ABOUT

For Jeremy Lister, music has been more than a career — it's been a journey. From solo gigs to prime-time performances with the vocal group Street Corner Symphony… from duets with Alison Krauss to arena tours singing backup for Post Malone… from crooner records like Happy Holidays, Everyone to genre-bending albums like his upcoming EP, Light Up Ahead… Jeremy has explored his music from all angles, tying everything together with curiosity, craft, and a voice that's as limitless as his own songwriting.

The journey began in the church pews of Mississippi, where a 4 year-old Jeremy sang his first harmonies while his father preached to the congregants. Music was part of his family lineage. "Everyone could sing," he remembers of those childhood years down south. "My granddad was in The Blackwood Brothers, an old-school harmony group that sang with Elvis. Sitting next to my mom in church, I'd hear her singing the alto line of the hymns, and I'd start harmonizing with her without even knowing what I was doing."

By the time Jeremy moved to Nashville in 2003, he wasn't just a singer; he was a sharp songwriter, too, making his blend of hook-driven pop, folk, and indie music. After kick-starting his solo career with two independently-released EPs, he landed a deal with Warner Bros. Records and released his major-label debut, Just One Day, in 2007. That same year, he joined Ten Out Of Tenn, an acclaimed collective of Nashville-based singer/songwriters whose ranks included Gabe Dixon and K.S. Rhoads.

Always looking to explore new ground, Jeremy co-founded the a cappella group Street Corner Symphony in 2010. The group landed a spot on the second season of NBC's The Sing-Off and finished the competition in second place. "I was trying to bounce back from a failed record deal," he says, "and suddenly I'm trying out for an NBC reality show where Ben Folds is the judge, and my group places second. It was so fun."

One of the group's biggest champions was Ben Folds himself, who took Street Corner Symphony on the road as his opening act. Meanwhile, Jeremy continued releasing his own music, too, from albums like 2011's The Bed You Made — featuring a duet with bluegrass legend Alison Krauss, who covered Jeremy's "Sinking Stone" on her own album, the Grammy-winning record Paper Airplanes, that same year — to singles like 2013's "Set Us Free."

It was a time of hard work and even harder living. As his music career grew, so did his drinking habit. A reckoning came in 2015, with Jeremy ultimately giving up alcohol forever — and taking a two-year break from music. "I got sober and needed to get my life in order," he says. "I started a hot sauce company with my brothers. I got into running. I started an ice cream company. I was even considering becoming a park ranger. I focused on what was important to me, and it freed me up from the pressure I had when I was on a major label or on TV shows, because I didn't have to meet anyone's expectations other than my own."

When he returned to music, it was with renewed clarity. Teaming up with his siblings, Jeremy formed the band Lister Brothers and released Helium Ocean in 2017. He started working with other artists, too, singing harmonies for acts like Meghan Trainor, Marcus King Band, Eric Church, and Post Malone. Signing with the music publisher Big Yellow Dog in 2019, he wrote songs for commercials (T-Mobile, Dignity Health, Jeep, Toyota), films ("2 Hearts," "Hot Frosty," "Jingle Bell Run"), and television (Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, Nancy Drew). Most importantly, he continued making music of his own, even transforming himself into an old-school vocal crooner for the Christmas record Happy Holidays, Everyone in 2021.

"I'm always curious about exploring my art from different perspectives," he says. "I've gone from a singer/songwriter deal with Warner Bros to performing a cappella songs on reality television to writing songs for bluegrass albums to adopting a crooner persona for my holiday album to playing prog-rock with my brothers. That's something I can accredit to my ADD, maybe… but it's also a willingness to be open to new opportunities and a curiosity about what's next."

And what's next for Jeremy Lister? That would be Light Up Ahead. Produced by Lucas Morton and laced with contributions from a string quartet, the upcoming album marks his strongest collection of songs yet, filled with autobiographical lyrics about a man who's learned to embrace the present while making peace with the past. Jeremy is still moving forward, drawn by the light up ahead. But these days, he's learned to enjoy the journey along the way, too.