Nashville-based indie-folk artist Bridget Caldwell had a simple mantra as she wrote Kingmaker, her debut EP. “The way that you write good songs is by being present and keenly aware in your daily life,” she says. “I find a lot of solace in everyday moments.”

Ready with a quick laugh and a cutting sense of humor, Caldwell is a sharp conversationalist. On the five songs on Kingmaker, though, she shows another side - deeply introspective, with empathetic insight into the human condition. For Caldwell, the duality of tackling dark  topics head-on while maintaining a positive attitude is essential, just to keep sane, and simultaneously strengthen her songwriting. “It doesn't escape me that often in order to feel euphoric, you also have to feel extreme sorrow,” she says. “That's a hard reality of life, but I think accepting that makes it easier for me to find the humor in adversity.”

Caldwell learned about life’s unpredictable highs and lows as she was growing up in Salem, Oregon. With a laugh, she describes herself as a “hammy, emotional, chaotic, child.” Cast as Snow White in a school play, she got the musical theater bug and went on to train extensively, taking singing and dancing lessons and joining her school’s prestigious choir and theater program. But towards the end of high school, after a severe bout of mono, she had her tonsils removed which significantly altered her singing voice. She found it impossible to belt out show tunes like she’d previously done with ease.

Devastated but determined, Caldwell quickly pivoted, moving to Nashville to attend Belmont University, where she majored in Commercial Music. Being in the Music City made her realize that her “new” voice, while different than before, was actually better suited for the new sound that she wanted to achieve. At the same time, watching her classmates encouraged her to expand her own skills beyond performing. “I got swept in with this group of ragtag kids, and everyone was writing songs,” she says. “So I thought, ‘Well, maybe I should try doing that.’”

Inspired, Caldwell wrote a song about her brother, an Army Special Forces soldier who had been deployed to Afghanistan several times. Although it was only her first stab at songwriting, Caldwell immediately knew she was on the right track: “That was the first moment that I was like, “Oh yeah, I do have something to say. I have a viewpoint.’” Her thoughtful, observant, and honest approach with that song set the tone for all of the work that she’s done since.

In truth, though, Caldwell had begun mastering songwriting long before her time at Belmont. Her mother loved icons such as Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Fleetwood Mac, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis, while her father favored country artists like Trisha Yearwood, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams. Although she didn’t realize it at the time, Caldwell was absorbing musical lessons from all of these artists. These days, she continues to learn from masters of the craft such as Jason Isbell, Ruston Kelly, and Kathleen Edwards.

Caldwell’s natural writing abilities impressed folks including established songwriters who mentored and  taught her the ropes in Nashville’s songwriting circles. Another major helping hand came from her Belmont classmate Luke Preston, who encouraged her to start performing in the local scene, and who also began co-writing with her (resulting in two tracks on Kingmaker, “Pharmaceuticals” and “Take It Or Leave It.”) A third key relationship formed when producer Christian Harger heard her performing during a recording session for another artist, and he was so impressed that he signed on to oversee Kingmaker for her. The EP was mixed by Gena Johnson (Jason Isbell, Ruston Kelly, Ashley Monroe).

As for what has set Caldwell apart in the competitive Nashville scene, she speculates that it’s because she deliberately remains grounded in reality. “I focus on staying in my lane and what I know to be true which ultimately helps me grow as a songwriter,” she says. “I often think that our individual narratives and themes are more common than we think they are. And that's the point of music, right? It's for all of us to listen to it and think, ‘Thank God, it's not just me.’”

This empathy and insight are especially evident on Kingmaker’s two lead singles, the title track and “Pharmaceuticals.” The wistful ballad “Kingmaker,” Caldwell says, “is definitely a snapshot of my life - specifically a relationship that I was in that required a lot of support from me. I learned very clearly that it was not my job to save anybody else. It just made me think how often in our lives we give up parts of ourselves in order to lift up other people. What's the messaging that we’ve all received that tells us you can love someone enough that they will love you back - or that they will change their habits?”

With “Kingmaker” lyrics --  Learned to settle but born to run / Gives part of herself to everyone / The thing about leaving home / Is you learn what you already know /She tells herself the important thing / Is to be somebody somebody needs -- Caldwell  shares, “ I started writing it thinking of my mother, but it turned out to be a song about me. It’s a song about the strength that’s required for sacrifice and love that is vulnerable and doesn’t ask for recognition in all of its forms; caregiving, partnering, working, and on and on.” she adds, “We’ve all had a Kingmaker in our lives...many if we are lucky. I hope this song reminds every Kingmaker of their value. None of us would make it without them.”

In contrast, “Pharmaceuticals” takes an uptempo instrumental approach - but lyrically, it’s also a sensitive examination of a fractured relationship.  Caldwell wrote the track with Luke Preston, who was also experiencing a similar situation. What started as a play off the moment- sharing an evening and a hardly palatable bottle of Barefoot,  (naturally) drinking it out of solo cups - turned into a song that  speaks to the heartache of loving someone you can’t save. “We shared the feeling of despair watching these people in our lives that we loved so much just disintegrating, and thinking, ‘What can I do here?’ And coming to the conclusion of, ‘Well, not a lot.’”

Caldwell sings, Cheap white wine in a plastic cup / Grab your favorite pharmaceuticals and smash em up/ Til the tears are running when you start coming down / You can’t find your keys but it’s better that way / You’ve got no business driving in that kind of state / Plus you need a good reason to be keeping me around.  “I think that's something that many people experience - but we wanted to write it in a way that didn't sound judgmental.” For the songwriter it’s the real life-observations from a relationship which taught her one of life's hardest lessons: no amount of love can will a person to change.  

Finding catharsis and connection through the creative process has been so powerful for Caldwell that she’s already hard at work on a full-length album, to be released later this year.

But first, Caldwell is excited to introduce her work to the world with Kingmaker: “I feel genuinely secure in that these songs are honest, so I feel this peace about it. They are the most genuine pictures of myself that I can put out there, at this specific time in my life.