Brian Kelley Wants A Protégé To Bring To Country Stardom

 

CREDIT: Ben Chistensen

Brian Kelley has seen such Country success alongside duo partner Tyler Hubbard as a part of Florida Georgia Line.

Together they've achieved 19 number-one singles on country radio, won Academy of Country Music, CMT, iHeartRadio, Billboard, Country Music Association, and Teen Choice Awards.

Now Brian has a range of projects he's working on alongside making music. One of these projects is hosting an online campaign, through a Protégé app in order to open a portal for artists to create and submit 60-second demos for a chance to become his next protégé.

The way the app is described is that it allows anyone in the world to have a chance to apply to top experts in any field.

"Our mission to make access to dream career opportunities more meritocratic."

"Life is as short as it is fun, plus I have an entrepreneurial spirit and I love to try new things. Protégé is just another chapter in the story of my career."

Brian is looking for the next individual he can take to country stardom.

"Most of the people I get to mentor I’ve met through Nashville and industry connections. While that’s awesome, Protégé allows me the ability to meet and connect with people from literally anywhere in the world. Not everyone has the funds to move to Nashville, and even if they’re here, not everyone always has the connections to people or studios to get ahead here. Protégé allows the floodgates to open as far as me having the ability to say to artists, “Hey, show me what you’ve got, and tell me your story.”

CREDIT: Ben Christensen

When asked how important a good mentorship can be, this is what he said;

"Tyler and I, when we moved to Nashville and started Florida Georgia Line, we had mentors assist us in becoming stronger as singers, songwriters, producers, and touring artists in the music industry. We were — and still are — super lucky and blessed to be surrounded by great people. The key to having great mentors is first to be willing to be a great student. Then, you have to be ready to open up to yourself and admit, “Hey, I don’t know everything.” Eventually, after a while, the desire exists to pass along the knowledge you’ve learned. The creative energy exchanged between mentors, singers, and songwriters is electric. We all feed off of that. Overall, mentorship, by giving back that knowledge to others, develops community. To be a part of someone’s story Plus, it’s also a lot of fun to find and develop the talent, ideas, and songs that the next great artists have."

He then went on to explain sort of what he's looking for with individuals from Protégé;

"Nashville’s going a little bit more 90s country and old school these days, and I love that sound. However, when it comes to Protégé, I’m not necessarily chasing that. Instead, I’m looking for something that feels uniquely authentic. Across the country and world, I feel like that’s what will connect with most people."

Brian is someone who seems to want to take his experience and legacy as a country artist and use that to help others achieve their dreams.

He spoke about what he could bring as a mentor to another artist and what it means to him to become a mentor.

"It’s amazing and humbling to think that I could have a legacy, and honestly fires me up for the future. Being able to give other artists the ability to share in my work ethic where I’m constantly on the grind, hunting for great songs, people, and team members, plus staying creative, that’s important. Launching the next generation of hopeful musical legends who can support their families for generations to come is the icing on top of the cake and the cherry on top of that."

CREDIT: Robby Klein