SHEFFIELD— Nashville-based singer-songwriter, producer, and engineer Mary
Bragg blends Americana, folk, country, indie rock, and Southern soul into music rooted
in honest storytelling and rich vocal harmonies. Her acclaimed albums have earned
recognition from NPR Music, Rolling Stone, and other national music publications.
Bragg’s latest album, Secrets to Strangers, was produced by Muscle Shoals’ own John
Paul White and Ben Tanner and recorded at the legendary FAME Studios. For this
special Ritz Theater performance, Bragg will be joined on stage by White and
Tanner, bringing the creative team behind Secrets to Strangers together for a special
live collaboration. White also appears with Bragg on the album’s duet, “What Do I Do.”
About Secrets to Strangers:
Every great song is essentially a secret told to a stranger. And when the truth is clear,
the stranger recognizes themselves in it. Mary Bragg describes the title Secrets to
Strangers as a "zoomed-out representation" of her latest release, a collection of deeply
personal stories offered to the outside world. "All these spaces are invitations to share a
truth for the sake of connecting your own experience to another human being's," Bragg
says.
Across twelve songs, she approaches memory, longing, and self-acceptance with grace
and lyrical finesse. Recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, a legendary room that
captured landmark records by Aretha Franklin, Etta James, and countless others, one
gets the sense, as more of Bragg's songs go to tape, that what is taking place will be a
major career breakthrough. The hooky "Kid Flamingo," the bossa-tinged "I Like It Here,"
a poetic embrace of life's messiness: all come to life with co-producers Ben Tanner and
John Paul White, stretching Americana to include indie rock, pop, early '80s radio vibes,
and southern soul. "It's geographically neutral," Bragg says. "I like that it's not trying to
satisfy the bounds of one genre." A dream team of players including Chad Gamble
(Jason Isbell's 400 Unit), bassist Zac Cockrell (Alabama Shakes), and
guitarist/keyboardist Jay Gonzalez (Drive-By Truckers) helped build the album
alongside collaborators Maia Sharp, Mindy Smith, and John Paul White.
Bragg has quietly become one of Americana’s most admired artists. NPR called her
breakout Lucky Strike “one of the year’s best,” and Rolling Stone praised Violets as Camouflage for its “mix of classic country twang and gentle chamber-pop.”A Berklee-trained producer herself, she handed off production duties this time, wanting to “expand
what the songs could become in a way that was newly open to possibility.”
The result is an album about giving yourself permission to enter a day without all the
answers. “I hope that people who hear the record will immediately feel called to honor
their own voices,” Bragg says, “to hear their own joy and pain, and say, ‘Yeah, that’s me
too.”
(Retrieved 10/2/2026) https://www.singlelock.com/new-products/new-products/mary-bragg-
secrets-to-strangers
ABOUT THE OPENING PERFORMANCE:
Lockhart, Jones & Elliott is a brand-new Florence, Alabama project featuring singer-
songwriters McKenzie Lockhart, Morgan Jones of Cinnamon Jones, and Caleb Elliott.
After gathering to co-write a song, the three friends decided to create an entire album
and form a band. Drawing inspiration from Crosby, Stills & Nash and Simon &
Garfunkel, their acoustic-driven folk and Americana sound centers on three-part
harmonies and songwriting. They have plans to record their first album in the Shoals
this fall with veteran producer and engineer Ben Tanner of Single Lock Records.
The performance will be held Friday, October 16, 2026, at the historic Ritz Theatre in
Sheffield, Alabama.
Performance Schedule:
Friday – October 16th Doors open 6:00pm / Performance 7:00pm
Tickets are available through the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art & Ritz Theatre.
Theatre-goers are encouraged to reserve their seats early.
For tickets and additional information, visit tennesseevalleyarts.org or call (256) 383-
0533
Orchestra – $37.25 / Balcony $32.07
Media Release/Jonathan D. Cain, MFA, MA
Curator
Tennessee Valley Museum of Art
