Edens Edge

Edens Edge formed as a country-pop-folk trio grounded in Arkansas heritage, featuring Hannah Blaylock on lead vocals alongside Dean Berner, who supplies harmony vocals, guitar, and Dobro, and Cherrill Green, who contributes harmony vocals, mandolin, banjo, and guitar. Blaylock began performing in choirs during childhood and, while still a teenager, joined an active band that included her relatives and local songwriter Steve Smith. Smith, who had earlier given Berner his initial guitar lessons, recruited the guitarist into that same ensemble. Berner and Green had already collaborated occasionally during their college years, so when the band needed a mandolin player, Berner invited Green to fill the role. The resulting trio adopted the name Edens Edge and quickly drew notice for its luminous vocal blend. Veteran songwriter Kye Fleming, known for “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” and “Smoky Mountain Rain,” learned that the group lived only forty miles from her own hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas; she encouraged them to relocate to Nashville so she could help refine their material. In 2007 Edens Edge completed the move, studied under Fleming, and later performed a medley of her compositions at her induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame—an event attended by Taylor Swift, Toby Keith, and other prominent industry figures—after which Big Machine Records signed the act. Producer Mark Bright then guided the recording of their first album for the label, and the lead single “Amen,” a depiction of small-town romance, appeared in 2011.