Hello and welcome to this Tuesdays addition of Artist Spotlight this week I got a good for y’all I had the pleasure to do a spotlight on Trent Brown if you aren’t familiar with Trent I highly suggest checking him out he’s a great guy with an amazing talent and today I hope you’re able to learn more about who he is behind the music!
1. What’s your name and where are you from?
My name is Trent Brown – I’m 26 years old and I was born and raised in Omaha, NE. I moved to Lincoln, NE in 2017 to attend college at the University of Nebraska and have remained here ever since. If you asked me where home is, I would probably just say Nebraska.
2. When did you first start playing music, and what drew you to it?
When I was a kid, I was a Guitar Hero prodigy. I was obsessed with it. I even dressed up as the guy with the green mohawk on the cover of the original Guitar Hero for Halloween one year. I obviously loved the game, but I also loved the music that it introduced me to.
By the age of 8, I think I had sung enough ZZ Top and Boston around the house to display that I had a real interest in music, and I convinced my mom to buy me my first guitar. That same year, I attended my first live concert, which was .38 Special opening up for Styx. It’s
safe to say I was hooked after that.
3. How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard your music?
It really depends on the song, and even then, I don’t have a great answer. I only have one song out that I would consider to be a “country song”, and that is a murder ballad titled “Redemption”. If I had to put a genre on myself, it would probably be folk-rock. I’ve been told my music is Americana, but I don’t really know what that means, and I also heard that Americana is a myth.
My sound has changed, and is still changing a lot as time goes on. This is a result of not only a change in writing style, but also a change in production. My debut album “Move” was produced entirely by my drummer (Dave Marks) and I, and my most recent two singles (“Dreamin’ again” / “Songs from Heaven”) have been outsourced to a professional producer. Having a professional take care of production is great for a million different reasons, one of them being a new perspective on your songs. It adds a fresh mind and the ability to identify what’s missing and where it should go. I think (and hope) that my sound will continue to change for as long as I am making music.
4. Who or what inspired you to start making music?
I always wanted to write songs, but never really knew what to write about. What is one supposed to write about as a 10-year-old? How sad I was about losing our little-league baseball game? I kind of accepted the fact that I personally wouldn’t be able to write until I had more life experience, and that it would happen by itself when the time is right. After living a larger part of life, I finally wrote my first song at the age of twenty-one.
On the outside, I’ve been a fairly unserious person my whole life. Everyone has personal struggles and I’ve always internalized those. I started writing because it gave me an outlet to express myself without having to look someone in the eye during the process. It’s a form of therapy that doesn’t cost a dime. That being said, not everything I write now is from first-hand experience. For example, when writing “Redemption”, I hadn’t just murdered my wife (that I’ve never had) or the man that I caught her with. I had just watched Shawshank Redemption for the first time. Ever since hearing “Fast Hand” by Cody Jinks, I wanted to write a murder ballad, so the movie sparked the concept in my head of “what if Dufresne did it?”. The format of the song is basically if Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” took place in a prison instead of a bar. Piano Man is “Here’s these people in this bar and what they do, here’s what I do in this bar”, whereas Redemption is “Here’s these people in prison and what they’re in for, here’s what I did to get in here.”
5. Who are some artists (past or present) that have influenced you the most?
I may have looked ahead at this question while answering the previous one. You ever heard of a song directly inspired by Billy Joel, Cody Jinks, and Shawshank Redemption?
You have now. I’m influenced by so many different people and media. Corey Smith’s “Maysville in the Meantime” and “In the Mood” albums are works of art that aren’t talked about enough, andhave for sure influenced my songwriting.
I grew up listening to rock and roll, then my older brother introduced me to country music. He showed me artists like Jamey Johnson, Sturgill Simpson, and Cody Jinks. I was obsessed with a small group of country artists, and narrow-mindedly thought that everyone else in the genre sucked. Keep in mind this was the peak of the pop-country era. Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean were all you heard on the modern country radio station. For this reason, to find new-to-me country music that I liked, I had to travel back in time. I started listening to the 90s station and found a new world of country music to fall in love with.
It wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I found out that some of the best country music ever made has been coming out this entire time, I was just too ignorant to even attempt to find it. If I would’ve heard Tyler Childers’s “Purgatory” when it came out as I was a senior in high school, I think I would’ve cured cancer by now.
I quit drinking alcohol in November of 2024. I played around with the idea for a while, but kind of used music as an excuse not to at times. I couldn’t imagine a world where I wasn’t crushing Busch Light on stage or sipping a glass of Buffalo Trace to “boost creativity” during my writing sessions. I used to always joke “Never trust a skinny chef or a sober musician.” One album completely flipped my perspective on this. That album was none other than Jason Isbell’s “Southeastern”. I had heard Isbell’s songs before, but I never actually listened to them. I finally did a deep-dive into his discography last year, and I thank the Lord that I did, because it quite literally changed my life for the better. I firmly believe that anyone who writes music should have at least some inspiration from Jason Isbell. There are too many to name them all, but American Aquarium, Nicholas Jamerson, Danno Simpson, Turnpike Troubadours, and Charles Wesley Godwin are certainly worth mentioning as well. Long story short, I guess my music is inspired by a blend of classic rock, and a whole bunch of different types of country music.
6. What’s been your favorite show or venue to play so far?
In 2023 I played at the Country Drive Live Music Festival in Ashland, NE. The festival takes place on a 9-hole golf course surrounded by corn fields. I got to open up for one of my 90s heroes – Jo Dee Messina. I peaked way too soon.
7. What’s your dream venue to play at?
Two words: Laurel. Cove.
8. Have there been any major turning points in your career so far?
Not necessarily. I think the biggest turning point for me if any was when I started using a producer. My streaming numbers haven’t changed much, but the quality of the work that I’ve put out has increased significantly.
9. What’s something about you or your band that people might not expect?
For my “day job” I work in public accounting. I prepare tax returns for a living.
10. What do you hope people feel when they hear your music?
Something. I actually have a song about this called “Move” (also the title of my album).
Here’s a little story behind that song:
In 2020 I released my first ever single “Slim Chances”. This was entirely self-produced – I recorded it in my parents’ basement while living there during an internship/COVID. I was really proud of it at the time and couldn’t wait to hear what people thought of it. On release day, I got a lot of great feedback….aside from one comment on YouTube. @jeffbezos6649 commented “Slim chances of you ever making it. Stop trying so hard.” The account was created on the same day that the song released, which means someone that I know personally went out of their way to create a new burner account just to make that one comment. Unless it really was Jeff Bezos. That would be pretty cool. The comment inspired “Move”. It’s essentially an explanation of why I put music out.
These songs help me, so maybe they can help others. People listen to music differently. I hope the lyric listeners get emotional from my sad songs and a mood-boost from my happy songs. I hope I can at least get a few foot-taps from those who don’t listen to lyrics. If my music can make at least one person feel absolutely anything, that’s a W in my book.
Shoutout to Jeff Bezos for the song and album title.
11. What does success look like for you in music?
Success is a spectrum. In the grand scheme of things I haven’t accomplished a whole lot, but I have also accomplished much more than I thought I ever would 5 years ago. If you told my 8-year-old self everything I’ve done, he’d probably say I’m a failure for not selling out arenas at this age. 18-year-old me would be astonished that we’re actually getting paid to play music for people.
The first time I ever got paid to play music was when my bookie in college told me he’d give me free play to come play John Denver songs around a campfire at 1 am. I felt like I had played the Opry after that. Do I consider myself successful? Sure. Do I desire more success? Absolutely. What would my “I made it” moment be? Two words…..Laurel. Cove.
12. How do you balance music with the rest of your life?
As a single male in his twenties I probably have it easier than most, but it’s still not easy. I work long hours from January to April, so I typically limit myself to one show per month during this time. Work-Music balance becomes a lot easier during the Summer, which is really when the peak of the music season is in Nebraska.
13. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out in music?
Be patient. Just because you wrote a song doesn’t mean it’s good enough to be released. Just because a song is good enough to be released doesn’t mean the production quality is good enough to release it. I constantly think about “Bossier City-ifying” my album “Move” for a few reasons.
There’s a few tracks on there that I wouldn’t release at all if I could go back in time just because they’re not the best songs I have to offer. Another reason being that I wish I would’ve hired a producer for it so that I could get more out of the songs. I also wish I wouldn’t have used a guitar that I bought second-hand for $150 when I was 10 years old to record the rhythm guitar tracks. Patience also means saving your gig money to reinvest it in better equipment.
14. Do you have any upcoming releases or projects you’re excited about?
Big time. I am currently figuring out dates to get back in the studio. I have 8-10 songs picked out that I think will fit really well on an album together. I’m a small-time artist, so if you want to hear some demos in the meantime, just ask!
15. Where can people find your music and follow your journey?
Twitter: @Brown__Trent (two underscores)
Instagram: @trent__brown (two underscores)
TikTok: @trentbrownmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrentBrownMusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/02CqhtRxqF9IGqqXjxkcjm?si=qBwVKP5wSkSLX5mI-RAoH
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/trent-brown/1523753278
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for what’s to come!
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