Author: Brennen Kelly

Hailing from the Chicagoland area, Brennen graduated from Valparaiso University with a BA in Communication and a minor in Cinema and Media Studies. After covering Arts & Entertainment at his university's newspaper, he began writing for Country Chord in March of 2023. Known for his love of independent country and authentic songwriters, Brennen has a long-history of championing the likes of Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers and many others.

August 24, 2019. Before he was one of the biggest stars in the country genre, the former Navy member, Zach Bryan, took his friends to Florida and produced a 12-song, fully independent project titled DeAnn. To say the rest is history is an understatement. DeAnn was famously recorded in an Airbnb in Jacksonville, Florida. With absolutely no experience recording music, Bryan and Co. marched into the said Airbnb, stood mattresses up against the walls to absorb sound and created something completely raw and refreshing. In an interview with Saving Country Music, he described his hesitation to record the album without…

Read More

Southern rock and country music have shared a particularly close connection. From Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Eagles to Blackberry Smoke and the Drive-By Truckers, nearly every decade has had flashes of brilliance when the two genres are blended together. Today, Joe Stamm Band is attempting to do the same with their third studio album, Wild Man. When you first listen to Wild Man, the first thing that will most likely stick out is the fine line the band rides between country and southern rock. While admittedly, I believe the more traditionally country-leaning tracks are the strongest on the record, the…

Read More

“My life was black and white, but she’s the painter.” Cody Johnson, one of the biggest acts in country music at the moment, is back with the highly-anticipated follow-up to his highly-acclaimed double album, Human. The ‘Til You Can’t singer teased the song’s release on August 1st with this Instagram Reel: While announcing the song’s release on his website, Johnson shared his personal favorite lyric and how it describes his marriage with his wife, “My favorite lyric in ‘The Painter’ is ‘for every wall I built, she saw a canvas.’ If there’s anything that describes my marriage with my wife,…

Read More

Well… we were wrong. After Wesley Schultz took to Instagram yesterday and said that Zach Bryan’s brand new album was set to release on August 19th, Bryan went ahead, cleared the air, and gave us an official release of August 25. There’s reason to believe that this was posted due to the confusion caused by Schultz’s Instagram story yesterday afternoon where he said, “honored to do this sick tune with you” and “His album drops August 19!” While Bryan has yet to release a title or tracklist, there are still a lot of things we know, including that the album was…

Read More

Mike and the Moonpie’s 2019 record, Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold, contains one of their biggest hits to date, You Look Good in Neon, as well as other popular tracks such as Danger and Cheap Silver. Any fan of the red dirt band recognize these tracks; however, many might not know the album’s history. Cheap Silver and Solid Country Gold was recorded in London, England in Abbey Road Studios. Made famous by the Beatles, the studio has been used by iconic artists such as Pink Floyd, Kanye West, Amy Winehouse and Adele. In an interview with Country Chord, frontman,…

Read More

After seemingly months of speculation, Zach Bryan’s brand new album has finally received an official release date of Saturday, August 19th, according to an Instagram story from Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers. Schultz took to Instagram to share a Reel of a recording of the new collaboration between Bryan and the band. In a shocking turn of events, he added “honored to do this sick tune with you” and proceeded to drop the bombshell, “His album drops August 19!” This is the first indication of an actual release date from anyone. While no one knows if Schultz was supposed to…

Read More