Riley Cotton is a New England Music Award nominated singer/songwriter based in Hartford, CT. Cotton has been described as “…an old-school type of songwriter whose songs and performance are able to cross space and time to touch that part of your brain where love, loss, happiness, and longing all co-exist” (Chip McCabe, The Dad Metal Blog). While growing up in Texas, much of her musical taste was shaped by the voices of the women of country music who so boldly embraced the power of their belt and femininity in the face of an industry that did not embrace them. While writing her own music, Riley aspires to share her lived experiences with, take a stance on the issues that compel her, and utilize the masterful story telling mechanisms so prevalent in the music she grew up on.
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Riley Cotton's latest record Falling of the Fervor was released in November 2024.
“Cotton has a knack for writing songs that seem familiar and comforting, yet deftly push the boundaries of what it means to be "Americana".”
— Connecticut Magazine
“If asked at the beginning of the year what my most anticipated album from a CT artist was in 2024 the first name that would come to mind was Riley Cotton... I had a deep-seated feeling this record was going to be top notch. My intuition was rewarded. Every now and then you hear a record from an artist and think, ‘this is the record that’s going to put them on the map’. That’s the kind of potential harnessed on The Falling of the Fervor. ”
— Top Connecticut Albums 2024 | The Metal Dad
“Her transcendence is coming on fast and her light shines irreversibly into those dark corners.”
— The Westerly Sun
“From the first time I heard [Free Man in Utah], I felt a flood of connections. It reminds me a little of John Prine (specifically “Angel from Montgomery”), then my favorite from 2022 Olivia Ellen Lloyd, but really… this is a sound that captures the spirit of country and Americana music... I bet old Handsome Johnny would love this song, honestly. It feels like a contemporary classic that pays exceptional homage to the legends of the genre.”
— Ear to the Ground Music