BRIAN KELLEY - Acres - Big Machine Records

As Diamond-certified singer-songwriter Brian Kelley continues to open his solo chapter, the flow of songs on his Tennessee Truth album consistently marries addictive tempos and a laid-back feel around lyrics that celebrate a pure appreciation for life, country-styled living, and unconditionally loving your better half and the snapshot memories you create together.   

Songs such as “Dirt Road Date Night,” “Barefeet or Boots,” “Goin’ Places,” “Dirt Cheap,” and his newest radio strike, “Acres,” all autobiographically draw you into a deeper understanding of who he is while providing perfect examples of his overall vibe and current headspace on life.

Co-written by Kelley, Adam Sanders, and Will Weatherly, the ultra-catchy album opener leans into a flow of guitar that carries the guide of the intro before pulling back to an accompaniment role as the softer edged smile of his rich vocal radiates your speakers with descriptives of his country-girl wife, Brittney.

“I closed my eyes the day we were writing that, and I imagined my wife, Brittney, on her family farm in Georgia. Even now, I picture it. Riding dirt roads and going to get peach ice cream and boiled peanuts,” Kelley says of the inspiration behind this song.

“She already got the Wranglers on, buck knife cut way above the knee,” he begins, continuing to then vividly paint the dirt-road picture of their Georgia farm date as he relays that she’s already got Hank crankin’ on the radio, her two-piece on underneath a Mossy Oak t-shirt, and Zebco fishing poles in the back of the truck as their cruising their way to her most favorite place, “the middle of some acres.”

“My baby loves it, when I take her and put her in the middle of some acres
Little Reddy in a Yeti with some Maker's
Little shotgun ride in a Gator
My baby loves it when I take her
Rolling through the pasture
Ball cap backwards
Get her heels off of the concrete
Get her barefoot dancing in the cold creek
Out in the country, my baby loves it
When I fire up the Blazer
And put her in the middle of some acres
Yeah, put her in the middle of some acres”

Craftily moving the ambience from daytime into night, the second half of the song sees them huddled up together underneath the stars with country music providing the soundtrack, sitting around a 2AM hickory fire with him strumming guitar for her.

Brian Kelley is in a position of his career where he can do whatever he wants to do musically and still garner major attention, but the fact that he’s been very intentional about how he wants to present himself is the endearing quality that keeps the listener coming back for more.

“Acres” is no doubt a surefire smash at radio with its ultra-catchiness and daydreamed escape to the simple life qualities, but perhaps more importantly, it’s also the next page that really allows the listener to understand who Brian Kelley is in this right now stage of his life.

(Review Written By: Jeffrey Kurtis/Artwork c/o Big Machine Records)