Brantley Gilbert

Brantley Gilbert
Gilbert in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Brantley Keith Gilbert[1]
Born	(1985-01-20) January 20, 1985[2]
Origin	Jefferson, Georgia, U.S.[2]
Genres	Southern rock country rock
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter record producer
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Average Joes Valory Music Co.
Associated acts	Jason Aldean Colt Ford Thomas Rhett Justin Moore Rachel Farley Eric Church
Website	brantleygilbert.com

Brantley Keith Gilbert (born January 20, 1985) is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer from Jefferson, Georgia. He was originally signed to Colt Ford's label, Average Joes Entertainment, where he released Modern Day Prodigal Son and Halfway to Heaven. He is now signed to the Valory division of Big Machine Records where he has released two studio albums — a deluxe edition of Halfway to Heaven and Just as I Am and eleven country chart entries, four of which have gone to number one. He also wrote Jason Aldean's singles "My Kinda Party" and "Dirt Road Anthem".

Career

Singing career

Brantley Gilbert went to Nashville as a songwriter, signed to Warner Chappell Publishing.^[3] He continued performing at local venues. In 2009, he released his debut album, Modern Day Prodigal Son, under independent label Average Joes Entertainment. He followed with Halfway to Heaven in 2010.^[4]

In 2011, he signed with Valory Music Co., a division of Big Machine Records, who re-released Halfway to Heaven with new recordings and bonus tracks. The album was produced by Dann Huff. Its first two singles, "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", both went to number one on the Hot Country Songs chart. After them, "Kick It in the Sticks" peaked at number 34, and "More Than Miles" at number 7 on Country Airplay. He won the ACM New Male Artist award in 2013.^[5]

Gilbert's second Valory album, Just as I Am, was released in May 2014. Its lead single, "Bottoms Up", also reached number one. The second single, "Small Town Throwdown", featured guest vocals from labelmates Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore. The third single, "One Hell of an Amen", became Brantley's fourth number one hit in 2015. The album's fourth single, "Stone Cold Sober", is off Platinum Edition of Just As I Am.

Songwriting

In addition to his original work, Gilbert has written songs that Colt Ford and Jason Aldean have recorded. The songs "Dirt Road Anthem" (co-written and originally recorded by him and Colt Ford) and "My Kinda Party", were released on Aldean's 2010 album My Kinda Party. "My Kinda Party" was originally recorded by Gilbert on Modern Day Prodigal Son, while "Dirt Road Anthem" was on Halfway to Heaven. Aldean has also covered Gilbert's "The Best of Me", available on the Wal-Mart exclusive and iTunes release of his 2009 album Wide Open.^[6]

Performances:

Gilbert Accompanies other artists in 2015 in London, in the O2 Arena for the Country2Country music festival.^[7]

Personal life

It was announced in September 2012 that Brantley Gilbert was dating country music singer and actress Jana Kramer. They met at the CMT Music Awards in June 2012. They got engaged on January 20, 2013, his 28th birthday.^[8] They split in August 2013.^[9][10][11]

In June 2015, Gilbert married Georgia schoolteacher Amber Cochran in a small ceremony at his home.^[12] He admitted that she was the girl who inspired his singles "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", "More Than Miles", and several others.^[13] On July 24, while on the honeymoon, his grandfather died.

In 2013, Gilbert embarked on an eight-day USO tour to entertain American service members stationed in Italy and Kuwait.^[14]

Brantley Gilbert was in a near-fatal truck accident when he was 19.^[15]

Gilbert is a professing Christian, and his song "My Faith In You", off Just as I Am, speaks of his faith.

In May 2015, Gilbert got a tattoo showing his support of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[16]

Tours

• 2011
  • Willie Nelson's Country Throwdown Tour
  • Taste of Country Christmas Tour (headline) with Thomas Rhett
• 2012
  • Eric Church's Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour
  • Toby Keith's Live in Overdrive Tour^[17]
  • Hell on Wheels Tour (headline) Brian Davis, Greg Bates, and Uncle Kracker^[18]
• 2013
  • Tim McGraw's Two Lanes of Freedom Tour
• 2014
  • Let It Ride (first leg with Thomas Rhett, Eric Paslay, and Brian Davis); (second leg with Brian Davis, Chase Bryant, Aaron Lewis, and Tyler Farr; Lewis and Farr split dates)
• 2015
  • Kenny Chesney's The Big Revival Tour
• 2016
  • The Blackout Tour January – April (headline) with Brian Davis, Michael Ray, and Canaan Smith
  • Take It Outside Tour June – October (headline) with Colt Ford, and Justin Moore

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

• ^A "Kick It in the Sticks" did not enter the Hot 100, but charted at number 13 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, which acts as a 25-space extension of the Hot 100.^[49]
• ^B "Stone Cold Sober" did not enter the Hot 100, but charted at number 8 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, which acts as a 25-space extension of the Hot 100.
• ^C Current single.^[50]
• ^B "The Weekend" did not enter the Hot 100, but charted at number 5 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, which acts as a 25-space extension of the Hot 100.

Other charted songs

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website