Riley Cotton

Riley Cotton is a Connecticut-based folk singer/songwriter. 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 divine femininity in the face of an industry that did not embrace them. When writing her own music, Riley aspires to share her lived experiences, 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. 

Upon the release of her debut album, Cotton has been nominated for a New England Music Award: 2023 Rising Star Connecticut, charted at the #34 slot on FAI Folk Radio for the month of September 2022, and featured in Connecticut Magazine’s Fall Arts issue. 

The Mercury Lounge, NYC December 27, 2023
Shot by Chris Marion 

Support the Making of my 2nd Album

The Falling of the Fervor, 2024

It’s hard to believe my debut album, A House with Blue Siding, was released nearly two years ago. Back then, I took seven of the first songs I had ever written into the studio, having never played them out or shared them with anyone. They were bones of vocal melodies and strummed chords on guitar.

Those songs became a breathing snapshot of a formative period in my songwriting and personal journey, and I am grateful for all that they taught me while bringing them to life.

But this time around, the process is going to be much different.

A few months ago after receiving a nomination for a New England Music Award and starting my life over in a new city, I was feeling uplifted by a wonderful group of friends and was sitting on a pile of new material and suddenly, I felt the pull to return to the studio. I turned these newfound friends - players from the Connecticut music scene I have such respect and admiration for - into a band and… 

In July of 2024, we are going to be recording a five song EP, The Falling of the Fervor, at Ghost Hit Recording in West Springfield, MA with sound engineer, Andrew Oedel. I am going to be self-producing, along with my friend Michael Sanford Day (Little Ugly, Among the Acres, Michael Sanford Day & The Hard Feelings) but we are going to need your help to make it happen.

I am launching a crowdfund in attempt to raise $10,000 for my next album. The KickStarter is intended to cover the cost of recording, mixing, and mastering the album.

To read more about the project, contribute to the campaign, and order exclusive merch to support the project, you can follow the link below.

Music

A House With Blue Siding

Riley Cotton

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They often say you take your whole life to write your first album; drawing from all of your past experiences, gaining the confidence to put those ideas to paper, studying up on all of your heroes and their journeys to find your own path. A House with Blue Siding is my love and frustrations, my dearest triumph; a compilation of countless notebook

They often say you take your whole life to write your first album; drawing from all of your past experiences, gaining the confidence to put those ideas to paper, studying up on all of your heroes and their journeys to find your own path. A House with Blue Siding is my love and frustrations, my dearest triumph; a compilation of countless notebook scribbles, iphone notes riddled with typos and voice memos of melodies written in my car rides to work.

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NERFA Curator's Showcase 2023
Asbury Park, NJ

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