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Kane Brown: new music from old topic
By John Benson
There’s no doubt that over the decades country music has cornered the market on the simple notion that misery loves company, ostensibly helping listeners move on from failed relationships.
One of Nashville’s rising stars, Kane Brown, knows this concept firsthand, having written his recently released debut EP, “Closer,” about the breakup with an ex-girlfriend.
“The EP was kind of an experiment in how I wanted to write stuff,” said Kane, 22, calling from Signal Mountain, Tenn. “It was the beginning of when I first started writing. I wanted it to sound a little bit newer. Like some old traditional song with slide guitars, but have a little bit more of an R&B-type feel.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It was just me trying to be a writer and not letting the writing come to me, if that makes sense. Pretty much the entire EP, I was writing about my ex-girlfriend. So it was just playing anything and writing about her, trying to put all of the pieces together and make good imagery where everybody could see a story.”
Considering the EP reached the top 10 on the Billboard Country chart, Brown is doing something right. More so, over the past couple of years, the Georgia native has been on the fast track to success, thanks to social media.
After garnering a decent amount of attention for covers he posted online, the singer used a Kickstarter campaign to fund “Closer,” which was recorded at the home of Brantley Gilbert guitarist Noah Henson.
The EP runs the stylistic gamut from the rocking “Hit the Gas” to the midtempo “It Turns Me On” and mellow “Don’t Go City on Me.” Up next for Brown is a full-length effort, which includes new tune “Used to Love You Sober.”
Released in October, the song reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot Country chart and is expected to sell more than 350,000 singles by the end of the year. It should be pointed out the latter figure is based on no radio airplay.
“It’s the Internet,” Brown said. “I just feel like everybody is interested in something new. We sparked the fire, and we’re just adding gasoline to it, and it’s just taking off.”
That interest is definitely spreading like wildfire, considering Brown makes his Northeast Ohio debut with two sold-out shows Saturday and Sunday at the Dusty Armadillo in Rootstown. All of this momentum paints a bright future for Brown, who successfully auditioned for “The X-Factor” in 2013 but decided against appearing on the reality show when producers tried to put him in a boy band.
What’s interesting for Brown is there’s obviously major label talk surrounding this hot singer. While it’s unlikely the Music City suits will want to put him in a boy band, there’s often a loss of creative freedom involved with doing business on Music Row.
“I’m not scared because I usually find a way to push, to be me as much as possible without getting into trouble,” Brown said. “So before I do sign a major contract, I want to make sure I can still be me – I can still do what I want to. And if they won’t let me, I won’t sign the contract. I’ll just stay independent.”
Staying independent allows him to release songs when he sees fit, such as “Used to Love You Sober,” which, by the way, isn’t about that ex-girlfriend.
He laughed and said, “Yeah, I’ve moved on.”