Atlanta native Kristina Murray moved to Nashville in 2014 with a fresh and original debut album and steely determination. The country singer and songwriter carved out a respected space at honky tonks like Santa’s Pub and the American Legion. When hard work and critical acclaim for her two releases didn’t launch her career to a new orbit, it felt like defeat. That, plus the pandemic, fueled some challenging times and emotions that inspired her new one, Little Blue, a lovely, lament-filled album on New West’s Normaltown imprint. Murray is due for new waves of attention, and we talk about how hard that is to manifest in this edition of The String.

JD Clayton is one of the first emerging artists to release music in an era of new leadership at the historic Rounder Records in Nashville. He’s an open-hearted guy who got the songwriting bug growing up in Fort Smith, AR and who then found his songs and his way on stage led to organic growth. His 2023 album Long Way From Home got him out on the road in a big way and led to some high profile opening shows. He produced his new album Blue Sky Sundays, a fresh and catchy take on country rock, with his brotherly band. He seems to embody the ethos of his feel-good song “High Hopes & Low Expectations.”

Carter Vintage Guitars, a Music City landmark, has settled into a routine after some big changes. Its founding owners sold the business to the North American Guitar company, who moved in 2024 to a larger space just across the street from its original home on Eighth Ave. South. They kept or adapted nearly all of the features of the old shop, including extensive mail order sales and a video series. WMOT intern journalist Shauna Reynolds reports.