Nashville based singer-songwriter Noelle Toland wants to modernize and personalize old-school country music. While many assume the genre’s audience is limited exclusively to the South, Toland, who hails from 2,000-person town North Plains, Oregon is proof that that simply isn’t true. “We tailgated, horsed around on farms, and loved the heartbreak behind the stories we grew up listening to,” reflects Toland, who identifies wholeheartedly with the genre. By returning to her roots and revisiting the music of her youth, Toland created the unique alchemy that is the 2021 EP “The Sun Will Rise.” The four-song EP, recorded at the famed RCA Studios in Nashville, Tennessee is a blend of 90’s country and seductive soul music. It captures the earthiness and electricity of classic country music with staple instruments like pedal steel and contributions from legends like guitarist Steve Cropper, founding member of the Stax Records house band and Booker T. and the M.G.’s. Toland is over the moon to have such inspirational collaborators, whom she grew up listening to, and is grateful for the opportunity to make this 90’s country influenced record, which is a tribute to beloved artists like Trisha Yearwood and Faith Hill. “Hopefully this record, which I’ve long envisioned, inspires people to take chances, be bold, and place bets on themselves,” she explains, “because that is the only thing that has gotten me through the ups and downs.” At a time when the world is in a constant state of fear, Toland’s ease when it comes to surfing the wave of life is exactly what others need to hear.