The Nashville Zoo and AAZK are excited to announce the 6th annual “Writers for Rhinos” event happening September 23rd at 6pm. The show has sold out every year, and has welcomed incredible artists and writers from Carly Pearce, Matt Rogers, Eric Paslay, Jonathan Singleton and more. “Writers for Rhinos” has raised over $27,000 to date for global rhino conservation and has been recognized with three “Most Unique Fundraiser” awards from the National American Association of Zookeepers.

Kasey Tyndall:

Known for her hook-heavy convergence of rock & roll and country, a sound that perfectly echoes the rare balance of boldness and sensitivity that infuses all her output, North Carolina native Kasey Tyndall started playing guitar and writing her own songs as a little girl. The singer-songwriter got her big break after winning a radio contest to sing onstage with superstar Keith Urban. She soon moved to Nashville and quickly began building momentum, scoring a major win when “Middle Man” (an autobiographical yet deeply resonant song co-written with her former roommate Lainey Wilson) landed her a life-changing publishing deal.

She’s since gained acclaim for songs like “Jesus and Joan Jett” (featured on Spotify’s Country Rocks playlist since it premiered in early 2022), “Dirt Road to Hell” (a summer 2023 single that went viral on TikTok), and “Bad For Me” (a January 2024 release featured on SiriusXM’s “On The Horizon”). While touring with the likes of Hank Williams Jr., Ashley McBryde, Ian Munsick, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jamey Johnson, Bailey Zimmerman, Ella Langley, and more, Tyndall has earned such accolades as being named to the 2023 class of CMT’s Next Women of Country and continually carved out her own distinct lane in the country-rock world.

Tyndall is now embarking on an all-new era with her self-titled debut label album on MNRK Music. The result: a fearlessly personal body of work revealing a one-of-a-kind songwriter of extraordinary depth.

Connect with Kasey HERE

SJ McDonald:

You can hear the soil of Rockbridge Baths in her voice. SJ McDonald isn’t an artist manufactured in a boardroom; she was pulled from the rolling hills of Virginia, her worldview shaped by the calloused hands of a family farm. Her sound is a restless spirit of 90s-country nostalgia, breathing fiercely through the lungs of modern storytelling. It’s the kind of undeniable, grounded truth that earned a first-place finish in American Songwriter’s Traditional Country category and the headlining slot at the NASCAR Nashville Superspeedway. When Billboard points to her as a “Must Hear,” they are simply echoing what the heartland has already figured out. She cut her teeth the only way that matters: on the stages across the USA, fronting bands from a young age. A thrift-store-loving farmer’s daughter, McDonald has lived the exhausting, intoxicating reality of the road, playing well over a hundred shows a year. You hear that blood and sweat in her breakout single, “Honky Tonk Pie,” a gritty testament to the relentless hustle of a woman chasing down a dream in the music business. It’s a track born straight from the neon-drenched trenches of Nashville’s Lower Broadway, where she spent years singing for tips and demanding to be heard.

The road doesn’t end; it just stretches out further. Keeping her foot firmly on the gas, McDonald is currently out on the highway, bringing her sound to the people on tour alongside Emily Ann Roberts. This nationwide run follows a feverish, deeply personal streak in the studio that captured her blue-collar charm on tape: the Andy Sheridan-produced debut EP, Sweet At First (December 2025), and her acclaimed spring project, We Didn’t Make It That Far (May 2026). With the recent release of “When The Whiskey Wears Off,” she's carving her own jagged lane through contemporary country music. It’s a bold energy for a new generation of listeners, anchored by the oldest truth there is: the music itself.

Connect with SJ HERE

Emily Landis:

A St. Louis native, Emily Landis moved to Nashville to pursue a career in songwriting. During her years as a songwriting major at Belmont University, she began co-writing and honing her craft, writing with new artists including Universal/Interscope recording artist Kassi Ashton. Landis is a co-writer on Ashton’s single “Pretty Shiny Things”, which was written during their time at Belmont. Landis signed with Big Machine Music upon graduating in 2016 and currently has a co-publishing agreement with BMG Nashville. She’s written with artists including Eric Paslay, Danielle Bradbery, Clare Dunn, Drake White, Seaforth, Teddy Robb, and Cassadee Pope, among others. Frequent co-writes w/ hit songwriters – Liz Rose, Lee Thomas Miller, Jaime Moore, Chris Tompkins, Ben West, Chris Lindsey, Jason Duke, Emily Shackleton, & more. A personality of gold with wizard lyric & phrasing.

Connect with Emily HERE