Celebrated singer-songwriter Mya Byrne shares her sunny, California-inspired new single “Autumn Sun,” produced by Grammy-nominated songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan. An ode to breaking through the dense weight of heavy air into the promise of renewed freshness, “Autumn Sun” is the inaugural single for Kill Rock Stars Nashville – the all-new sister label to legendary indie rock label Kill Rock Stars.

“‘Autumn Sun’ was written in Berkeley, California, right after the tragic Paradise wildfire smoke cleared,” says Byrne. “That morning, the harshness of the late autumn light that had been filtered by fire completely changed, buffered and diffused by really tremendous clouds and some kind of refraction. It was the first clean air day, and turned into a very pretty afternoon. My housemates and I all said the same sorts of things about how beautiful and different the light had become as the entire Bay seemed to take a collective deep breath outside for the first time in weeks, and I wrote the song in about an hour on my back porch, a snapshot of the day and a reflection of how seasons of change change us.” She continues, “It seemed really appropriate that was gonna be the song that launches this new label — Nashville is changing, and this song is literally about that moment when you know things are about to be different, but you don’t exactly know how—yet. You just know that it’s happening. I believe in Slim Moon, and all the work KRS has historically done to support the cutting edge of music. To have been asked to be the very first artist to release on Kill Rock Stars Nashville both is an honor and demonstrates their commitment to trans women and other marginalized artists being firmly centered in Nashville, in the Americana and country community. This is also exemplified by my longtime friend Aaron Lee Tasjan recording it—he wants to use his skill set and big heart to try to move the needle for me and for other trans people. I really believe Nashville is rising to meet this moment with us.”

Slim Moon, founder and head of Kill Rock Stars speaks about the launch of the new sister label: “Kill Rock Stars Nashville will release records that totally make sense as Kill Rock Stars records, but specifically that have ties to Nashville and/or are informed by the music traditions that are uniquely born and bred in America – Blues, Country, Roots, Americana, Jazz, Bluegrass. This label has been many things to many people, and we’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing songwriters, including Thao Nguyen, Elliott Smith, and Colin Meloy. What stands out to me about Mya is her world class, top notch songwriting. Kill Rock Stars has always supported a lot of women and queer artists, and having the first artist on the Nashville imprint be a trans woman couldn’t be more perfect.” 

Mya Byrne is a rich, powerful storyteller, delivering a blend of country, glam-pop, blues and poetic folk songwriting. Out and proud, she is a leader for the presence of queer trans women in country and Americana, and last year became one of the first two trans artists to play AmericanaFest. Recently featured on Reba’s Top Ten remix of “I’m A Survivor” (on mandolin & lap steel), Byrne was named a 2022 Artist to Watch by Nashville Scene/CMT, and wrote and performed the theme song for Amazon Music’s Country Heat podcast hosted by Kelly Sutton. Earlier this summer, she announced her signing with Kill Rock Stars and released a moving performance of “Where The Lavender Grows.” 

Photo Courtesy: Lauren Tabak