It wasn’t long before CMA Fest that I heard Ingrid Angress for the first time on SiriusXM The Highway. Her voice is unique enough to stand out from all of the other artists, but it was her songwriting that really caught my attention.
I wanted to make sure to catch her perform during the week of CMA Music Fest. She played an official CMA Fest show at the Firestone Country Roads stage at Ascend Ampitheater on Saturday, June 8. She also played the CMT Block Party on Wednesday, June 5 and Spotify House at Ole Red on Sunday, June 9.
The song that first caught my attention was “More Hearts Than Mine,” a song that warns a romantic interest that her family would also be hurt if they meet him and they break up. It was a point of view that I’m not sure I’ve heard before in a song. It became even more meaningful after watching her talk about her family at CMA Music Fest. Andress came from a large family and she was homeschooled. It made sense that she was concerned that a potential break up would hurt her family.
I had also heard “Both” and “Lady Like,” two songs that I thought were just as well written. During her performance, she also played some songs that haven’t been released yet. Judging from those songs, I expect her debut album to be great.
“The Stranger” is one unreleased song that I really enjoyed. It was a song that she wrote about her parent’s relationship. All of the songs performed sounded like they could be possible radio singles.