STEPPING OUT OF THE LINE
Brian Kelley reinvents career with a new solo album
Allow Brian Kelley to reintroduce himself.
Best known as one-half of the country super-duo Florida Georgia Line, Kelley just released a solo album, Tennessee Truth. It is a collection of 12 anthemic country songs ripe for a road trip and tailgate in equal measure.
For Tennessee Truth, produced by Dan Huff, Kelley says he aimed to “dive into the music I grew up on — obviously the music I love and themes of just country living, rural living, hard work, good times, outdoors, love,” he said, from his home in Nashville, Tenn.
Good songwriting, Kelley says, is a lot like fishing — you need patience. “I wrote probably over 100 songs for this record.”
Kelley wrote eight of the 12 songs on the album, and he worked with whomever he could on others, trying to get outside his comfort zone. “Every song gets you to the next song. I think it's a fun record,” he says, adding that the creative process was dependent on these tracks translating live.
Geography still plays a prominent role in the music Kelley makes. Throughout Tennessee Truth are beaches in Florida, farms in Nashville, his wife's family farm in Georgia. Hunting, sitting on the porch drinking sweet tea and eating peanuts, conversations with loved ones — that's the kind of life he hopes comes across on the album. “Just being free,” he says.
Fans looking for more coastal country from Kelley — like what was found on his pandemic album, Sunshine State of Mind, released in 2020 — will want to skip over to 10 O'clock on the Dot.
“It was a passion project,” he says of Sunshine State. “It was supposed to just be its own little thing.”
Kelley says he also made that record with the thought that he would record solo and with Florida Georgia Line. “I made it with a sonic respect to what we were, what we had done and what we had built. So, I didn't want to tread on anything even close to that, out of respect, you know?”
He says he considers Tennessee Truth his true solo debut.
In 2022, Florida Georgia Line embarked on an indefinite hiatus. At that point, the duo of Kelley and Tyler Hubbard had been together more than a decade, and whether you were a fan of their bro country sound or not, their music (Cruise, Meant to Be, Round Here) set the tone for a generation of country fans. The following year, Hubbard released a self-titled debut solo record.
“I'm thankful that (Brian) had the courage to step into this new space and to make that decision that ultimately kind of pushed me to make the same decision and lead me to where I'm at now,” Hubbard said at the time. “I had quite a few people tell me that it couldn't be done and that I should definitely continue with FGL, and it sort of lit a spark in me, a fire.”
The closing song on Tennessee Truth is the feisty Kiss My Boots, which features Kelley delivering vinegary lyrics like: “Want the world to know that you did me wrong / I don't know how you act sweet, after how you did me / Here's a middle finger to you through a song.” Some fans theorize it is a direct message to Hubbard.
“I've read some of that, too,” Kelley says, adding that he understands people might make associations in order to find meaning in the song.
“But at the end of the day,” he says, the song means a lot of different things for his collaborators, “And it really means a lot of different things for me.
“I really put that song out because I wanted people to know that I'm a real human, and I'm not just some face on social media or some somebody that's had some success,” he adds. “You know, I've been through hard times in my life.”
But could there be a reunion on the horizon?
“The old saying is, `Tell God your plans and he'll laugh,”' he says. “So, I have no idea. I really don't know what the future holds. I know that I'm really focused on what I'm doing now, and I'm really proud of ... the work that I put in.”