Brantley Gilbert The Bad Boy
by Snehashree Mandal for Country Music News International
Brantley Gilbert believes how we do one thing is how we do everything. Not only does he take care of himself but he also takes care of his music by creating good music down the line. For him making music is important but what seems to be more important is his desire to make his music speak for itself. Meet Brantley Gilbert, a country musician firing the lanes and the roads with his flames. JUST AS I AM is already roaring and blasting down the charts even though the music touched the ground after four years. His songs are reflecting the person he is today, and when he sings, “If you want a bad boy,” you can’t just love him more for this beautiful album and the roaring songs pump adrenaline and testosterone into the very BG nation which is more like friends to him than fans. Brantley sings for those who made him do what he wanted to do. Every time he hears a whisper; he knows he needs to write down his inner voice that comes swaying down to him from somewhere. Each time he writes a song; he makes sure he is talking about his life shelling life into the words he weaves into a song.
How did he begin singing?
Look at his songs and albums to witness his growing-
My Baby’s Guns N Roses
JUST AS I AM
Lights of my Hometown
Small Town Throw Down
The Devil Don’t Sleep’s Bullet in a Bonfire
Look into each of his songs to know how well Brantley relates his songs to real life- he is a passion wagon still exploring the edges of the earth. Singing was spontaneity for Brantley and came all so spontaneously every time he wanted to be a songwriter and a country musician. But it was in a week-long rehab that things started to change. As a young boy born to a pastor father and a mother who ran pre-school programs for the local Southern Baptist Church, life was quite regular until he took to drinking at a young age. He was just not working hard but also drinking hard and praying harder by then.
His music and his drinking ran hand in hand for quite some days and just around the time when he hit Nashville, his liver and kidneys began fading off. Pancreatitis hit him hard but then it was during his treatment, he realised he wanted to work more on himself and his music now that he had faced his bottom end. He was worried by then; he might spoil the music he was creating. So, when he got slightly better, he decided to leave but then stayed for a day more to meet Keith Urban, another addict recovering at the hospital.
Quiet messed up, he declared to Keith, his worries sharing his trauma and fear with him about never being able to do music again perhaps. But then two people with the same fears rose higher as they walked together and slowly built up what you see Brantley be today. Every single emotion, every tiny dot that he has lived comes wide alive in his music. This was the flipping point in Brantley’s life- the swinging point were all crushed and began again. Another week at the rehab and he had pulled all of himself together again, ready to take the world with Eric Church’s tour. It was here that Brantley’s journey began when he helped Eric sell a lot of his shows. It is here that life took a turn for him into a path he never could see at that point.
His lines talk a lot about how much he loves those who made him what he is today- Big Machine chief, Scott Borchetta recalled once having hard times turning Brantley’s newly greased wheel.
The Ones That Like Me.”
“Speak my mind, don’t mind who’s listenin’/
“I’ll ask forgiveness ‘fore I ask permission/
“Least with me you know what you’re gettin’
Awards poured down the moment, he focussed back on his music as such he was good in it, and there’s no doubt about it.
2015 Billboard Music Awards
2016 CMT Music Awards
2017 BMI Country Awards
2019 SMT Music Awards
and many more………………
Some of the best showstopping moments have been beautifully entrapped into some beautiful songs that have left their mark on the road he has built for himself.
Listen to “Three Feet Under Water,” to know more about his spiritual bent, his devotion, his redemption and his baptism.