Thursday, April 2, 2020

Very Important Biracial: Kane Brown

Back in the more peaceful days of this year, I took a New Year's trip to Nashville with my friend to go see one of our favorite bands Old Crow Medicine Show. While there, I absorbed as much country music history as I could possibly handle, as it's amongst my favorite musical genres. Upon my visit to the Grand Ole Opry, the Mecca of country music, I looked at the wall of 200+ inductees and was stricken with a twinge of lament that currently legendary Charley Pride (inducted 1993) and former Hootie & the Blowfish lead Darius Rucker, inducted in 2012 after his transition into country, are the only two Black country musicians that are now instated into the ranks of this hallowed and historic institution, and overall, there are but a handful of people of color that have been widely successful in this particular musical category, including a young man raised in Georgia and Tennessee named Kane Brown. 

Kane Brown was born in 1993 to a white mother and a Black father. Raised by his mother Tabitha first in Northwest Georgia, then later in Chattanooga, TN, Kane Brown's path to becoming a country musician began when in 2013, after auditioning for the X Factor and not finding it the right fit, he began posting country covers on social media. His cover of George Strait's Check Yes or No went viral and led to a teaser for his original song Used to Love You Sober. In 2014 Brown released a six-song EP, then his single Used to Love You Sober, followed by several singles and a second EP.

In 2016, Brown opened for Florida-Georgia Line, after which he signed his first contract, debuted more singles from his new label and embarked on his first headlining tour. His self-titled album featuring songs from this tour debuted at #10 on Billboard 200 and a 2018 deluxe edition made Kane the first artist to have a single on all of the country charts.

Mr. Brown followed up this incredible achievement with his second album entitled Experiment and has subsequently recorded a number of collaborations with a variety of artists, such as John Legend and Camila Cabelo.

When not wowing crowds in concert and making chart history, Kane Brown lives in Nashville with his wife Katelyn and infant daughter Kingsley.