Lauren Rismiller is starting her year off from a lonely barstool. The rising indie country artist has released “Heart Broke In A Bar,” the first single in her 2026 Waterfall series of recordings, out now via Tennessee Rolling Hill Records. Listen here.
Penned by the Ohio-based songwriter and recorded in Nashville under producer Jesse Savio and vocal engineer Adam Yust, the coming-of-age heartbreak anthem plays as a solo pour of regret under neon lights. The instrumentation draws straight from the ’90s Women of Country playbook, blending mournful pedal steel and twangy electric guitar solos with a steady acoustic rhythm, all framing Rismiller’s velvety, drawling vocals. The upbeat tempo rubs against the forlorn sentiment in a way that gives the song its kick.
The track doubles as a personal manifesto against nostalgia, and as a prequel to her November 2025 release “I Miss Johnny.” It’s a pledge to swear off the past and anyone with his likeness, no do-overs, no sequels, no repeat plays.
Rismiller traced the idea to her own hometown stages. Playing bars, she’d watch couples singing and dancing while other singles sat heartbroken, and the song ties together that observation and that lone figure at the bar, weighing the choice not to make the same mistake twice. Her advice, in short: if you see trouble coming, don’t mess around with him.
The release marks the 20-year-old’s third studio recording, following “I Miss Johnny” and her holiday two-pack EP ‘Mistletoe Won’t’, both out in December 2025. A natural storyteller from Darke County, Ohio, Rismiller threads vocal styles in the vein of Jennifer Nettles and Lainey Wilson with compositions likened to Emily Ann Roberts, building a sound that pairs nostalgic warmth with contemporary grit.