Judah & The Lion

The alt-folk trio Judah & The Lion—fronted by Judah Akers—formed at Nashville’s Belmont University and won the school’s Best of the Best music competition in 2012. ∙ Their 2013 EP, Sweet Tennessee, reached the upper levels of three different Billboard albums charts: Bluegrass, Heatseekers, and Folk. ∙ With its soaring chorus and percussive acoustic groove, their 2016 song “Take It All Back” was a No. 1 Alternative single that eventually went Platinum. ∙ 2019’s Pep Talks, their most successful album to date, explored darker subjects on such tracks as the sing-along family-turmoil ballad “Why Did You Run?” ∙ The trio’s EDM-flavored anthem “Let Go.” was used as the theme for network broadcasts of the 2019 college football season. ∙ In 2020, Major League Soccer team Nashville SC released the band’s thundering country-rocker “Never Give Up on You” as its official club anthem.