NASHVILLE \u2014 Rachel DeeLynn\u2019s music career is rocking to new heights with the recent recognition she has received.<\/p>\n
The Yankton native\u2019s high-energy, worldwide single, \u201cDopamine,\u201d has officially been nominated in the category of \u201cSong of the Year \u2014 Indie Rock\/Alternative Rock\u201d at the 12th annual Josie Music Awards. Her single is competing against 13 other tunes for the title.<\/p>\n
The 2026 edition of the awards ceremony \u2014 described as \u201cthe premier award show honoring independent talent and legends since 2015\u201d \u2014 is scheduled for Sunday at the legendary Grand Ole Opry House in the \u201cMusic City\u201d of Nashville.<\/p>\n
DeeLynn, an independent alternative rock singer-songwriter and performer with leanings in pop and punk, told the Press & Dakotan that she has never been nominated for a Josie Music Award before. She has been based in Nashville \u2014 Tennessee\u2019s capital and most populous city \u2014 for about four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of validation for the work that you put in,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Josies are just a really cool way to celebrate independent artists. It\u2019s really cool to have this celebration of artists from all over the country that are working independently to pursue their careers. I\u2019m very grateful for that outlet for independent artists. It\u2019s cool to go and see all my friends from Nashville there, too. The Josies are just obviously local, so it\u2019s cool to see everybody gathered in one space for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeeLynn said she admires the Josie Music Awards for welcoming all genres of music. The Grand Ole Opry House is home to country music\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool to be at the Grand Ole Opry for something that is not just country,\u201d she said. \u201cI was raised on country. I love country, but to be able to be there and represent a different genre is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDopamine\u201d was DeeLynn\u2019s first release of 2026, following her singles \u2014 \u201cEgomaniac\u201d and \u201cCan You Hear Me Now?\u201d \u2014 that shot to No. 1 on several Top 100 indie music charts last year. She has shared her talents with venues across the globe and honed her skills through training at the acclaimed Berklee College of Music in Boston.<\/p>\n
In January, she was featured as a panelist at the National Association of Music Merchants Show in Los Angeles and released her single, \u201cDopamine,\u201d to international streaming and radio stations. The song is available to stream or purchase on all platforms.<\/p>\n
DeeLynn explained the inspiration behind \u201cDopamine.\u201d She referred to Generation Z \u2014 of which she is a member of \u2014 a term used to describe Americans born starting from the late 1990s to the early 2010s.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy generation is struggling with the fact that we had to go through school during (the COVID-19 pandemic) and are now facing the world right now as it is, trying to find ways to stay preoccupied and keep your mind off of things,\u201d she said. \u201cI just wrote that (song) about dealing with feeling addicted to anything that could make me feel something and how I realized that wasn\u2019t good for me. Sometimes, it\u2019s really hard to come to terms with that and find healthy ways to cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs creatives, too, we overthink everything,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat that song is about is just finding that hit of dopamine in little things in life. It\u2019s funny how you can write something out of a dark place and then it ends up being something that brings so much light into your life and hopefully into other people\u2019s lives. That\u2019s really cool that song is nominated just because of where it came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the Josie Music Award nomination, DeeLynn received the \u201cUSA Female Emerging Artist of the Year\u201d gold award \u2014 out of about 30,000 submissions \u2014 on Aug. 22 in Atlanta during the 2026 International Singer-Songwriters Association (ISSA) awards ceremony. According to its website, \u201cISSA\u2019s mission extends to encouraging aspiring and professional singers and songwriters across various music genres on a global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeeLynn was nominated in five categories overall after becoming an ISSA member earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a bit of a shock,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen they were calling the bronze and silver, I was like, \u2018OK, I\u2019m probably not going to get it, but I\u2019m still happy that I did this.\u2019 I had the best time at the show. Then they called (her name for the gold), and it was just a shock. It was awesome. \u2026 It\u2019s my first year as a member, so that was really cool. Everyone was very supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s ISSA awards nomination period opened on Jan. 1 and closed on March 30. During this time, self-nomination forms were available for artists who meet the eligibility criteria. To qualify, artists must have a dedicated website, at least five songs available on major platforms like iTunes or Spotify and an engaged fan base. This fan support played a key role in helping nominees advance to the finalist stage.<\/p>\n
From April 2-30, fans had the opportunity to vote for their favorite nominees. After the fan voting period concluded at the end of April, the official finalists were announced on May 2. The selection process continued throughout the spring and summer. During this time, ISSA judges \u2014 comprised of gold-level winners from the past two years \u2014 reviewed the finalists and selected the winners. Those chosen received crystal awards from the ISSA.<\/p>\n
DeeLynn recalled that she and her band \u2014 in which she is the lead vocalist, backed up by two guitarists, a bass guitarist and a drummer \u2014 had performed at the pre-party the night prior to this year\u2019s ISSA awards ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so much fun,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was one of the best shows that we\u2019ve had. We just had a ton of fun with it. \u2026 There\u2019s something to be said about feeling validated in getting the (ISSA) award, but it\u2019s also that event was really special to me because I feel like I left with a lot of new connections and new friends. \u2026 I left with a lot more than just a trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside iconic Nashville venues, DeeLynn \u2014 her professional name \u2014 has also played several venues, fairs and festivals throughout New England and the Midwest. Even before the recent recognition she has received, she said her career as an independent music artist was \u201calways crazy,\u201d with all of the different hats she has had and continues to wear.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re your own creative director,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re your own booking agent. You do everything. \u2026 The industry is always changing, so you have to be on your \u2018A\u2019 game at all times. It can be exhausting to find that balance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASHVILLE \u2014 Rachel DeeLynn\u2019s music career is rocking to new heights with the recent recognition she has received.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[1075,88,216],"class_list":["post-850731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-community","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}