It’s almost noon in Nashville, and the bars on Broadway are slowly showing signs of life.

Give it a few hours, and the street will find its rhythm – live music spilling out of open doors and aspiring artists chasing their moment in the spotlight.

A mile away on Music Row, Troy Cartwright is in a more reflective mood. He’s thinking about the path that brought him to Music City, and the swirl of emotions that comes with releasing his EP, Etc. All The Rest.

Etc. All the Rest - Troy Cartwright — Etc. All the Rest – Troy Cartwright

“It’s something I’ve been working on for a long time. I’m so proud, and I’m really excited for the world to hear it. And then of course there’s a little bit of fear in there because you can control so much, but there’s like a magical point when it’s released where it’s not up to you anymore,” he says. “That’s the courage part. Part of being an artist is just putting yourself out there. The reward outweighs the risk every time.”

It’s a tradeoff Cartwright knows well. A decade ago, he took a leap of faith and moved from Texas to Tennessee with little more than a few songs, a well-worn guitar, and the same wide-eyed belief he had as a 12-year-old discovering just how powerful it felt to make music in the first place.

Since then, he’s released a stream of singles and projects, creating a dual identity as a recording artist and a sought-after songwriter, while building a strong presence in Nashville’s music community. As an independent artist, he racks up nearly a million streams a week. He also hosts the podcast Ten Year Town, where he sits down with fellow artists and industry types to dish on what it really looks like to try to make it in Nashville.

Now, with Etc. All The Rest., Cartwright is hitting reset. The five-song EP – including his current single “That’s Alright” – bends toward simplicity, stripping things back and letting the songwriting take center stage.

His style is clever, cathartic and often cuts brutally close to the bone.

You can hear it across his catalog – from the weight of “Unlove You” to the rush of “Lincoln Continental,” and now throughout each track on his latest release.

A self-professed sensitive type (which didn’t hold the same value as a tween), Cartwright uses those big emotions to his advantage, pulling listeners into stories that feel extraordinarily familiar. Alongside his own releases, he’s also written for artists like Nickelback and Cody Johnson, and co-penned Lee Brice’s recent hit “Killed The Man” – steadily building a reputation behind the scenes while continuing to evolve in the spotlight.

“When I write a song, it’s like catching different memories as they come,” he says. “I think my job is to be honest. I don’t shy away from writing anything.”

That instinct to keep creating doesn’t stop in the studio.

It shows up in more personal ways through his Substack, Letters to Myself, where he posts reflective essays and snapshots of his inner world.

“I put the boat in the water, but when the current takes me the wrong way, I usually just let it,” he writes in one post – a philosophy that encapsulates his creative process and his approach to life.

“I can’t quite explain it, but that stuff happens to me all the time,” he says. “You go in to write a song thinking it’s about one thing, and it turns into something else. That’s true in life too. I love to go on walks. I love to travel. My favorite part is not having a plan and just seeing where things take you.”

That same openness carries into the way he approaches his work, which, he admits, never really feels like work at all.

Whether it’s music, podcasting or journaling, it all fuels the same creative drive and the resilience that’s shaped his career and his character.

“What I’ve learned going through life and the music business – the ups, downs and hard knocks – is that you get back up every time. You come back stronger. You can do whatever you want to me, but I’ll always get back up and come back better than before.

“That 12-year-old kid probably wouldn’t believe all this,” he laughs. “I’d just tell him, ‘It’s gonna be a wild ride, buddy.’”

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