Brantley Gilbert

Brantley Gilbert
Gilbert in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Brantley Keith Gilbert[1]
Born	January 20, 1985[2]
Origin	Jefferson, Georgia, U.S.[2]
Genres	Country rock rock
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Average Joes Entertainment Valory Music Co
Associated acts	Jason Aldean Colt Ford Thomas Rhett Justin Moore Rachel Farley Eric Church
Website	brantleygilbert.com

Brantley Keith Gilbert (born January 20, 1985) is an American country rock artist from Jefferson, Georgia. He was originally signed to Colt Ford's label, Average Joe's Entertainment, where he released Modern Day Prodigal Son and Halfway to Heaven. He is now signed to the Valory division of Big Machine Records where he has released two studio albums — a deluxe edition of Halfway to Heaven and Just as I Am and eleven country chart entries, four of which have gone to number 1. He also wrote Jason Aldean's singles "My Kinda Party" and "Dirt Road Anthem".

Career

Singing career

Brantley Gilbert originally moved to Nashville as a songwriter, signed to Warner Chappell Publishing.^[3] He continued performing at local venues. In 2009, he released his debut album, Modern Day Prodigal Son, under independent label Average Joes Entertainment. He followed with Halfway to Heaven in 2010.^[4]

In 2011, he signed with Valory Music Co., a division of Big Machine Records, who re-released Halfway to Heaven with new recordings and bonus tracks. The album was produced by Dann Huff. Its first two singles, "Country Must Be Country Wide" and "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", both went to number 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. After them, "Kick It in the Sticks" peaked at number 34, and "More Than Miles" at number 7 on Country Airplay. He won the ACM New Male Artist award in 2013.^[5]

Gilbert's second Valory album, Just as I Am, was released in May 2014. Its lead single, "Bottoms Up", also reached number 1. The second single, "Small Town Throwdown", featured guest vocals from labelmates Thomas Rhett and Justin Moore. The third single, "One Hell of an Amen", became Brantley's fourth number 1 hit in Summer 2015. The album's fourth single, "Stone Cold Sober", is off platinum edition of Just As I Am.

Tours

Brantley Gilbert at Simple Man Cruise 2011

• 2011
  • Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown Tour
  • Taste of Country Christmas Tour
• 2012
  • Eric Church’s Blood, Sweat and Beers Tour
  • Toby Keith’s Live in Overdrive Tour^[6]
  • Hell on Wheels (headline)^[7]
• 2013
  • Tim McGraw’s Two Lanes of Freedom Tour
• 2014
  • Let It Ride (1st leg with Thomas Rhett, Eric Paslay, and Brian Davis); (2nd leg with Brian Davis, Chase Bryant, Aaron Lewis, and Tyler Farr; Lewis and Farr split dates)

Songwriting

In addition to his original work, Gilbert has written songs that Colt Ford and Jason Aldean have recorded. The songs "Dirt Road Anthem" (co-written and originally recorded by him and Colt Ford) and "My Kinda Party", were released on Aldean's 2010 album My Kinda Party. "My Kinda Party" was originally recorded by Gilbert on Modern Day Prodigal Son, while "Dirt Road Anthem" was on Halfway to Heaven. Aldean has also covered Gilbert's "The Best of Me", available on the Wal-Mart exclusive and iTunes release of his 2009 album Wide Open.^[8]

Performances:

Gilbert Accompanies other artists in 2015 in London, in the O2 Arena for the Country2Country music festival.^[9]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions					Certifications (sales threshold)	Sales
		US Country	US	US Heat	US Indie	CAN
Modern Day Prodigal Son	Release date: October 27, 2009 Label: Average Joe's Formats: CD, digital download	58	38	44	—	—
Halfway to Heaven	Release date: March 16, 2010 Label: Average Joe's, Valory Music Co. (re-issue) Formats: CD, digital download	2	4	1	13	—	US: Platinum[10]	US: 1,081,000[11]
Just as I Am	Release date: May 19, 2014 Label: Valory Music Co. Formats: CD, digital download	1	2	—	—	8	US: Gold[12]	US: 965,700[13]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
Read Me My Rights	Release date: March 24, 2015 Label: Valory Music Co. Format: CD, digital download

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions					Certifications	Sales	Album
		US Hot Country [14]	US Country Airplay [15]	US [16]	CAN Country [17]	CAN [18]
2010	"Kick It in the Sticks"	—	—	—	—	—	US: Platinum[19]		Halfway to Heaven
	"My Kind of Crazy"	—	—	—	—	—	US: Gold[20]
2011	"Them Boys"	—	—	—	—	—
	"Country Must Be Country Wide"	—	1	50	—	91	US: Platinum[21]	US: 1,000,000[22]
	"You Don't Know Her Like I Do"	—	1	49	—	73	US: Platinum[23]	US: 999,000[24]
2012	"Kick It in the Sticks" (re-release)	29	34	—^A	—	—	US: Platinum[25]
	"More Than Miles"	21	7	73	33	—	US: Gold[26]
2013	"Bottoms Up"	1	1	20	3	41	US: 3× Platinum[27]	US: 1,762,000[28]	Just as I Am
2014	"Small Town Throwdown" (featuring Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett)	13	8	67	24	97	US: Gold[29]	US: 417,000[30]
	"One Hell of an Amen"	5	1	44	16	80	US: Gold[31]	US: 428,000[32]
2015	"Stone Cold Sober"	23	18	—^B	49	—		US: 112,000[33]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

• ^A "Kick It in the Sticks" did not enter the Hot 100, but charted at number 13 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, which acts as a 25-space extension of the Hot 100.^[34]
• ^B "Stone Cold Sober" did not enter the Hot 100, but charted at number 8 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, which acts as a 25-space extension of the Hot 100.

Promotional singles

Year	Single	Album
2015	"Same Old Song"	Just As I Am

Other charted songs

Year	Single	Peak chart positions			Sales	Album
		US Hot Country [14]	US [16]	CAN [18]
2014	"My Baby's Guns N' Roses"	18	87	88		Just as I Am
	"17 Again"	19	90	95
	"If You Want a Bad Boy"	47	—	—
2015	"Read Me My Rights"	46	—	—		Just as I Am: Platinum Edition
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year	Video	Director
2010	"Kick It in the Sticks"[35]	Potsy Ponciroli
	"My Kind of Crazy"[36]	Mason Dixon
2011	"Country Must Be Country Wide"	Shane Drake
	"You Don't Know Her Like I Do"	Justin Key
2012	"More Than Miles"	Shane Drake
2013	"Bottoms Up"[37]
2014	"Small Town Throwdown"[38] (featuring Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett)
2015	"One Hell of an Amen"[39]
	"Stone Cold Sober"[40]

Touring members

• Brantley Gilbert – lead vocals, guitar
• Jess Franklin – bandleader, lead guitar, slide guitar, banjo, keyboard, background vocals
• Jonathan Waggoner – bass guitar, background vocals
• Ben Sims – drums
• Noah Henson (of Pillar) – guitars (since 2014)
• B.J. Golden – multi-instrumentalist
• Martie Cordaro – drums

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Recipient	Result
2011	CMA Awards	Song of the Year	"Dirt Road Anthem"	Nominated
2012	ACM Awards	USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year	"Country Must Be Country Wide"	Nominated
	ACAs	Breakthrough Artist Single of the Year	"You Don't Know Her Like I Do"	Won
	CMA Awards	New Artist of the Year		Nominated
2013	CRS	New Faces		Won
	CMA Awards	CMA Triple Play Award	"Country Must Be Country Wide", "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", "Dirt Road Anthem"	Won
	ACM Awards	Top New Male Artist		Won
2015	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Renegade Award		Won
	Billboard Music Awards	Top Country Artist		Nominated
		Top Country Album	Just as I Am	Nominated

Personal life

It was announced in September 2012 that Brantley Gilbert was dating country music singer and actress Jana Kramer. They met at the CMT Music Awards in June 2012. They got engaged on January 20, 2013, his 28th birthday.^[41] They split in August 2013.^[42][43][44] In 2015, Gilbert married Georgia schoolteacher Amber Cochran in a small ceremony at his home. He admitted that she was the girl who inspired his singles "You Don't Know Her Like I Do", "More Than Miles", and several others. On July 24, while on the honeymoon, his grandfather died.

Brantley Gilbert was in a near-fatal truck accident when he was 19.^[45]

Gilbert is a professing Christian, and his song My Faith In You, off Just As I Am, speaks of his faith.

Gilbert was a special-needs counselor at Friendship Elementary in Gainesville, Georgia.^[46]

In May 2015, Gilbert got a tattoo showing his support of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.^[47]

References

1. "Brantley Gilbert". Broadcast Music Incorporated. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
2. Leggett, Steve. "Brantley Gilbert biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
3. "Brantley Gilbert Bio | Brantley Gilbert Career". CMT. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
4. "Albums and Songs". Brantley Gilbert. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
5. "2013 ACM Awards: Nominees & Winners". Country Weekly. 2013-04-07. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
6. "Toby Keith Announces 2012 Live in Overdrive Tour Featuring Brantley Gilbert". Taste of Country. March 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
7. "Brantley Gilbert Tour Is 'Hell on Wheels' for First-Time Headliner". The Boot. July 11, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
8. "Is Brantley Gilbert Jason Aldean’s Favorite Songwriter? | Today's Country Music Videos". Todayscountrymusicvideos.com. 2010-08-25. Retrieved 2011-07-17.
9. "CAS – Central Authentication Service". search.proquest.com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
10. "American album certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Halfway to Heaven". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
11. Matt Bjorke (January 8, 2015). "Country Album Chart Report For January 8, 2015". Roughstock. Sales given [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1olQ5bXhz7Ca_JSD9Y0MlBWtbI3Asv46bAlTeFrLCBHk/edit#gid=0> here]
12. "American album certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Just as I Am". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
13. Bjorke, Matt (March 7, 2016). "The Country Albums Sales Chart: March 7, 2016". Roughstock.
14. "Brantley Gilbert Album & Song Chart History - Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
15. "Brantley Gilbert Album & Song Chart History - Country Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
16. "Brantley Gilbert Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
17. "Brantley Gilbert Album & Song Chart History - Canada Country". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
18. "Brantley Gilbert Album & Song Chart History - Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
19. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Kick It In The Sticks". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
20. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – My Kind Of Crazy". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
21. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Country Must Be Country Wide". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
22. Paul Grein (June 18, 2014). "Chart Watch: PSY & Snoop Attack Your Brain Cells". Chart Watch (Yahoo Music).
23. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – You Don%27t Know Her Like I Do". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
24. Paul Grein (April 30, 2014). "Chart Watch: Pharrell Steps Up". Yahoo Music.
25. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Kick It in the Sticks". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
26. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – More Than Miles". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
27. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Bottoms Up". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
28. Matt Bjorke (June 17, 2015). "Country Music’s Top 30 Digital Singles: Week of June 17, 2015". Roughstock. Sales figure given here
29. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – Small Town Throwdown". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
30. Matt Bjorke (October 29, 2014). "The Top 30 Digital Singles: October 29, 2014". Roughstock. Sales figure given here
31. "American single certifications – Brantley Gilbert – One Hell Of An Amen". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
32. Bjorke, Matt (September 8, 2015). "Top 30 Digital Country Singles: September 8, 2015". RoughStock. Sales figure given here
33. Bjorke, Matt (February 23, 2016). "The Top 30 Digital Singles: February 22, 2016". Roughstock.
34. "Bubbling Under Hot 100 Week of September 15, 2012". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 13, 2012.
35. "CMT : Videos : Brantley Gilbert : Kick It in the Sticks". Country Music Television. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
36. "VIDEO: Brantley Gilbert - "My Kind Of Crazy" - Country Music Is Love". Country Music Is Love. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
37. "CMT : Videos : Brantley Gilbert : Bottoms Up". Country Music Television. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
38. "CMT : Videos : Brantley Gilbert : Small Town Throwdown". Country Music Television. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
39. "Brantley Gilbert Gets Personal with "One Hell of an Amen"". Country Outfitter. January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
40. "Brantley Gilbert Discusses His New Video For "Stone Cold Sober"". KBOE-FM. December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
41. Dukes, Billy (September 21, 2012). "Brantley Gilbert Confirms That He and Jana Kramer Are Dating". Taste of Country. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
42. Takeda, Allison (August 15, 2013). "Jana Kramer Split: Singer, Fiance Brantley Gilbert Call Off Engagement". Us Weekly. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
44. "Brantley Gilbert Is Engaged!". People Magazine. October 21, 2014. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
45. "Near-Fatal Truck Crash Leads Brantley Gilbert To Music". 1023blakefm.com. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
46. "Brantley Gilbert biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
47. Dukes, Billy. "Brantley Gilbert shows off Second Amendment tattoo". Fox News. Retrieved 7 May 2015.

External links

• Official website