Some bands grind for years before they find their chemistry; Edgehill found theirs in a single song. Guitarist Jake Zimmermann and vocalist Chris Kelly first linked at a Vanderbilt jam session, where their debut single “Shooting Glances” came together so seamlessly it demanded a full band. With drummer Aidan Cunningham in the fold, the Nashville trio quickly outgrew campus gigs and day jobs, trading in stability for a shot at full-time music in East Nashville.
Their sound—once described online as “good if you want to cry in a cool indie way”—pulls threads from Pinegrove, Radiohead, The Backseat Lovers, and The Beatles, landing somewhere between soaring indie anthems and intimate confessions. Their latest single, “Doubletake,” is a meditation on breakups, self-doubt, and the uneasy balance between regret and letting go. Talking with Edgehill feels like crashing a late-night van ride: the jokes are offbeat, the bond is undeniable, and beneath it all is a shared belief that vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s their sharpest weapon.
Please introduce yourself and and give us the backstory on how the band got started.
EDGEHILL: I’m Jake. Edgehill are Chris Kelly (vocals), Jake Zimmermann (guitar), and Aidan Cunningham (drums), an alternative indie rock band from Nashville. We got started when Chris and I met at a jam session at Vanderbilt and started writing our first single “Shooting Glances” together. The song came together so naturally we decided to form a band, and started playing shows around the local college scene here before we had any music out. A few years later and Chris dropped out of school, Aidan and I quit our jobs and now we all live in East Nashville making music full time.
How would you describe your music?
EDGEHILL: I don’t like to describe it, but I saw someone post that it’s “good if you want to cry in a cool indie way.”
Who are your biggest influences?
EDGEHILL: Pinegrove, Radiohead, The Backseat Lovers, The Beatles, and so many more.
What was the inspiration behind your new single, ‘Doubletake’?
EDGEHILL: “Doubletake “is about looking back at the end of a relationship and wondering if you called it quits too early, if you were more of the problem then you were willing to admit, and all the self doubt that goes along with that. And all that questioning needs to happen but eventually you need to put it behind you and say to yourself, “It’s okay, I got it.”
What would surprise people most about you?
EDGEHILL: Probably how close we all are. We share pretty much everything, from clothes and beds to anxious thoughts and uncomfortable jokes etc. I think it’s something you only get from being trapped in a van for hours on end together.
Interview by Shawn Alexander from #HAPPENS
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