Gate City
Donna Ulisse Releases New Single “Gate City” on Turnberry Records
NASHVILLE, TN [March 18th, 2026] — Award-winning singer-songwriter Donna Ulisse returns with her compelling new single “Gate City” from Turnberry Records. Written by Ulisse and longtime collaborator Marc Rossi, the song weaves vivid Appalachian storytelling with a powerful meditation on redemption, judgment, and the hope of grace. “Gate City” is available NOW to radio via Get It Played.
Set in the mountains that often inspire Ulisse’s songwriting, “Gate City” tells the story of a hard-living mountain man reflecting on a lifetime of poor choices as his days grow short. Haunted by the possibility of judgment and the fear of standing alone at heaven’s gates, the character wrestles with regret and the longing for forgiveness. Driven by traditional bluegrass instrumentation and Ulisse’s heartfelt delivery, the song unfolds like a timeless mountain ballad filled with imagery of faith, consequence, and mercy.
He was born and he’ll die
There on the wrong side of the Appalachian Mountains
And he’s lived a low life
The way most good folks think a no ‘count should do
And he’s never helped nobody
Never earned an honest dollar
Got no use for church and that’s the gospel truth
(But he’s heard) a story from the hillside
‘Bout a town by the river Jordan
Where folks like him are judged without much pity
But if you’ve lived like the righteous
Oh, you won’t be standin’ lonely
On the outside lookin’ into Gate City
Ooh, lookin’ into Gate City
The idea for the song came from a roadside sign that sparked Ulisse’s imagination years ago during trips to visit family in Virginia’s Clinch Mountains.
“I wrote ‘Gate City’ with my longtime friend and co-writer Marc Rossi years ago,” Ulisse explains. “I had stayed contemplative on a sign I’d been passing for years each time my husband would bring me to the Clinch Mountains to visit my in-laws. I kept admiring the town name of Gate City stamped on the green and white road sign. In my writer’s imagination I would picture this place as the bustling town surrounding Heaven. When I described it to Rossi we decided to make it about a mountain man who lived a sketchy life and at the end of his journey he started worrying about how he would be judged in the town where The Gate stood. Hope you like our wild mountain tale.”
Ulisse has long been recognized as one of bluegrass music’s most thoughtful writers and compelling vocalists. Over the course of her career, she has built a catalog celebrated for its emotional honesty and vivid imagery, earning praise from fans, fellow artists, and radio programmers alike. Her songs often draw inspiration from Appalachian heritage and the timeless stories of the people who inhabit that landscape. With “Gate City,” Donna Ulisse once again demonstrates her gift for creating songs that feel both deeply personal and universally relatable.