Blanco Brown knows a thing or two about turning a bitter experience into a sweet one.

In August 2020, Brown was hit head-on and nearly killed by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle. He endured multiple hours-long surgeries, a lengthy ICU stay, and months of rehabilitation therapy, during which he had to re-learn how to do everything from hold a microphone to walk.

“Not being able to do anything about it, and the other driver got to walk scot-free — I went to a bitter moment,” Brown admits. It’s an understandable reaction, but Brown knew he couldn’t wallow in it: “I had to let it go, let God, and keep the positivity in things,” he says.

To alter a cliché, Brown is taking lemons and making his Heartache & Lemonade EP. And he sees these four songs — and the other new tracks he’s got in his back pocket for release down the line — as an opportunity not to be wasted.

“It wasn’t by mistake, it was by the grace of God, that I actually got a second chance at life,” Brown continues. “That accident woke me up, and it made me want to do more and get more done in the space I’m in. With music, I get to lay my emotions on the line for eternity, so I take it real serious.”

Brown has worked as a songwriter and a producer within pop and hip-hop with acts including Fergie, Childish Gambino, Kane Brown, and Chris Brown, earning a Grammy nomination, but he made a name for himself in country music by blending classically country and traditionally hip-hop sounds, as well as the storytelling of both styles, into what he calls “TrailerTrap.” With his new music, he’s aiming to mix fresh sounds and impactful messages with the fun and sweetness of his biggest hits that have resulted in over two billion on demand audio streams: the platinum-certified #1 singles “The Git Up” — the viral hit that topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 12 weeks and was the top-selling digital country song in the United States for 13 weeks with more than 1.4 billion audio streams and four billion video streams across platforms — and “Just the Way,” a collaboration with Parmalee that has earned more than 504 million on-demand streams.

“I’m always trying to take my sound to the next level,” says Brown, who draws inspiration from a vinyl collection that includes records from the 1940s onward. “I wanted these songs to be bright and lighthearted, but also at the same time, carry enough weight to impact listeners.”

About Country Radio Seminar (CRS):

Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry, with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. CRS 2024 is set for February 28-March 1, 2024 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Registration for Country Radio Seminar is available for purchase at www.CountryRadioSeminar.com. For more information, visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com, and follow CRS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Additional information can be obtained by calling 615-327-4487.