BRELAND discusses his "rested, focused" plan for sustaining his country stardom

BRELAND appears calm and confident in the locker room at Nashville's year-old GEODIS Park before a June 7 date opening for Shania Twain. Gone is the artist who, almost exactly two years prior, was so excited after performing with Mickey Guyton and Gladys Knight at the 2021 CMT Music Awards that he did a standing backflip backstage to celebrate.

"I'm well-rested, have taken some time to reflect on my time in country music so far and my joy and passion for what I am trying to accomplish has returned."

Maintaining a frenetic schedule of performances and songwriting sessions yielded BRELAND a No. 1 single via his 2021-released Dierks Bentley and HARDY duet "Beers On Me."

However, the stress of breaking out as an African-American country performer while being a de-facto leader of a group of streaming-led 20-something rising stars extended his workload too far.

"I arrived pushing the envelope forward by releasing my debut album (2022's "Cross Country") with an art exhibition at the National Museum of African-American Music, starting a podcast, having a music video (for his album's title track) that's being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, plus creating a yearly concert [his BRELAND and Friends fundraiser at the Ryman Auditorium] that has raised over $300,000 (for the five-decade-old Oasis Center youth development agency) in two years."

Seasonal depression blended with anxiety surrounding feeling as if his surge to stardom had plateaued plagued him as 2022 drew to a close.

Post-COVID America is slowly adjusting to the "new normals" of who country music stars are and the breadth and scope of those new stars' creative vision.

The pressure for BRELAND to achieve success proportional to the tsunami wave that the confluence of social media and streaming's surge and a simultaneous call for immediate Black, Brown, women's and LGBTQ+ equity in country music have caused is obvious.

However, a movement demanding wholesale systemic change with him at the perceived helm led him to a lack of top-20 singles on country's sales charts and no top-10 album or EP is, on the surface, disheartening.

However, having written his debut country single "My Truck" in September 2019, he's only just three months away from entering year four of his unexpected Nashville-based career.

In year four, he's already signed to a major label, collaborated on a No. 1 single, plus released music with the previously-mentioned Bentley and HARDY and a dozen other country stars.

He also finished 2021 by achieving a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry and playing at the Ryman Auditorium and the 2021 CMA Awards.

In a Jan. 2022 Tennessean feature, though, BRELAND named Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry member Garth Brooks as setting the "industry standard" he was looking to meet or exceed in his career.

Eighteen months later, he's on the road as an opener in amphitheaters, arenas and stadiums for Walker Hayes and Shania Twain, surrounded by backup dancers and his live band.

While not where immense expectations expected him to arrive, he's still hard at work while remaining aware of the dynamic environment in which his work exists.

"CMA Fest turns 50 in the same year that hip-hop reaches the same age. Whether it's Jay-Z or Garth, these genres are linked by stage-rocking experiences," says BRELAND.

"I used to write songs that sounded great in studios that streamed well," says BRELAND about a significant chunk of the roughly two-dozen songs he's released in his first half-decade in country music. Now a routinely touring artist engaging in the genre's most lucrative realm, he's aiming for his subsequent releases to achieve greater acclaim.

"In arrangement, melody and production, I am trying to create the honest, emotional music possible that shifts the energy in the room with the power of my presence."

Saying, "health is wealth," BRELAND offers thoughts highlighting how refocusing his vision while remaining relaxed as his stardom slowly accelerates has benefitted him.

"Continuing to be proactive about plotting the next steps of my career with successful intentions instead of reacting when things happen within [my career] is important. I want to pour good energy back into the fanbase that has helped me arrive [in this season] of my life."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: BRELAND discusses his "rested, focused" plan for sustaining his country stardom