One of my favorite songs, not including Christmas songs, that was released since Halloween is “Lonely” by Sheyna Gee. The song, which Gee co-wrote with Garrett Thorn, was released on Dec. 6 and has received over 62,000 plays on Spotify. It’s also been featured on playlists, including the All New Country playlist on Spotify. It’s a song that Gee described as a sad song with a happy ending.
“Lonely” is well-written and evokes a lot of emotion, especially in people who don’t have a special someone during the festive Christmas season. It opens with a question, “Is it just me or is everybody lonely?” The second verse increases the emotional intensity with another question: “Is there more or a reason to keep trying?”
There is an explicit label on the song, but it’s a case where her use of profanity fits with the tone of the song. While some might think it’s extreme, another less explicit word might seem less authentic.
Gee’s most successful single to date is Ghost,” which was released in 2019. The song has been streamed over a million times on Spotify. She said it initially received only about 3,000 plays and didn’t go viral until she put it on TikTok in 2022.
She said Tik Tok has been everything the success of the song. She thinks it became popular because it’s a song about a situation a lot of people have been in and resonates with them. “I guess people love sad songs,” she said.
While Gee blends country and rock in her songs these days, she said she didn’t listen to country music until she was an adult and was in rock bands when she was younger. “People kept calling me country and I kept fighting it for so long,” Gee was inspired by artists like Tom Petty, Alanis Morisette, Nirvana, and No Doubt.
One thing people notice when they Gee is her tattoos. She has several tattoos, but they are all located on one side of her body. She said she likes for her tattoos to be funny. For example, she has a guitar tattooed on her ring finger because she’s married to music.
Gee can often be seen playing at some of the popular bars and honky tonks on Lower Broadway in Nashville. She said she loves playing it and meeting the people there. She said about half of the people she meets on Broadway had seen her on Tik Tok.
Gee said she may play 200-275 dates a year if she stays home. It could be less if she is traveling to different places to play shows. Either way, she loves to perform. “I try to give people best show I can no matter where I am,” she said.
She will end 2024 and start 2025 with shows on Broadway. She will play at The Valentine on New Year’s Eve. In January, she has shows at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row, Casa Rosa, Luke’s 32 Bridge, and Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen.
People can find more information about Gee on her website, www.sheynagee.com. She can also be found on Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram, adding that she doesn’t use the latter two as much as the first.