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Brantley Gilbert
Guest Artist
Brantley Gilbert was born and raised in the small town of Jefferson, Georgia, just outside of Athens city limits. Gilbert’s taste in music always swayed toward a southern country rock feel, but his true-to-life testimony of heartache, trials, triumph, and success found a home in country music.
Gilbert’s career began on the stage: Night after night, he played acoustic sets at various venues in his hometown and slowly began to notice familiar faces in the crowds. Gilbert soon realized that his acoustic shows — however intimate — didn’t satisfy his audience’s thirst for his rock-infused country music. “We went from these acoustic shows to a bona fide Country-Rock-Soul show that is wide open,” says Gilbert. “Even when we play a ballad, it’s high energy.”
While on the road the past five years, Gilbert has built his brand through his compelling lyrics and dynamic live show – a combination that attracted a strong underground band of believers who shared Gilbert’s passion for life and music. As Gilbert tells it, “[W]e don’t have fans, we have friends. I like to think that those people in the crowd are just like me. They listen to the songs, they get the meaning and get the purpose and they get something out of it.” These dedicated fans and their insistence on new music from Gilbert encouraged him to bring his unique style to Nashville, Tennessee where he soon signed with Warner/Chappell Publishing and began to develop music for a debut album release on an independent record label.
On March 16, 2010, the rising star released his sophomore album, Halfway To Heaven, the follow-up to his debut national release, A Modern Day Prodigal Son. The sophomore effort peaked at #2 on iTunes Country Album Charts, and at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart for all genres.
In February 2011, Gilbert passed another career milestone when he signed with Big Machine Label Group’s imprint The Valory Music Co. Gilbert’s first single debuted in the Top 40 at Country radio on its official impact date – an impressive feat by a new artist. Gilbert is currently in the studio with award winning producer Dann Huff working to finish his first album on The Valory Music Co., and is aiming for a late summer release.