Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not a country guy. I didn’t grow up on it, I don’t own boots, and the closest I’ve come to a honky-tonk was accidentally walking into a Garth Brooks night in Nashville while looking for a punk show. So when someone handed me Maddye Trew’s latest single, “Single of the Year,” I rolled my eyes and prepared for three minutes of saccharine twang and rhinestone-studded cliché.
URL: https://www.maddyetrew.com/
Instead, I got a song that made me laugh—with it, not at it—and more than that, made me listen twice.
Trew, a Memphis-born singer-songwriter, leans hard into the storytelling tradition of country, but with a pop-savvy wink that’s tough to ignore. The premise is simple: everyone around her is getting married, and she’s left clutching a can of cheap beer and a consolation prize for surviving the dating game. But the way she phrases it is what sells it. “All my friends are tying the knot / and I’m over here just tying one on.” Now that’s a line.
There’s a dry, almost Dolly Parton-level wit at work here, mixed with the modern breeziness of someone like Kacey Musgraves—but with a bit more edge. Trew doesn’t sound jaded so much as bemused, tired of trying, and not afraid to make fun of herself in the process. It’s that humility, wrapped in sharp songwriting, that makes “Single of the Year” work for a crank like me.
Musically? Sure, it’s still country. Clean Nashville production. A twangy guitar tone that feels just a little too polished. Background vocals placed like throw pillows on a showroom couch. Steve Marcantonio—who’s worked with everyone from Taylor Swift to Keith Urban—is behind the boards here, and it shows. Everything is crisp, professional, and radio-ready. Maybe too ready. Part of me wishes the edges were a little rougher, a little more barroom than boardroom.
But then again, the polish works in contrast with the subject matter. Trew’s not trying to be outlaw country or dive-bar Americana. She’s a 20-something woman with a Commercial Music degree and a sense of humor about the garbage fire that is modern dating. And she’s not pretending otherwise. That’s refreshing.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6Zt2sKzF0bvntQIEitizp5
Where the song stumbles, if at all, is in the second half—once the hook is firmly planted, it doesn’t do much evolving. The bridge—“this is one award I wasn’t expectin’ / to tell you the truth, I don’t wanna accept it”—feels like the emotional moment the song earns, but it passes quickly, a sigh rather than a breakdown. I wanted just a touch more grit, more insight into what it feels like to win this unwanted trophy.
But maybe that’s the point. Trew’s not drowning in loneliness—she’s raising a toast to it. “Single of the Year” isn’t about wallowing, it’s about laughing through the awkward wedding invites and plus-one pity. It’s a celebration of being the last one standing, even if you didn’t plan to be.
For someone who still prefers guitars distorted and lyrics shouted, I’ll admit this song caught me off guard. It’s clever, it’s tight, and it wears its heartache with a wink. Maddye Trew may not convert me into a full-time country fan, but I’ll raise a Blue Ribbon to this one.
Gwen Waggoner