside Spirit Music Publishing and signed with CAA, Lee is looking forward to dropping sophomore EP, Desert Darling, on April 17. Leading the six-song project is her newest single, “Burn To Black,” which offers a powerful, mid-tempo look at heartbreak and captures the kind of memories that are hard to escape when you fall too fast and too hard. Additionally, the songstress just dropped the title track to the forthcoming project, giving fans another look at what’s to come.
In between the new music releases, fans can catch Lee performing in support of NEEDTOBREATHE’S Barely Elegant Acoustic Tour and partnering with Chevrolet to put a country twist on the brand’s classic “See the USA in Your Chevrolet.” The reimagined track arrived February 5, alongside a national ad staring Lee that made its broadcast debut during the Olympic opening ceremony the following day.
Keep reading to discover how Brooke Lee turned early inspiration into a thriving music career and what’s next for her in 2026.
Can you take us back to that concert you experienced at 13 years old that changed everything for you?
My dad is a huge live music guy. Loves to go watch live music and there was a band Blue Monday and they were all classic rock back home and he got me in, they were having a party. I was in downtown Charlotte, I can see it still. But we walked in and they just had so much energy and the lead singer was a female and she was amazing, just really engaging with the crowd. And you could tell that she was performing, but she just really let herself go on stage and you could tell it was her safe place I guess. And so just feeling that energy and the energy that she could bring to a room and I was like, wow, is this something that I can do myself? I have always sang in church when I was little and stuff, but I think seeing that show really set the fire in me to figure out, how do I do this? Which ended up leading to me starting my first band when I was 15 and my guitar player at the time was 16 and we’re still playing together now. So it was a pretty epic experience to go see them.
How do you feel that having these musical influences around you throughout your upbringing has shaped who you are as an artist today?
My grandfather played piano and he sang, and so I feel like he influenced me a lot. But my parents, as much as my dad loves live music, definitely knows nothing about, I mean, he knows what he knows, but he’s not in music by any means. Both my parents are teachers, so for them I feel like they’ve just been learning as I’ve gone, but they’ve been so, so supportive. And my dad actually managed the band that I started, our guitar player’s Dad was our sound and light guy and from, I don’t know, 15, 16 until we were like 20 or so, they ran the show with us. And so it was just really cool I think having the support of them and our parents and they were at every single show and it’s carried into us moving to Nashville and continuing the journey out here. So I feel like music wise, they didn’t have too much of an influence. He was helpful, my dad would pick our set list out, we didn’t know a lot of classic rock songs. But the support that our parents gave in the house was so beneficial. It was huge.
What was the transition to Nashville like for you?
Oh, it was a crazy transition. For one, I hadn’t really lived too close to the city. I mean, I was like 20 minutes outside of it, but I wasn’t in the city. And when I moved to Nashville, I knew two or three people, I just didn’t really know that many people. And so I got here and I was working and we lived pretty close to the city and our first three months of living in town, our house got robbed and our cars and it was just like, Welcome to Nashville. But it definitely, I feel like made you look back and say, ‘okay, do I really want to do this? Is this worth me being here?’ But it was a grind. I was playing on Broadway five, six nights a week and doing closing shifts, so 10:00 PM to 2:45 AM and it was exhausting, nonstop.
How did you come to sign with Spirit Music Publishing amdist all that?
I worked at Free People at Greenhill’s Mall for maybe a month or so. I wanted a discount on an outfit for a show, so I worked there. But a writer, Jess Cayne came in and she’s with Spirit, who I’m currently signed with, and I just posted a cover on my Instagram and I had asked her to follow me. I was like, I don’t know anyone here and you’re going to the CMA’s so you must know somebody. And so she followed me and sent a cover to Spirit and they stayed in touch for a year and Derek Wells ended up coming to a show on Broadway at 11 o’clock at night to let me know that they were going to offer me. And it was just the sweetest experience, and they have been amazing and just really poured into me, but also they’ve given me the space to just roam and figure out what it is that I want to do without the pressure of needing to blow up or anything. And it’s neat to see all that paying off now.
For the past year, you’ve been steadily releasing music in preparation for your sophomore EP. What can you share about this next musical chapter?
Yeah, I feel like the last year has just been honing in on who I am, both as an artist, but just as a human being and the kind of person I want to be and represent with my music and digging in on the stories that I want to tell and keeping it very authentic. And we’ve been moving a lot of pieces around with production and the players on the music and all these different things and it’s been a really neat year because I feel like this is the year that I was able to really establish who I am and I got to a point where I was really confident with the music we were releasing and it helped us look into this next year and what we wanted to do. And I felt like it was really important to get a project together to really put a stamp on, This is Brooke Lee, and kick the year off with it. So we spent the back half of last year really digging in on a new project called Desert Darling, which releases April 17th and we’ve been starting to release the singles.
“Burn To Black” is the lead track to the upcoming collection. How does this song set the tone for what fans can expect from the project as a whole?
So this EP specifically for me is my 19 to 25 chapter. I just turned 26 a few weeks ago and I wanted to get that chapter and close it and part of that was I went through a breakup. My first serious breakup and heartbreak and the whole thing, and I got into a place where I was starting to date a little bit and getting open to that world and it was just so weird to me being back out and now having the boundaries and also the memories and being able to just love so freely and carefree. And I brought that idea to the room and the other writers, Jon Nite and Danielle Blakey. We related on the topic and we ran with it…I feel like this, like I said, just walks you through a timeline of my 19 to 25 and I always say, my thing is “stay wild, child.” Growing up, my mom always called me a wild child. And so I always have tried to keep that childlike spirit and I feel like this is going to really cater to other wild child’s who are 19 or who are 25 and different points in life. And so it’s very youthful and I feel like it’s feeling weightless with somebody and becoming someone in this chapter of feeling weightless on your own and just becoming who you are. And so I’m excited. I feel like people are going to get some insight on who I am as a person and also be able to see a good direction we’re going in musically.
What has it been like for you to dig deep into those personal experiences of heartbreak and share your stories and lessons with fans?
In a way, it’s a cool closure for me, but it’s also, I always say being on stage is my therapy and it’s my safe place and I feel most myself. And so I feel like every time I sing these songs it brings more healing to it or it becomes more of an anthem and being able to sing songs and record and release songs that come really from my stories, it makes it so easy to connect to. And I think that’s my favorite thing about music is when you can connect with other people through it. And so just keeping it as real as I can, sometimes it stings and opens new or old wounds and stuff, but I think it’s the best way to connect with people and I think people know when you’re being really truly authentic. And so just trying to dig deep and get all the emotion I can into it.
You recently partnered with Chevrolet to sing a modern version of its iconic “See the USA in Your Chevrolet” theme song in a national campaign. What was it like getting to your own country spin on the iconic track?
I have butterflies in my stomach when I get asked that question. It was very, very cool. I personally had never heard the song before, but I’ve always been, I love Chevy and I love what they represent and building the relationship with them and so when they brought up the idea, I was all in on it. When I realized the timeline on it, I was like, I wonder if my grandparents have ever heard this song before. So I called them and they knew every word of it. They were so excited. So I feel like it was already just the coolest partnership and opportunity and I’m still pinching myself over it, but to have the connection with my grandparents has been so special. And then to be able to put my own spin on it and bring it back to life, I guess just being able to carry that in the studio…it’s really neat seeing how chirped up people are getting and I just feel like it’s going to bring just a lot of light and smiles and it’s just a really feel good thing to be able to do.
Whas it like filming the commercial in the unique setting of Castle Rock in Utah?
I was so excited. I am an adrenaline junkie and I tell everyone this, but I am huge on wanting to have the best story at the dinner table and I was like, oh, this is going to win for a long time. It was epic. We got out there and it was in Moab, Utah and it was a 400 feet rock in Moab called Castle Rock and it was way up there, but they had helicopters out there. They took the truck up with the helicopter. I had never been in one before, so sitting up there and everything was safe. They brought myself and the director up there and it was wild. You couldn’t see the ground and you’re surrounded by mountains and snow caps and just red everywhere and it was so beautiful. I am still, I can’t believe it happened. It was just trying to stay in the moment… I always say with my music that I love feeling small and I love traveling because I love feeling small and so I felt tiny there and it was like everything, just the whole world surrounding you and it was really epic. It was a wild experience.
You are also serving as support for NEEDTOBREATHE’S Barely Elegant Acoustic Tour. How did you prepare for this run?
I am so excited, both my manager and I and my guitar player, we always listened to them growing up with our parents and it was just the kid and me was like, oh my gosh, this is a huge win. So I feel like it’s going to be a really good, fill your cup tour for them. So it’ll be very intimate, just a really sweet show, but we’ve just, honestly, this entire week has been just mentally preparing and trying to get rest when the weekend, because between the shows and Chevy, it’s going to be an epic one.
The post Get to Know Brooke Lee: From Small-Town Beginnings to Sophomore EP and Big 2026 Plans [Exclusive] appeared first on Country Now.
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