BRELAND and Friends concert showcases superstars, breakthrough pop-country developments

Returning for its second year, chart-topping country singer-songwriter BRELAND's annual benefit "BRELAND and Friends" concert at Lower Broadway's Ryman Auditorium took a more significant shape as what the event could be as a concept, bellwether of unexpected things to come plus celebratory highlight reel of the namesake's growing level of respect for talent both in the writer's room and behind the microphone.

"My Truck" -- BRELAND's platinum-selling and virally-popular breakout single -- is now almost a half-decade old. However, its irreverent yet pointed take on merging and ultimately evolving country's cultural traditions and mainstream popular culture has yielded sustainable change.

The remix of that track -- featuring guest performer Sam Hunt -- closed the event, which featured 15 guest artists. BRELAND's "Throw It Back" collaborator Keith Urban, veteran R&B star and Lifetime and VH1 TV personality K. Michelle, plus recent country radio chart-toppers Ingrid Andress, Tyler Hubbard and Nate Smith (who delivered a particularly energized version of his single "Whiskey On You" -- "the energy, the spirit of that crowd, was unmatched," he joyfully stated to The Tennessean) among many.

The BRELAND and Friends event is a fundraiser for the five-decade-old Oasis Center. This Middle Tennessee-based comprehensive youth development agency offers 20+ programs and services (including crisis intervention, youth leadership, community engagement, college and career access), fostering safety, belonging, empowerment and generosity as the organization's core principles.

In 2022, BRELAND and Friends raised over $140,000 for the non-profit organization.

Country music's modern culture is fostered on the core tenets of faith, family and fun. For BRELAND, partnering with Oasis and pairing with Christian emcee Lecrae for "I'll Find You" are a clear nod in that direction. Moreover, his faith and worship two-stepping during his homage to small-town living (his native Burlington Township, New Jersey -- population roughly 23,000) "County Line" and year-old single "Praise The Lord" offering gratitude for southern women, Hemi engines, crispy chicken, east Atlanta, Country Grammar, and [his grandmother] fall well within that vein.

Insofar as family, the musical brotherhoods BRELAND has formed with Hunt ("before I was really anybody in this town, he took a risk and jumped on my song") and Hubbard are notable because they returned for their second event. Urban stated in a 2021 interview that "something about the way [BRELAND] approached music and creativity" spoke to him. His banjo-wielding appearance onstage at The Ryman sent a crush of fans in the first rows of seats and pews rushing to the front of the stage as if he were a teenybopper icon on the Grand Ole Opry seven decades prior.

The event's most unexpectedly fun moment occurred when BRELAND brought X Ambassadors vocalist Sam Harris onstage for a duet on the globally renowned, platinum-selling act's 2015 single "Unsteady," followed by the group's latest single, "Alcohol."

If you are looking for a clue as to how BRELAND -- now five years, one No. 1 hit single (2022's "Beers on Me" featuring Dierks Bentley and HARDY) and multiple mainstream award nominations into a pop-leaning country-first career navigates his best way forward, it's here.

Harris appeared as much a guitar-slinging troubadour aided by a gospel-trained soul-man than anything else on The Ryman's stage. The song was stripped, the lyricism pure and the intentionality clear. It said as much about what has allowed the X Ambassadors' popularity to maintain itself as it did about the event host's greatest strengths.

BRELAND's intellect and intentionality allow his radio-ready and pop-aimed sounds to connect. However, they still don't cause the crowd to dance as much as he does onstage. Instead, the over 2,000 people at The Ryman are more moved by the quality of his voice as a stunning instrument.

Does that mean he should abandon one sound for the other? Absolutely not. Instead, it offers structure and dynamics to his work. As a solo talent, he still has room to grow as a crowd mover. As a collaborator? He's one of the music industry's best vocalists -- and when paired with a more established artist, especially, creates magical moments.

Insofar as the 7 million monthly Spotify listeners and 3 million Tik Tok followers between Danielle Bradberry, Ashley Cooke, Alana Springsteen, Temecula Road and Tenille Townes represent, that's precisely it. They, like BRELAND, saw their aspirations, dreams and hopes of country stardom drastically change after COVID-19's onset. The twenty-something, digital-first, live-second youth movement surging through the genre's fanbase has impacted them all.

Live, they all bear pieces of BRELAND's creative DNA.

Looking for BRELAND's (other) pair of Nikes? Well, Alana Springsteen's a singer-songwriter, but she's also a sneaker fiend whose onstage presentation of country music doesn't typically involve pointed-toe cowboy boots. As for pop-aimed countrified vocals, Townes and Temecula Road (the latter performed BRELAND's 2020-released Lauren Alaina and Chase Rice duet "In The Woulds") delivered.

BRELAND's other DNA -- that of dogged determination and willingness to give 110% of himself, appeared in another key moment.

Before performing BRELAND's single "Cross Country" alongside him, Cooke recalled a very lightly-attended 2021 gig together in Houston where the duo performed to a crowd in attendance 100 times less than the capacity of the Ryman Auditorium.

Yes, artists like BRELAND and Cooke have massive numerical support online, but translating that to surge this generation's emerging stars to the levels that acts like (also appearing at BRELAND and Friends) Tyler Hubbard achieved just a decade prior still requires some work.

The one notable flaw in how country's spearheading mainstream music's post-COVID comeback, it's here.

However, it's apparent through the support of live crowds like the one at the Ryman on Tuesday evening that these acts are slowly but sustainably growing in support.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: BRELAND and Friends concert showcases superstars, breakthrough pop-country developments