What does the weekend feel like to you? For Brooke Eden it’s a sigh of relief, permission to finally relax and take a load off. We can all agree that nothing beats that Friday feeling when all your work is done and it’s time to have fun. There’s even something about the word “weekend” that brings a sense of happiness to people. All of the above is exactly what Brooke wanted to deliver to fans with her debut EP, ‘Welcome to the Weekend.’ The Florida native has been making a name for herself in Nashville for the past few years and with the release of her EP this past September and highly anticipated new single, she’s generated an even bigger buzz in the industry. She put her heart and soul into the record which features four songs showcasing her incredible vocals and versatility. The lead single, ‘Diamonds,’ hit country radio on October 3rd and is already making an impact around the nation.
Co-written by Eden, ‘Diamonds’ is a story straight from the singer’s past. It was penned during her first writing session with Chris Destefano and Brett James, who asked her about high school and growing up in the sunshine state. Brooke’s hometown was so small that house parties were out of the question, so she and her friends needed an alternative to get together on the weekends, she explained. “We all used to go out to the woods, circle up our cars and trucks and turn on our headlights, and one person would turn on the local country station and that was like our weekend dance floor,” the singer described. “But the funny thing about it was that me and all my friends would get all dressed up to go out to the woods… we felt small town famous.” Her teenage stories translated into a song that’s relatable to girls of all ages. The carefree vibes and feel-good lyrics made it the perfect choice as the lead single from the EP, and her label agreed that it felt right.
Releasing an EP is an excellent way to introduce yourself to the world, especially when the songs are personal. The remaining three tracks on Eden’s EP, like ‘Diamonds,’ are all real stories. They were inspired by Brooke’s experiences, either personally or something she’s gone through beside a girlfriend. “‘Sunday Morning’ wasn’t written about me, it was actually written about one of my best friends. She had spent the night with this guy on a Saturday night, she was like kind of seeing him, it was that in between stage,” Brooke said, explaining an all too familiar situation for those attempting to date in 2016. “She called me on Sunday morning and was like, ‘I need you to come pick me up from this guy’s house. I just woke up and he’s not here,’” Eden continued. While her friend was wondering what she had done wrong, the singer gave her some straightforward advice. “Girl, all I know is if you’re going to be his Saturday night you better be his Sunday morning.” In that moment Brooke knew the song had to be written. She chose to put it on the record because it resonated so strongly with fans, along with another track, ‘Silence Speaks.’ Eden found that with these two songs in particular, after she had played them at shows fans were always asking how they could get a copy – and why deny your fans the music they want to hear? So the choice was pretty obvious. Sharing her personal stories has allowed Eden to develop a deeper connection with her fans, but it has also helped her open up more through songwriting. “I’m like an open book with a lot of things and a lot of things I keep really private. But when I write music that’s the one place where I don’t hold back. And I think that allowing myself to write truthfully and honestly and really vulnerably has been kind of a change in my music.”
Being vulnerable in your music can make releasing it to the public a very nerve-racking situation, but fortunately for Brooke ‘Welcome to the Weekend’ has been well-received among fans, other artists, and many media outlets. “You hope that people like it and that they relate to it and that they don’t think it sucks,” she laughed. “So to get people giving me thumbs up and high fives and other outlets really seeing it… it was really, really I guess just rewarding.” Eden is not one to deny that the road has been a bit tougher as a female emerging as a new artist. “It’s funny to see. You know you kind of come up in Nashville with other artists and I definitely see it being easier for the guys than for the girls,” she said with no hard feelings. “But we’re doing our thing, we’re making it happen!” The singer couldn’t be more grateful to be named one of CMT’s Next Women of Country as she joins a list of other extraordinary ladies like Cam, Kelsea Ballerini, and Maren Morris, to name a few. “CMT has been such a great partner for women in the last couple of years,” she said. “To have them recognize me as a woman of country and be a partner to help us get the new single out there and seen and heard is just such a great opportunity. I’m just so thankful to them for recognizing these females, and recognizing that there was such a lack of that female voice on country radio, and really being the ones to change that.”
Brooke is proof that hard work pays off, and it doesn’t hurt to impress the right people too. She’s been support for artists such as Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, and Tim McGraw, and she made such an impact on the latter, it lead to the opportunity to record the title song of the TLC series, ‘Too Close To Home,’ produced by Tyler Perry. “So Tyler Perry and Tim McGraw are buds,” she explained. “Tyler has this show, ‘Too Close To Home,’ and it’s about a girl from Alabama. So he thought it would be really cool to have a new female country singer be the voice for his show.” When you’re looking for an up-and-coming country singer, who else would you call but your BFF, Tim McGraw. Perry was looking for some recommendations and Tim immediately suggested Brooke. “Tyler Perry called my manager and three days later I was in the studio recording the song,” she explained. But it gets even better. Eden and Perry hit it off and and the producers asked for more music. She sent over ‘Diamonds’ and they loved it so much they ended up putting it in the show too. The whole situation is kind of surreal for the singer. “I like fell in love with country music because of Tim McGraw,” she said. “‘I Like It, I Love It’ was the first single that I asked my mom if we could go get. I think I was in the first grade… I taught my entire first grade class the chorus of ‘I Like It, I Love It’ on the school bus. It’s like a totally full circle moment for me!” she gushed.
‘Welcome to the Weekend’ is a collection of stories from Brooke’s past, but the singer is looking towards the future. “I’m working on a full length album, at some point I’m sure we will do a video for ‘Diamonds’ which will be really fun,” she said. “We’re also working on some Welcome to the Weekend tour dates all over the country starting in January!”
The weekend is a time to have fun, unwind, and to celebrate – it’s when you create your favorite memories. And while this EP has given Brooke some incredible memories to look back upon, she’s just getting started. Eden is certainly on a path to a bright future as she’s an artist that truly shines.
You can download Brooke’s EP, ‘Welcome to the Weekend’ on iTunes, here.
Make sure to follow Brooke on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her official website.
Photo Credit: Joseph Llanes