For some ACL Fest attendees, especially on Day Two or Three after imbibing on Friday, making it out to Zilker Park to catch the first day’s first act is a little too inconvenient. But for the passionate performers bestowed with opening up this internationally acclaimed festival? To call it an honor is an egregious understatement.

Among them is classically-trained, Bachelor’s-in-Jazz-certified pianist-singer Arya, formerly based in Belgrade and now a noteworthy pro in the Austin music scene. After steppin’ into our city limits with her debut 2019 EP, Arya’s continued to introduce us to an array of pop-R&B originals à la carte. Which isn’t totally fair to say, considering each new release will eventually amount to their carefully crafted visual album Insides, out early next year.

Regardless, rocking their own iconic sense of fest fashion, complete with a freshly shaved head, Arya braved it straight past any anxiety for her premiere festival appearance right around noon on ACL’s massive T-Mobile Stage. Again, to call it a “big deal” doesn’t do this opportunity justice. So you can imagine by the time Arya arrived at the KUTX tent for a pop-up session, she was absolutely beaming. See and hear for yourself on Insides‘ latest that just dropped last Thursday, “Love Me”. Based on the merits of this beat-less arrangement (coupled with the banger retro-electronic synth sound of its studio version) we have a feeling Arya’s got a good shot at poppin’ off both on Tik-Tok and NPR Tiny Desk. Get it, girl!

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