Kane Brown has presented fans with his most personal and unapologetic project to date, The High Road. This 18-track project developed over the course of two years amid a chaotic touring schedule and responsibilities as a dad of three and is finally out now via Sony Music Nashville.
Fans may think they’ve gotten to know Brown through his music, but this album peels back the curtain even further, offering a raw and reflective glimpse into his past, present and hope for the future.
Each of these meticulously crafted songs showcase a new side to Brown’s artistry as he digs into valuable life lessons and powerful emotions, several of which include star-studded collaborations. The album finds Brown teaming up with Brad Paisley on “Things We Quit,” reuniting with Khalid for “Rescue,” and tapping Jelly Roll for “Haunted.” Plus, he also got back into the studio with his wife, Katelyn, on two tracks including “Do Us Apart” and the previously released “Body Talk.”
In anticipation of the project coming to life on Kane Brown’s upcoming The High Road Tour in March, we have compiled five fun facts about his newest project to help showcase just how much work and thought went into this collection.
1. Katelyn Brown Wasn’t Originally On “Body Talk”
Brown and his wife caused a frenzy among fans when they delivered their first-ever collaboration, “Thank God” in 2022. This single went on to become No. 1 on country radio and remains a staple in the singer/songwriter’s live shows. After seeing that song earn such high praise, the husband and wife decided to come together on two more songs for this album. However, according to Brown, she was only supposed to be featured on “Do Us Apart,” and not “Body Talk.”
“‘Body Talk’ was originally supposed to have another artist on it and then she heard it and was like, “’What?! This is such my vibe!’” he shared during Rob + Holly’s Friday Night Takeover. “So, of course, she can be on it.”
2. Kane Brown Thought Jelly Roll “Hated” Him – Now They Have A Duet
Over the years, Kane Brown and Jelly Roll have used their musical talent to bring awareness to the importance of mental health, each drawing from their own fair share of personal struggles and internal battles. We hear about these moments of intense turmoil in their powerful new duet, “Haunted,” and it’s clear the pair of country stars are strong supporters for each other. But it turns out they didn’t hit it off right away. In fact, Brown revealed to Taste of Country that he was told that “Save Me” singer hated him at first.
“I heard of him before he had ever gotten in the country industry, because I was hanging out with some other guys that were in the world that Jelly was in. We had the same kinda background,” said Brown before adding, “Our buddy, Taylor Phillips, he told Jelly … so Jelly will tell you this, he hated me.”
The “Fiddle In The Band” singer attests that it must have been his quiet nature in his early career that led Jelly Roll to feel this way. In an effort to shut down any confusion, Brown reached out to his fellow artist.
“Taylor ended up telling me the story, so I ended up reaching out to Jelly, I was like, ‘Hey buddy, this industry’s crazy. If you ever need to sit down and talk to me, or play COD’ — I play a lot of Call of Duty — ‘You can come and talk to me about it,’” Brown said.
The pair did in fact end up getting together to play video games and quickly formed a friendship that now finds them messaging “all the time,” and even “random FaceTimes at 3 a.m.”
4. Fan Encouragement Led Brad Paisley To Be Featured On “Things We Quit”
“Things We Quit” has a pretty stacked lineup of songwriting credits by HARDY, Morgan Wallen, Jesse Frasure, Josh Osborne and Brad Paisley. To Brown’s surprise, none of these artists/songwriters decided to cut it for their own catalog so he was quick to snatch it up. After recording it and posting a few teasers to Instagram, his fans pointed it out that it may need some added vocals and they had one artist in mine – Brad Paisley.
“I recorded this like a year ago and put it on my Instagram and all the comments were, “Sounds like a Brad Paisley song,” Brown said while speaking with host Cody Alan on SiriusXM’s The Highway to kick off the new The 615 Studio Sessions presented by Wayfair.
This ended up being a full-circle moment for Brown, who recalls seeing Paisley in his first-ever concert.
“I didn’t even call him. I told Dann Huff, my producer, I said, ‘See if you can get Brad on it,’ and then I was on the golf course and he said, ‘We got Brad on it,’ and he played the solo on it as well…full circle moment ’cause Brad was a big inspiration to me coming up.”
4. Randy Travis And Carrie Underwood Inspired The Track, “Do Us Apart”
Kane Brown’s second collaboration with Katelyn Brown on the album, “Do Us Apart,” is another heartfelt showcase of their love. What makes it even more special is the fact that it was inspired by Brown’s love for traditional country music storytelling, particularly in his go-to karaoke song, “If I Told You So” by Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis.
“‘Do Us Apart,’ we always karaoke Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis’ version of ‘I Told You So,’ so we were trying to write a song close to that,” he shared on Rob + Holly’s Friday Night Takeover. “We wrote it and she loved it and jumped on it.”
5. Brown’s “Stay” is a Reimagination of Sugarland’s 2007 Song of the Same Name
Throughout The High Road, Brown pays homage to members of his family in various ways. He celebrates his undying love for his wife on “Do Us Apart,” illustrates special moments as a dad on “Backseat Driver,” remembers his grandfather’s resilience on “When You Forget,” and even reimagines his mom’s favorite song with “Stay.” During a recent interview, he recalled his mom’s passion for the tune recorded by Sugarland in 2007 and then explained how he discovered his own desire to introduce the original tune to a new generation of music lovers.
“That was my mom’s favorite song back in the day,” Brown tells Billboard. “What’s funny is, the two writers I wrote with had not heard the Sugarland version before. I got this feeling like I’ll be showing another new generation this song, and then their parents will be like, ‘Oh, he took it from this song,’ and hopefully they will go back and discover the original ‘Stay,’ which I think is really cool.”
Kane Brown’s The High Road is out now.
The post Five Fun Facts About Kane Brown’s New Album, ‘The High Road’ appeared first on Country Now.
