What do you get when you mix up some of country music's hottest new artists with the biggest and baddest of weekend crazes? MUD DIGGER! Now available on iTunes (Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mud-digger-featuring-colt/id381557952)  and headed to Wal-Mart August 3rd.

Average Joes Entertainment recording artists Colt Ford, Brantley Gilbert, Matt Stillwell, Sunny Ledfurd and Lenny Cooper team up for a CD full of new and exclusive tracks that celebrate true country pastimes. You don't need a big truck to dig these tracks but you do need a CD player.

Published on July 28, 2010 by Holly Stafford

 

Brantley Gilbert knows that tomorrow is no guarantee. Just over five years ago the talented singer/songwriter was ignoring his deepest ambition of becoming a country singer and was just going through the motions of everyday life. It wasn’t until a nearly-fatal car accident that Brantley opened his eyes, realized the importance of living each day to the fullest, and decided to pursue his love for music as a career.

Brantley was born and raised in the small town of Jefferson, Georgia, just outside of Athens city limits. It is that upbringing and small town influence Brantley credits toward allowing him to cultivate his unique sound. With well-known rock bands REM and the B-52’s having roots nearby, Brantley’s taste in music always swayed toward a rock feel, but his true-to-life testimony of heartache, trials, triumph, and success found a home in country music.

After taking the stage night-after-night with just his guitar and opening for other country artists throughout the southeast, Brantley began to notice familiar faces in the crowds. A group of believers who shared Brantley’s passion for life and music had developed, and pretty soon the following had taken-on a life of its own. Brantley quickly realized that his acoustic shows—however intimate—didn’t satisfy his audience’s thirst for his rock-infused country music. In order to meet their demand, Brantley formed a band.

“We went from these acoustic shows to a bona fide country-rock-soul show that is wide-ass open,” says Gilbert. “Even when we play a ballad it’s high energy.”

With the fans demanding new music from Brantley, he came to Nashville, Tennessee where he soon signed with Warner Chappell Publishing and began to develop music for a debut album release. One of his songs, “The Best of Me,” was recorded by Jason Aldean and earned a spot on his latest album, WIDE OPEN. Since, Brantley has signed a record deal with Average Joe’s Entertainment and collaborated with top-charting act and labelmate Colt Ford to write and record, “Dirt Road Anthem,” which is currently featured on Ford’s multiple-week Top 25 Billboard album, RIDE THROUGH THE COUNTRY.

 

Between country and a rock-hard place

by T. Ballard Lesemann

 

Brantley Gilbert isn't terribly concerned about fitting the typical Nashville molds. As a country songwriter and vocalist, he's developed his own gritty, Southern-steeped style. On his new studio album Halfway to Heaven, Gilbert handles the role of the polished country heartthrob act alongside that of a roughneck rocker. He's capable of delivering radio-friendly material, but he's clever enough to balance it with a heavy dose of hard-rock and red-blooded redneck 'tude.

A native of the northeast Georgia town of Jefferson, Gilbert utilizes his rural roots in many of his songs. His singing style reflects a healthy blend of Peach State influences. There's a bit of Greg Allman's soulful croon here and a twist of Travis Tritt there (especially on romantic ballads like "My Kind of Crazy" and "Fall into Me"), and even a hint of Michael Stipe's raspy croak.

Halfway to Heaven leans toward a heavy-handed modern-rock feel. His new single, "Kick It in the Sticks," is an anthem in which he gives a shout-out to "AC/DC, Hank, Skynyrd, and George Strait." It resembles the macho rumble of vintage grunge or contemporary nü-metal more than anything on the country radio.

"Kick It in the Sticks" is an authentic redneck anthem that touches all the clichés, from sipping moonshine in mason jars by a bonfire on the tailgate of the mud-covered pickup to snipe huntin' and giggin'. The opening verse goes, "Welcome to the home of a hillbilly/It's a land of barbed wire, moonshine, whiskey." You get the idea.

The official video clip for "Kick It in the Sticks" looks like something Kid Rock might have directed. It's a rowdy kegger in the woods, with Gilbert rockin' out on his black six-string, and stompin' on a junked Chevrolet while leather-clad buddies on Harleys and ATVs wiz by. His drummer sports a peroxide fauxhawk. Hotties holding cups of beer mingle with bikers. It's quite a scene.

Halfway to Heaven quickly reached number one on Billboard's Heatseeker chart this spring. While his fanbase continues to expand, this week's gig might be the best opportunity to catch him before he accelerates to the next level.

BY ALISON RICHTER

AUGUSTA, GA – Trying to get singer/songwriter/guitarist Brantley Gilbert to take credit for his accomplishments is no easy feat. Nudge him about his success and he’ll immediately give the credit to his band, management, label, publicists, fans and street team.

Offer praise about his talent and he’ll humbly describe himself as “just a guy who wrote a couple of songs and thought my mom and close friends would hear them. I’m still in shock over what has happened to us.”

 

Brantley Gilbert

 

Talk to him about second chances, like the one he got following a near-fatal car accident, and he’ll defer to his faith in God and the support of friends and family. Gilbert seems almost ill at ease talking about himself.

His comfort level rises when he can share the spotlight with those who stand by him. 
Gilbert’s sophomore album, “Halfway to Heaven,” was released in March by Average Joes Entertainment, launched by the rousing first single, “Kick It In the Sticks.”

Like much of his music, the track reflects an artist with one foot planted firmly in his country roots and the other in rock ‘n’ roll. Despite the dichotomy, or perhaps because of it, within a month of release, “Halfway to Heaven” was No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers album chart. 
Gilbert is from Jefferson, Ga., outside of Athens.

“This is home and I’m pretty happy here,” he says, “so I reckon I’ll hang around for a while. I have no desire to relocate.”