Fifteen Minutes of Fame Music Entertainment

Originally Published on November 25th, 2025

Preface

Growing up in the “burbs” of Nashville, the talent pool of musicians in my generation was a very competitive one. When I was in middle school, our student body held a talent show that was broadcast via television throughout our school. I will always remember the standout performance was a performance of Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx. It was performed by a girl named Lennon Murphy.

By the time I got to high school, the talent pool got very real. The two biggest middle schools pooled together into one school and there were three years of upperclassmen. The very first day of my freshman year of high school, there was already one kid with a publishing deal who was my age. Liz Byler would even snag her first record deal by 17. She drove a classic Corvette. That she paid for. Then there was Jenny Slate, whose parents owned Affiliated Publishers Inc, they represented so many big names in country music. Jenny had more talent in her little finger than most people have in their entire body. Jeremy and Jody Stevens, also kids of musicians, they independently released a rap album I bought at Tower Records. Devon Gundry became a moderately successful spiritual singer. Esseri Holmes found success with music, modeling, and acting. Not to mention the Rachel Price and Taylor Swift of it all (though they were both technically a few years behind me).

But, in the southern Bible Belt, in the community that was rampant with country music, the first one in our community of talent was the quiet girl who did it her way. My freshman year of college, I bought her album. I watched her music video on MTV (they used to play those). Lennon released her album, 5:30 Saturday Morning through Arista Records, becoming the first to release an album through a major record label. A metal album.

About the Artist

That incredibly long introduction was all to say that Fireside Shadow reminds me a lot of Lennon. Fireside Shadow, aka Reba Dougherty, is an independent recording artist out of a community with its own insane talent pool; Minneapolis, Minnesota. Fifteen Minutes of Fame first featured her back in March of this year in an article I’ll never forget. It was the very first article that was published on this website, departing from the blog space I had been publishing on before.

Read the Review of Cut You Out by Fireside Shadow

In that article, readers got to know a lot about Fireside Shadow, as it included three Blind Reaction videos, in addition to the review of her EP, Cut You Out.

We covered her again, in May, with the release of her single Glass Figure.

Read the FMOF Spotlight of Glass Figure by Fireside Shadow.

It is safe to say that Fireside Shadow is a favorite here on the FMOF platform, and though her music exhibits a very intense and hardcore performer, Reba is a kind, generous, and humble human being who has navigated our virtual community with gratitude and compassion.

Dougherty formed Fireside Shadow after having performed in a rock band for years. Deciding to pursue a solo recording path, she debuted in August of 2024, with her single, Spider’s Eye.

Her first EP, Cut You Out, released on March 15th. Since then, she has worked on growing and developing as an artist; collaborating with international recording artists, building a social media platform and growing her fan base.

About the Music

What if I’m right is the debut album by Minnesota-based independent recording artists, Fireside Shadow. At 14 songs, it runs at around 52 minutes and features songs from the Cut You Out EP released earlier this year, in addition to new, unheard tracks.

“What if I’m right is an album written over the span of roughly 4-5 years. It goes deep into the heartache that comes with healing.” ~ Reba Dougherty

In this debut record, Dougherty impressed with the same dynamic energy she exhibited in Cut You Out. Merging a blend of physical instrumentation and digitally programmed synths and percussion, What if I’m right teeters on the verge of Metal and House genres, just like NIN, Prodigy, and the earlier mentioned Lennon.

Dougherty served as vocalist on the record, as well as performing synth and guitar. She also wrote each of the songs and produced the record. Dougherty collaborated with several artists throughout the record as well. Adam Gerlach, Brendan Corley, Nick Juve of The Respire, Christopher Schara, and many others.

What if I’m right was mixed and mastered by Randon Nelson.

The album opener, is that a consequence? is a hybrid performance of metal and house energy, featuring driving piano and saw-infused synths, big percussive energy, and an aggressive vocal performance by Dougherty.

In Saw Stars, Dougherty continues to showcase her talent as a programmer, producing a dynamic performance in the percussion and incorporating arpeggiated synth parts that really expand the sound space of the music. I really love how she shows off more of her vocal capabilities in this song. It’s more ornamental. The open space of the instrumental composition left her a lot of room to experiment with her vocals and she used the space. This is one of her most impressive vocal performances.

One of my favorite tracks on the album is one of her singles, If it isn’t about YOU. This song has a particularly unique melody that sticks with me when I listen to it. It is distinctive, upbeat, and it is emotionally charged.

Final Thoughts

Fireside Shadow is an artist that has developed more within every release that she has put out into the world. She is unapologetic, she is willing to take risks, go deep, and she is emotionally transparent.

Musically, she has always been strong but she also continues to improve on that front as well. I’m not sure how much experience Dougherty has with production, but the quality is more and more refined as she continues to write and create.

Vocally, I can hear her getting more and more comfortable with each release. I can hear her wanting to expand her boundary of performance in every song. There is a part of me that wonders if she is even still holding back. If so, that’s a scary thought.

I love What if I’m right as a debut album. It tells the story of the progress Fireside Shadow has had over the course of a year. From her first released single to her first released album, she is finding her stride.

You can purchase both a physical and digital copy of What if I’m right at Fireside Shadow’s Bandcamp page, by clicking right here.

Remember: purchasing an artist’s physical media is the equivalent of a virtual hug. And we should NOT be stingy with our hugs!