Country Traditionalist Trace Nixon’s New Music Is An “Almost Cheating” Song

“Ready For The Takin’ (When You Are)”

Weighs Risk vs. Reward 

Nashville, TN (September 4, 2025) - “Ready For The Takin’ (When You Are),” the latest music from up-and-coming Country traditionalist Trace Nixon, is a song about possibilities. “It’s not a full-fledged cheatin’ song,” says the 6’2” entertainer from Virginia. “But it really wants to be.”

Folks say my feet are firm to the ground

And I’ve never been the kind

To lay my heart down on the line

But that all changed the day you came to town

Let’s take a chance on takin’ this too far

My heart’s Ready For The Takin’ when you are (T. Nixon/N. Nixon)

It’s a song that holds great personal meaning for Trace who wrote the song with his father, Nick. “Dad started this back in the late ‘90s,” Trace recalls. “I always liked what he had, so a few months before I recorded my EP we took a run at finishing it. I’m really proud of where it ended up.”

The track, from Nixon’s upcoming October 3 project release, HAND ME DOWN NAME, pulls the listener in with a rolling rhythm. The instrumentation shows a touch of the singer’s Bluegrass heritage and gives him a chance to point his pickin’ power in that direction. Recorded at Dark Horse Studios in Franklin, Tennessee, the track was produced by William Gawley [Taylor Hicks (American Idol), Jake Ybarra, Taylor McCall (BMG)] and engineered by Bryce Roberts [Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard]. The project features Nixon on acoustic guitar, along with the talents of top-tier studio players Shawn Fitcher (drums), Dave Flint (electric guitar), Deanie Richardson (fiddle), Tony Paoletta (steel guitar), Dave Francis (bass), and Chris Nole (piano). Billy Thomas, Wendy Newcomer, and Dani Flowers [Sister Sadie] added supportive background vocals.

Nixon has been touring all summer building excitement for the upcoming EP, and he heads in to Fall with a slew of appearances at festivals, fairs and more:

Sept 4 - Crozet, VA - Pro Re Nata Music Hall (private) 

Sept 6 - Crozet, VA - Pro Re Nata Music Hall  (EP pre-release party)

Sept 12 - Lexington, VA - Rockbridge Regional County Fair 

Sept 13 - Hanover, VA - Virginia Craft Beer Festival

Sept 19 - Richmond, VA - Short Pump Pour House

Sept 20 - Burgess, VA - Easy Wind Farms Music Festival (Headliner)

Sept 27 - Roseland, VA (private)  

Oct 2 - Nashville, TN - WSMV-TV "Today In Nashville"

Oct 4 - Midlothian, VA - Hidden Wit Brewery

Oct 10 - Crozet, VA - Pro Re Nata Music Hall

Oct 11 - Hanover, VA (private)

Oct 14 - Nashville, TN - The Local “Porchlight Pickers”

Oct 15 - Mt Juliet, TN - Hillside Hangout

Oct 18 - Dinwiddie, VA - Dinwiddie County Fair (Headliner)

Oct 24 - Richmond, VA - Scotty's Taphouse

Oct 25 - Williamsburg, VA - Precarious Beer Hall Festival (Headliner)

Keep up with Trace: 

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube 

ABOUT TRACE NIXON 

A Virginia native, Nixon was born to music. His parents, Nick and Michelle (SPBGMA Female Vocalist of the Year 2006) were professional musicians, and Trace grew up backstage - watching, listening, and learning. His parents met while performing at the Old Dominion Barn Dance in the early ’90s and had played all over the Virginia honky tonk circuit by the time Trace came along in ’95. As a young boy, Trace was drawn to the songs of Alan Jackson, George Strait, Ronnie Milsap and Keith Whitley. Along with music, he also developed a love for baseball and football, and he eventually wound up playing baseball at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. During his time at SU, he leaned heavily on music and spent much of his free time honing his skills as a guitar player and songwriter. After graduating college in 2017, he returned to his hometown and began performing as a solo artist. In early 2023, he formed Gone Country with fellow musicians Chip Hale, John Holden, and Corey Marshall. Later that year, he recorded his first single, “This One’s For Alan,” which he released independently in April 2024. After running the road every weekend and performing at nearly every bar and music venue in the state, Trace recorded his debut EP, HAND ME DOWN NAME, in early 2025. In June, he released the popular “Secondhand Hold On Me,” with a companion video that hit screens in July via a Country Evolution premiere. The clip is now in heavy rotation on the American Country Network. In early August, Nixon released the Southern Rock-influenced “Love Lost Has Been.” When he’s not on stage or in the studio, Trace enjoys slowing things down and spending time with his fiancée Ashley and their dog, Kyla, at their home in Hanover, VA. 

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Publicity Shot - Credit Robert Isacson, Isacson Studios

Click on image to download or HERE

Click here for “Ready For The Takin’” cover

Contacts

Publicity: 

Martha Moore / so much MOORE media /somuchmooremedia@gmail.com 

Management: 

Michelle Robertson /Charlotte Avenue Entertainment / bsr_michelle@msn.com 

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