Exclusive: Avery Anna Talks Feeling “Exposed” In Debut Album ‘Breakup Over Breakfast’

At 20 years old, Arizona-born Avery Anna loves going to church, riding horses, painting, sports, fishing, hunting sheep and elk, and writing emotional song lyrics with such intensity and depth that they make listeners catch their breath.

Her debut album, Breakup Over Breakfast, dropped on July 19.

“I want people to feel understood,” she said. “My goal, really, is to just share the parts of me that aren’t surface level and maybe connect with the parts of other people that they have beneath the surface, too.  Being understood is the least lonely anyone can be, and I just want to share that with people.”

Avery Anna co-wrote each of the 17 songs on the album, which includes collaborations with Parmalee, The Love Junkies and Dylan Marlowe.  

Avery Anna Enjoys Shooting Elk and Writing Songs

The album is home to recent releases, including “Two Sides Of The Story” and “Blonde” and the hard-rocking but vulnerable angry girl anthem “Make It Look Easy.”

Written with David Fanning, Andy Sheridan, and Ben Williams, lyrics include: It hit me last night| You’re planning the goodbye| Do you think that I’m blind| I see it in your eyes| Your truck’s in the driveway| Your mind’s on the highway| Know you’re gonna leave me| And make it look easy

“Did you rage?” Avery Anna asked American Songwriter’s writer when she told the singer she listened to Breakup Over Breakfast during breakfast. “I take my songwriting process very seriously. I am just very, very passionate about that part of my career.”

Avery Anna explained that she struggled to choose which 17 songs she wanted on her debut album. Although 17 is a large number for a first record, she felt Breakup Over Breakfast was incomplete if each of those tracks wasn’t included.

“I feel like I touched on a lot of the sound and the textures that I naturally have,” she said. “There’s a little bit of country.  There’s a little bit of rock.  There’s a little bit of pop in there. And I feel like it reflects my influences very well.”

Avery Anna: “Did You Rage?”

Avery Anna grew up listening to Buck Owens, Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash. Her grandfather introduced her to ‘50s  and ‘60s country, her favorite genre. The two of them used to sing together. As she grew up, the singer said she added many more genres and sounds to her repertoire of influences, but classic country is where everything starts with her.

“I love that I can mix that in with the record,” she said, citing “It’s Just Rainin.’” ​“It’s pretty honky tonk throughout the whole thing, and in the end, gets pretty rocking, which is super fun.”

She’s excited for people to hear “It’s Just Rainin’” because it sonically represents the direction she wants to take her music.

“My first time ever putting an album together, I didn’t really know the lay of the land and how things were supposed to go,” she said. “I feel like my co-writers, my producer, and I carved our own path by creating it. It was a really, really fun process.”

Avery Anna said she “exposed myself in many ways” on Breakup Over Breakfast.

Country music fans first met her through social media when she posted videos of herself singing in a claw-foot bathtub with good acoustics. Her 2022 debut EP, Mood Swings, featured her viral hit, “Narcissist,” and served as a seven-song introduction to country music fans.

Avery Anna Processed Emotions Writing Breakup Over Breakfast

Breakup Over Breakfast was born on a writers’ retreat with David Fanning, Ben Williams, and Andy Sheridan. Avery Anna and her go-to songwriters couldn’t pinpoint the direction she wanted the record to take, so she just started writing about her life. She pitched the men her “Breakup Over Breakfast” title, and everyone but Williams was confused by the idea.

“We chased the idea,” she said. “It was originally a ballad, a really sad song. We were talking about it, and it turned into this very real rocking song. After that, I feel like the project really came together, and I saw a vision for how all the songs have their place.”

The singer described writing the album as “very cathartic and very humbling.”

“I process my emotions through writing songs,” she said. “I feel like through the process of creating an actual album, I feel like I’ve found myself a lot.” Anna added, “I feel the most connected with myself, my background and my fans that I ever have. I’m in a very grateful place in my life.”

Photo by John Shearer