Meet Adele Country, Erin Kirby’s Powerhouse Sound

Erin Kirby. Photo by M.E.

Twenty-one-year-old rising country music artist Erin Kirby has a voice that’s impossible to ignore. It’s soulful, soaring, and grounded in something larger than herself. She calls her sound “Adele Country.”

Yet, her journey to country music has been anything but linear.

Growing up, Kirby, who was raised in Georgia, was a tomboy who found herself enraptured by TLC’s hit series Toddlers & Tiaras – so much so that she told her mom that she wanted to compete in a pageant herself.

“She thought I was crazy,” Kirby recalls. “She was like, ‘Well, you’re going to have to like paint your fingernails or something, is that okay?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think I can handle that for a Saturday.’”

Kirby’s parents, who were strict, told her that she could only compete in natural pageants (i.e. pageants that emphasize a contestant’s natural appearance and abilities rather than the heavy makeup, elaborate hair, and over-the-top costumes that define glitz pageants).

When it came time to choose a talent, Kirby fell in love with singing. Her stage presence and aptitude for performing ultimately landed her a spot on Lifetime’s Kim of Queens when she was just nine years old.

Yet, Kirby, who grew up listening to her parents’ favorite R&B and rock hits, was adamant that she did not like country music.

In an effort to find her niche and further hone her God-given gifts, she started booking any open mic gig she could and began co-writing songs just a few years later.

When Kirby turned sixteen, she auditioned for American Idol with a powerful rendition of Jessie J’s “Who You Are” before judges Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie.

“The first thing that came out of Luke Bryan’s mouth was, ‘Have you ever considered doing country music?’” Kirby reflects. “And I said to him, ‘No. Not at all. I think I could listen to it, but I would never consider it for myself.’”

However, Kirby found herself drawn to the genre six months later while serving as a worship leader alongside a budding country music artist.

“He was playing me country songs the entire week,” she recalls. “From the beginning, I was like, ‘Can you turn this off?’ Then, in the middle of the week, I found myself writing a country duet with him. Three months after that, I ended up meeting my team in Nashville,” she shares.

“I just felt like God was saying, ‘Hey, you’re gonna be eighteen in a couple of months, you’ve done all these other genres and all these other things, but this is where you’re supposed to be. You’ve lived all this life, now tell it in a songwriting genre. Just let the people hear what you have to say.’”

For the past three years, Kirby has been doing just that. Today, her hard work has culminated in the release of her debut EP, In and Out of Love. The five-song collection blends country storytelling with the emotional intensity and powerhouse vocals of an Adele ballad.

It’s a sound that Kirby aptly calls “Adele Country,” and it reflects not just the highs and lows of love, but the guiding presence of faith that exists in Kirby’s life.

“I truly believe that each person is given a gift from the Lord, and I know that music is my gift,” Kirby says confidently.

“I know that the Lord is speaking through me. It’s hard sometimes because we don’t know what the heck He’s doing, but He always opens a door or shuts the right one. I don’t know what He has planned,” she says with an audible smile. “But I think that music truly heals, and I believe that He’s going to use me in that way. He’s going to heal hearts and relationships and souls through the music that I’m creating and through my voice. I just know that.”

The In and Out of Love EP cover. Courtesy of Erin Kirby.

Although the EP unfolds like the lifecycle of a relationship – from the rush of meeting someone new to the subsequent heartbreak and ultimate gratitude for having experienced it all – Kirby admits that much of the project was actually inspired by her journey to country music.

“Sometimes I have such a struggle with being in music because I love it so much, but it can be so irritating,” Kirby confides. “I feel like that’s how a relationship can be because I’m not gonna give this thing up – I’m just gonna talk crap about it for a minute and then love it all over again, and I feel like that’s exactly what this project says. I found myself so free in the writing process. I was putting my heart and soul into everything, and, eventually, we ended up with these five songs that we felt went together so perfectly.”

Each song on the EP offers a glimpse into Kirby’s life and artistry. From the reflective ache threaded throughout “Regretting You” to the raw honesty of “Whiskey Does,” the project captures both personal heartbreak and universal truths about love, resilience, and self-discovery.

“Even if someone isn’t struggling with a relationship, they’ll relate to the EP in a different kind of way, and that just makes me so excited to think that that’s possible,” Kirby says.

With her powerhouse vocals, unflinching vulnerability, and strong debut, Erin Kirby is not just introducing the world to her music — she’s defining a genre all her own and setting herself up for a promising career in the country world that she once rejected but that God knew she was always meant to be a part of.