Emily Ann Roberts wrote “Things You Didn’t Know” the morning after her parents drove in from East Tennessee to watch her play The Listening Room with Vince Gill. The new single is out now via Sony Music Nashville, and it carries that specific, lived-in warmth throughout its entire runtime.
Over soft acoustic guitar and fiddle, Roberts traces the quiet, unspoken influence of her father’s life on her own, the lessons absorbed not from direct instruction but from watching how he moved through the world. “He hasn’t had an easy life, but he has never let the hard times define him,” she says. “He modeled hard work, how to be a friend, and introduced me to all his favorite records, which in turn shaped my songwriting and artistry.”
Roberts wrote the song at a retreat alongside Trent Willmon, Michael Farren, and Laura Veltz, immediately after her parents had joined them for breakfast. The proximity of the moment to the writing shows. “Things You Didn’t Know” is specific and unhurried, the kind of song that earns its emotional weight honestly.
Roberts arrives at this release with serious industry recognition behind her. An ACM New Female Artist of the Year nominee, she’s also a MusicRow Next Big Thing and was recently honored as AIMP Nashville Rising Artist-Writer of the Year. She’s a member of the Opry NextStage Class of 2026 and performs tomorrow at ACM Next Wave: Country Beach Bash in Las Vegas.
The year ahead is packed. Roberts has already appeared at C2C, Tortuga, and more, with Carolina Country Music Fest, Barefoot Country Music Fest, and Boots and Hearts ahead, plus her Nissan Stadium debut at CMA Fest. She joins Thomas Rhett for his Soundtrack to Life Tour this summer and fall, including stadium dates with Niall Horan, and closes the year on UK dates with Cody Johnson.
“Things You Didn’t Know” is out now via Sony Music Nashville.