Watch Emily Nenni’s Paste Session from Austin

The Paste Sessions at South by Southwest invited Emily Nenni to bring her twang to our mobile “studio,” in this case popping up at the Colton House Hotel in Austin, Texas. California-born and Nashville-based, Nenni will release her third album, Movin’ Shoes, on May 1, 2026 via New West Records, blending Muscle Shoals and Memphis soul with Deep South blues-rock, bicoastal outlaw country, Sly Stone, and Linda Ronstadt’s Motown covers. “This isn’t strictly honky tonk like my former records, even though it’s still all the same influences,” Nenni explained in a press release. “I’m just drawing from more artists and genres than I have in the past.” 

Nenni began her session with the title track from her 2022 album On The Ranch, which touches on the benefits of getting away from noise and starting fresh. Nenni wrote most of the record in Colorado during the pandemic, using the time as an emotional and physical reset. Before transitioning into her second song, “Livin’ In Shame,” Nenni spoke on the impact our words have. She explained, “I was thinking about how we talk to ourselves about our bodies, and how there’s all this discussion about other’s bodies. We just need to be kinder to ourselves and each other. It’s just much easier said than done.” 

Nenni closed her Paste Session with the title track from her 2020 EP Long Game, a fitting end to the performance, as the song centers on trusting yourself and letting life unfold as it will. “Long Game” is about uncertainty and frustration, both in career and personal life, and ultimately lands somewhere more grounded. By the final lines, Nenni makes her point clearly: whatever comes, you’ll find your way through it.

Keep your eyes peeled for more Paste Sessions next week. Read our latest best songs column, which features Emily Nenni’s new single “What Have I Done Wrong.”

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