A while ago a man asked me if I listen to Country music. Of course my answer was yes, I listen to all types of music. It’s important to me as a music blogger. The next question the gentleman asked was who were my favorites. I then gave him a list that included many of the up and coming Country artists of today. He really liked my list, as it showed my willingness to seek out new talent. I admit that I do seek out young talent, regardless the genre. However, Country Music has an interesting amount of very good young artist on the cusp of greatness. This week I have the opportunity to feature one of those rising starts of Country Music. Today, Weekly Music Commentary features J.D. Shelburne.
Now, before you say you never heard of Shelburne, you might continue reading the rest of this post. You will find a young musician who has come a long way and wants to do much more within the music industry. Does Shelburne have lofty goals? That might have been the case a few years ago. Now it seems he is very close.
J.D. Shelburne grew up on a tobacco farm in Taylorsville, Kentucky, a tiny town southeast of the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky. At age 19, he found a guitar after the death of his grandmother and began learning to play and sing on his own. By his sophomore year of college, he had found a few gigs at some local bars in the Louisville/Lexington, Kentucky area and developed a fan-base that eventually landed him on some of the biggest stages in the business, opening for some of the nation’s hottest stars.
Most musicians point to family members or other musicians as their inspiration. J.D. Shelburne is no different. He explained in an interview with Ammoland. “My grandmother had a huge impact on my life from the time I was in diapers until her death in 2002. She was always in my life every day. She only lived a couple of miles from our house growing up, so as a kid we spent a lot of time at her house. My grandmother is the 100% reason I play music today. I owe every amount of success I reach, to her”. After her sudden death, Shelburne discovered a guitar and started learning chords and teaching himself to play while home from college. “It gradually became a new venture in life that I fell in love doing and realized I was better at it than I thought. Music started a whole new chapter when I least expected it”.
As I listened to Shelburne’s songs, I learned much about him and his humble upbringing. Of course he is not the first Country Music star to come from a small town. When you hear him sing about small town life, it makes us city folks long for the quiet life. It’s a formula that has worked to bring Shelburne’s music to the ears of a lot of music fans. Shelburne attributes his success to that same simple life of tobacco farming. “I grew up listening to country music, and each day we worked on the farm or in tobacco, the radio was always blaring country music. If anything, it was a great platform to get into this business. I felt I knew enough knowledge about it and what makes a good song to give this career a chance. Tobacco farming taught me how to be a man and work hard. I learned a lot of wisdom from my grandfather and father during those days. All those days of hard work on the farm make for great country songs I have written and will continue to write. I am a farm boy at heart”.
J.D. Shelburne has always been one of the hardest working musicians in the industry today. He has entertained the masses all over the country. J.D. has performed over 1000 concerts and 300 festivals. He has been featured on CMT and Great American Country. He even edged out Taylor Swift as the number one trending artist on CMT.com. In fact, he continues to work at an unreal pace, playing 230 to 240 dates a year. Just about any entertainer will burn out working that much. Not J.D. Shelburne though. He loves playing and it never feels like work to him. It never gets old.
For now, J.D. Shelburne is at a great place in his career. In releasing his latest album, Two Lane Town, JD Shelburne feels he has recorded the album that could take him to a whole new level. “I’ve been working really hard on this album. I think it is my best collection of songs that I’ve released thus far,” he says of his fourth project. That’s what makes me admire him as an artist. He is still working toward achievable goals. “One of my goals is to play the Grand Ole Opry. I’ve been on the verge couple of times, but have never been asked to play. I am also looking to propel into national success. I would love to guest on a national TV show like Today, where I can introduce my music to a national audience overnight. I want to try to get on a national tour and spread my music and my name to places I’ve never played. I think I’ve got some great songs on this record, and I think so many fans will relate and be drawn to this new album. I still have a lot of ground to cover and I don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.”
There you have it. If you never heard about him before today, now you know J.D. Shelburne. Will he reach all his musical goals? Maybe, but it will be fun to watch. For sure J.D. Shelburne will have fun playing music. Definitely!