Avery Anna Shows Off Her Range With Taylor Swift and Ozzy Osbourne Covers, Fiery Originals at Nashville’s Freely Fest

Avery Anna’s range knows no bounds.

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Ahead of Freely Fest, the singer told American Songwriter that her “endless” genre, which blends country, rock, pop, indie, and folk, would be on full display at the festival, which featured performances from The Killers, T-Pain, Dominic Fike, and Janelle Monáe.

“The set that I’m planning for Freely Fest won’t be like any other festival set list that I have because of the multi-genre lineup,” she said. “I think it gives me a lot of freedom to play stuff that I wouldn’t normally play at a festival. It should be really fun and captivating.”

That’s perhaps the understatement of the century. Anna began her set with a couple of sass-filled originals, before covering Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” It was an unsurprising choice for a blonde girl wearing a lacy dress.

Predictably, the Nashville crowd eagerly sang along to the iconic 2008 track. What wasn’t predictable was Anna’s next cover—Ozzy Osbourne’s “No More Tears.”

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The singer absolutely shredded on the guitar as she transformed from a lovelorn princess to a masterful rocker right before the Bridgestone Arena crowd’s eyes.

What to Know About Freely Fest

Anna’s set—which also included originals like “Mr. Predictable,” “Narcissist,” and “Blood Runs Thicker,” was an apt representation of Freely Fest as a whole.

The festival, which is in its first year, was put on by Freedom Forum. The event was held to celebrate the power of music and the freedoms protected by the First Amendment.

“It’s such a diverse lineup in the sense of genre. I think it’s really cool that they had so many different types of artists on the lineup,” she said. “At the end of the day, we’re all artists and musicians, and we just want to connect with people. I think that’s the whole point of music.”

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As for the First Amendment, which protects Americans’ freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition, that’s something Anna is passionate about too.

“I think songwriting is a huge way to practice free speech,” Anna, who recently released the EP Forgive, Forget, said. “I’m grateful for my abilities and my freedom to write about what I believe in. I’m grateful for my right to do that. I get to do that every single day that I step foot on the stage and every time that I sing about something that I’ve experienced in my own life.”

“It’s a beautiful thing that can bring so many people of different politics, different religion, living in different places [together],” she added. “No matter who you are, where you came from, what you believe in, music can connect everyone. We can all just enjoy it and have a good time. That’s really a blessing.”

Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Freely Fest