Meet Tabitha Meeks: American Songwriter Road Ready Talent Finalist

Tabitha Meeks has a lot to celebrate.

The singer was recently selected as one of the three finalists in American Songwriter’s 2026 Road Ready Talent Contest, which is designed to spotlight unsigned performers who are already built for live performance, going beyond songwriting alone.

Since her 2020 move to Nashville, Meeks has built a following as the Queen of Retro Pop. The Road Ready judges were certainly feeling those vibes with “Girl of the Hour,” the track Meeks submitted to the contest.

On Oct. 20, Meeks and the other two Road Ready finalists will perform at the contest’s finale at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee. Tickets for the show are available now.

Ahead of the big performance, fans can cast their vote for their favorite artist. Online voting will remain open until Oct. 20.

In the end, one artist will win the Grand Prize package, which includes $20,000 in cash and additional prizes.

Read the Q&A below to learn more about Meeks.

Tabitha Meeks Road Ready Q&A

Why did you enter the contest?

I always have seen these contests pop up before. My husband is in Moga Family Band, which won last year. I got to go to the contest at Basement East and just see and experience I just kind of have my tabs on the competition. It’s like, well, let me see if I can enter as well.

How did you react to learning you were a finalist?

I was right there writing a song with my friend Grant Terry. I got the missed call. And I was like, “Pause the write. I think I need to call somebody back.” And then I got it, and they told me. [My husband] Eric was up in the kitchen, and he came down, and then we just jumped up and down together, and my little dog did too, and Grant.

Tell us what you’re planning for your performance.

I have a show on Oct. 4 that I’m prepping for, and that’s going to be about an hour and ten minutes… so I’ll probably just kind of downsize [my set] from there.

I’ve been working out those songs all year, so in terms of the performance, I’m like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait. I love performing.’ It’s not stressful for me at all.

There will definitely be flutes, and drums, and upright bass, me on keys.

How do you think an experience like this will help you grow as an artist?

Just like having the exposure… I’m already feeling that that’s going to be so helpful. And then just getting to play this show, meet the other artists. Obviously, the money is so helpful in so many ways, cause I’m independent. I have a manager and a booking agent, but I pay for everything myself. That gets really hard, as much as I work really hard to just keep it sustainable.

Tabitha Meeks Musical Journey Q&A

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Tell me about your musical background.

I moved from Florida in 2020 to Nashville. I had a folk band, which was originally why I moved to Nashville. Pretty quickly on, I realized that it was going to be better to do solo things. I have a degree in classical piano, so that’s why my project leans towards piano.

Then the retro thing kind of made its way in. I’ve always listened to a lot of retro music growing up, and so that kind of made its way into my brand and sound inevitably.

I had a song go viral in 2024, a Christmas song. And then my song ‘Girl of the Hour’ kind of followed that with some love on TikTok and some placements and stuff like that. That sort of helped define more of me and my sound as I’ve been on this journey in Nashville.

How did your upbringing in Florida shape your musical sound?

Florida just keeps music fun and light, and I think you can definitely hear that in my sound. I was raised on a lot of retro music. Aretha Franklin and Norah Jones is another one who’s a big influence of mine that I was raised on. You can definitely hear all of that in my music, Nancy Sinatra and Jim Croce. A lot of how I was raised leads into what I do now, which is really cool.

Tell me about the song you entered, “Girl of the Hour.”

I wrote that with my producer, Teddy Morgan, here in Nashville. We started writing it on a Mellotron. We were exploring sounds on the Mellotron, and that’s that first sound that you hear, and the flute sound in that song is from that.

And then after that, it’s just kind of my story. If you listen lyrically, it’s just a big part of what my brand and who I am. What I want to put out there is positivity and female empowerment. I just feel like we’re in a season of so many sad girl songs, which are amazing—I love all the sad girl songs—but I think in the sea of all the sad girl, I kind of want to be happy girl. I think we just need a little bit more of that. So that’s kind of where my heart is as an artist, and that song is kind of the epitome of that.

What’s a lesson you’ve learned amid your musical journey?

Part of me always just wants to be the full-on optimist and just be like, “You know what? I do music. Who am I to complain? I’m just so lucky to be able to do what I do.” But, at the end of the day, part of how I make my money is playing gigs. Luckily, I’ve been having to do this less and less, and a lot of the gigs have been amazing, but I’d just play hotel lobbies or restaurants. There’s something really hard about that, playing a song and nobody clapping or caring.

I have been so completely humbled playing music in Nashville. I think I just had to learn how to have tough skin. You have to be like, “OK, this is part of it for me. I’m not having anything handed to me.” You have to do what you’re passionate about and follow your dreams. You kind of just have to get over it and focus on the good.

Tabitha Meeks Future Plans Q&A

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What’s next for you after Road Ready?

I am going out on the road, so after the contest I’ll be focusing on that. I’ll be releasing more holiday music. Once October through December hits, I really start focusing on Christmas. No breaks; January is the break for me. I have a few songs that I’m working on producing myself. I’m really excited about those. I’m just always writing, always recording, always releasing.

What’s your advice for others who are pursuing music?

My advice would be to not overthink it, to just try everything. If you feel like you have a good song idea, post it or release a song. You never know what’s going to work and what people are going to latch on to as an independent artist, but you have to just try and put things out there, and then react once people have reacted to your music. If people aren’t reacting to it, you can’t take it personally, you just keep pushing it, or you move on to the next song.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Photo by Nate Stultz