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Nick Bowman Features Editor | 770-718-3426 | life@gainesvilletimes.com
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gainesvilletimes.com
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
‘New school meets old school country’
Country singer Kane Brown’s 2016 self-titled debut album and its deluxe release last year spawned two multi-platinum hits, “Heaven” and “What Ifs,” but
the breakout star was snubbed at the Country Music Association Awards this year.
‘I wanted to call it “Experiment”
because it’s all kinds of different
sounds. We have a bunch of
instruments on there that are
basically going extinct, like the fiddle,
the steel guitar, the slide ....We
basically did like a new school meets
old school country on some of them.’
Kane Brown, country music singer
Kane Brown poses in the press room with his awards for favorite male country artist, favorite
album for “Kane Brown” and favorite song for “Heaven” at the American Music Awards on
Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Kane Brown
brings old
instruments,
new sounds
to Nashville
BY KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —
The Billboard charts and
streaming services truly
dig rising country star Kane
Brown. But the industry vot
ers at the Country Music
Association Awards? Not as
much.
Despite being the genre’s
most successful new artist,
Kane Brown was snubbed at
the 2018 CMAs, but he’s still
going to the awards show on
Nov. 14 anyway.
“I was upset a little bit
just because I felt like we
had a very good year,” said
25-year-old Brown, who
will release his sophomore
album, “Experiment,” on
Friday. “I felt like me and
Luke Combs and Brett
Young were the most-talked
about (artists) of the year. I
felt like I should have at least
been recognized.”
Combs and Young were
both nominated for new art
ist of the year, and Combs got
a male vocalist nomination
as well. Brown, whose Dec.
2016 self-titled debut album
and deluxe reissue last year
spawned two multi-plati
num hits — “Heaven” and
“What Ifs” — was included
on the second-round bal
lot for multiple categories,
including new artist, but ulti
mately didn’t make it into
the final five in those cat
egories, according to a CMA
spokeswoman.
“But I don’t have any hurt
feelings,” Brown said in a
recent interview on his tour
bus in Nashville, Tennessee,
as he prepared to play an
opening slot at the Bridges
tone Arena for Chris Young.
“I’ll still be at the show and I
will still be rooting for every
body that got nominated. All
those people are still family.
I wish good on everybody
and I’m not really hurt at
all.”
Although he’s one of coun
try music’s next big stars,
Brown still has an underdog
mentality, which goes back
to his upbringing in rural
Georgia and being raised by
a single mom.
“I feel like I am the out
sider on the inside, if that
makes sense,” Brown said.
“But I have coped with it.”
His manager, Martha
Earls, said his lack of CMA
nominations mean there’s
still a lot of people in Nash
ville who don’t understand
him.
“The fans really want him.
But the CMAs are industry-
voted,” Earls said. “And
so there’s a lot of politics
involved in that.”
Brown has had to walk
a lot more miles than most
new artists to get to where he
is today, Earls said.
“He came to town and
immediately everyone was
suspicious of him because
they couldn’t understand
how somebody could break
on social media,” Earls
said. “There were obviously
stereotypes against him
because he’s bi-racial and
he has a ton of tattoos and he
doesn’t look like your stereo
typical country artist.”
Brown built his fan base
through his Facebook page,
doing covers of country
songs that were amassing
millions of views. His debut
album achieved platinum
status and topped Billboard’s
country albums chart for 12
weeks. He topped all five
Billboard country charts
simultaneously at one point
this year, making him the
first artist ever to do so.
“Heaven,” which peaked at
No. 15 on the all-genre Hot
100 chart, is the second most-
streamed country song of
the year behind the record-
breaking hit “Meant to Be,”
by Bebe Rexha and Florida
Georgia Line.
Although country radio
was slow to respond, fans
immediately connected to
the soft-spoken singer-song-
writer with the deep voice.
On his first album, Brown
opened up to fans about his
background, being abused
as a kid and not fitting in at
school because of his clothes
and his skin color.
He’s won big at fan-voted
awards show, sweeping
the country categories at
the 2018 American Music
Awards with three wins and
picking up a CMT Music
Award for “What Ifs,” his
No. 1 hit featuring Lauren
Alaina. And although Brown
would have likely been a
strong contender for best
new artist at the 2019 Gram-
mys, he is ineligible because
he’s released too many
songs, Earls said.
“I feel like our industry
sometimes doesn’t recognize
the artists that are making
the biggest impact,” Earls
said.
Brown, who recently got
married to singer Katelyn
Jae, sounds like a young
man deeply in love and
coming into his own on his
new album. His voice car
ries more confidence as he
explores his love of ’90s-era
country music, while also
incorporating elements of
R&B and pop.
“I wanted to call it ‘Exper
iment’ because it’s all kinds
of different sounds,” Brown
said. “We have a bunch of
instruments on there that
are basically going extinct,
like the fiddle, the steel gui
tar, the slide.... We basically
did like a new school meets
old school country on some
of them.”
He’s become a fast learner
as well. When he had just 15
minutes to play as an opener
for Florida Georgia Line, he
studied the duo’s set to learn
how to improve his own.
“I’ve learned that I want to
be the headliner one day,”
said Brown, who will start his
first headlining arena tour in
January.
But Brown insists that all
the success hasn’t changed
him. Family is one of the
most important things to
him, whether it’s the family
MARK HUMPHREY I Associated Press
JORDAN STRAUSS I Associated Press
he came from or the tight
crew of band members and
co-writers. When he played
the arena in Nashville, he
brought his mother and his
88-year-old grandfather
onstage and told his fans to
follow their dreams.
“I am very family ori
ented,” Brown said. “This
camp is a family. My writers
are my family.”
So even if part of the
country music industry has
not recognized him for his
accomplishments, Brown
said he likes proving people’s
expectations of him wrong.
Memories worth the time even after beauty fades
Many years ago, I was visiting
an elderly woman in a nursing
home. I did not know her well, but
I knew she was lonely so I’d try to
stop in from time to time.
She was approaching her
mid-90s and in fairly good shape
except that her mind and lively
spirit had outlived her body,
which had grown extremely frail
and feeble. Arthritis had crippled
her and turned her hands into
knotted balls. She spent most of
her time in a wheelchair and was
usually at the mercy of the atten
dants - some who were sweet, oth
ers who were not.
One afternoon, I found her in
the common area with other resi
dents. I looked around for a chair.
“Before you sit down, would
you bring me something from my
room?” she asked. “I have some
thing I want to show you. ”
“Of course,” I replied. “What
is it?”
“A photo album.” She bright-
R0NDA RICH
southswomen@bellsouth.net
ened considerably. “My cousin’s
granddaughter brought it by.”
She took it gently in her hands
and patted it lovingly before open
ing. It was obviously a treasure to
her. The album consisted mostly
of black and white photos with a
smattering of color Kodak snap
shots from the 1960s tossed in.
“They found this in my cousin’s
belongings when they were clean
ing out.” She frowned. “She died
three years ago. Our mothers
were sisters. Her granddaughter
said for me to keep it and enjoy it
as long as I wanted.”
She began the telling of the pho
tos, most of which she knew but,
from time to time, she would say
something like, “I don’t know who
that is. It don’t look like none of
our people. Must be someone from
her husband’s side of the family.
They were a rowdy bunch, for the
most part. But he was a good man.
A fine man. Yes, he was.”
At least 20 years have come and
gone since that afternoon that I
sat by her side, the sun streaming
in from the west facing window,
and listened as she recounted
stories behind the photos in which
she appeared.
“I made that dress. Isn’t it
pretty? When I saw that fabric, I
knew I had to have it.”
Sometimes the greatest gift we
can give is a moment of kindness
when we stop and listen to those
who are facing, as my daddy
would say, the setting of the sun.
That afternoon for nigh on two
hours, I listened and occasionally
asked questions as she talked.
And talked. And talked. Halfway
through the photo album, I real
ized that, except for her, everyone
pictured had departed this vale of
tears and sorrows.
On the last page, she lingered,
touching lovingly the face of her
baby brother. “He died too young.
A heart attack. Never been sick a
day in his life.”
“I know you miss them all,” I
said quietly.
She nodded. Her voice had a
tear-cloaked tone when she spoke.
“The saddest thing is that there’s
no one left who remembers me
when I was young.” She paused
then her voice dropped to a whis
per. “And pretty.”
I’ve never been much good at
saying the right thing in moments
like that. I wish I had that gift.
This was in the years before death
had become too much of a con
stant in my life but I had already
bowed before enough graves that
I knew well enough how loss feels.
I squeezed her hand.
“You’re still pretty.”
“Pretty old.” She laughed. “You
should have seen me back then.”
She flipped back to the front of
the album and pointed to a young
woman in the prime of beauty.
She was dressed in a light-colored
suit, matching hat and gloves with
a purse hanging in the crook of
her arm.
“Back then, all the boys wanted
to court me.”
And though there was no one
else left to remember her youth,
she still remembered. Vividly.
And fondly.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling
author of several books, including
“Mark My Words: A Memoir of
Mama.” Sign up for her newsletter
at www.rondarich.com. Her column
appears Tuesdays and on www.
gainesvilletimes.com.
