The sun sets over the ranch, a can of beer cracks, and an acoustic guitar wrangles the day’s thoughts and memories into a semblance of order.

During moments like these, California-born and Nashville-based singer and songwriter Emily Nenni chronicles her life through delicate songcraft rife with honky-tonk spirit and spiked with just the right amount of soul. In possession of a deep understanding of music stoked by a lifelong passion and sharp chops shaped by endless sets in smoky bars and sizzling doublewides, she asserts herself as the consummate country storyteller on her full-length debut album, On The Ranch [Normaltown/New West Records].

“What I love about country is the songs can be very honest and vulnerable, yet they’re beautiful enough to make you cry,” she notes. “My music is sweet and sad, but I don’t take myself too seriously. It’s old school honky-tonk with a slightly different flavor.”

Her story represents the difference. Growing up in the Bay Area “in a family of music nerds,” her father worked in radio, and she even attended her first Bruce Springsteen show in utero. Mom and dad took her to countless concerts as a kid and regaled her with endless tales of music lore. Emily’s mother introduced her to the likes of Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Hank Williams, while her father spun James Brown and John Coltrane. Following high school, she attended Columbia College with a major in audio engineering. After a year, she dropped out and saved up enough money to move to Nashville—despite not knowing a soul in the city. In order to break into the iconic Robert’s Western World on Broadway, she baked cookies for the bouncers and house band, finding herself on stage not long after. Simultaneously, she sharpened her skills at Santa’s Pub, often playing all night and building a buzz in the process.