Scheduled to play over 150 dates this year, Brian Collins, born and bred in the music hot bed of West Georgia, broke onto the country music scene first as producer, engineer and graphic designer. He soon discovered, though, that writing and performing music is where his real passion is.
Collins is lucky enough to have his own recording studio, Blue Light Entertainment. It was here that he recorded his first album, ‘Healing Highway.’ The album, which was released last October landed his first single ‘Never Really Left’ in the Top 40 on both the Music Row Breakout and Billboard Indicator charts and was featured on Sirius XM The Highway on the Horizon program. Collins was a co-producer, alongside Mills Logan (known for working with Toby Keith, Alabama, Luke Bryan, Eric Paslay, Kenny Greenberg, Pam Tillis, and Edwin McCain) and wrote on all the songs on the album. Collins calls himself a bit of a control freak because he wants things done his way. That way if he writes to the very top or he crashes and goes down burning in flames, there will be nobody else to blame, “it will be because of me.”
Because of what his parent’s listened to when he was a child, Collins was a fan of all kinds of music growing up. Their tastes ran the gamut of older country with George Jones, Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers to R&B and the beach boys as well as the classic stuff, like Bob Seger. Collins’ eclectic taste in music has crossed over into real life. He has shared the stage with not just country music acts, such as Zac Brown Band, Alabama, James Otto, and Will Hoge, but acts from other genres as well. Collins was invited to be part of the 1st Kiss Kruise which included not only the band KISS but also Skid Row, Envy and Craig Gass.
As a child, Collins would pass the time away just sitting around listening to music on his boom box that he would take around with him wherever he would go. When Collins was eleven years old, his younger sister, Karen, passed away from leukemia. He spent a lot of time at doctor’s offices and hospitals, “so I’d wear my headphones and listen to music and it took me out of that place when she was sick. There was just something about music that just took me somewhere.” He didn’t know until he got older how much his sister’s death affected his life. “It’s why I do what I do. I live life because someone else can’t. So I take chances, she passed that on to me. I like just being able to take chances in life where probably before I wouldn’t have taken the risks to follow a dream.”
In honor of his sister, Collins started the She Will Ride Foundation in her memory. The idea for the foundation came about through the song, ‘She Will Ride,’ that he co-wrote with John Driscoll Hopkins from Zac Brown Band. He did not write the song with the thought of starting a charity but more for therapeutic reasons. It was his manager who came up with the great idea of not just putting the song out there but making a difference with it. The non-profit, founded by Brian and Blue Light Entertainment, aims at contributing financially to the determination of finding a cure for cancer and leukemia in this generation. Collins is still in the process of developing the She Will Ride Foundation and hoping to get it up and fully functional by the end of the year.
As ‘She Will Ride’ can attest Collins tries to come from a real place when he is writing a song and especially on his debut album. “These are songs about a journey I took over the past few years to get to Nashville and make this happen. Each one of these songs is a snapshot of a place and time along that journey.” Each of the songs on the album has meaning to Collins. Whether it’s thirteen exits off the ‘Healing Highway’ or to the song ‘Harder I Run,’ a song, Collins says anybody can relate to, “It’s trying to chase something whether it be not just in music but a goal in life. Sometimes those barriers can keep you from doing what you want in life so breaking through them is a feat in itself.”
Collins describes his sound as “heart on the sleeve, heart and soul, blood sweat and tears. Its real life stuff, and it’s also overcoming obstacles when you follow a dream, and it’s also songs about self-doubt and fear of failure.” His goal when writing the songs for the album was to find a way to relate to his audience and possibly tell a little bit about their lives. “It’s just one of those albums”, Collins says, “You can just pop in your car and go and when it’s done, hit it again.” ‘Healing Highway’ was first released as a digital download and has since been released as a CD.
The sophomore single from the album, ‘Shine a Little Love,’ a song about hope, was released a few weeks ago to radio and has had rave reviews from several respected media outlets. Co-written by Brian and Paige Logan, the uplifting, feel-good song showcases Brian’s soulful southern vocals and skilled songwriting. It is a song about helping your neighbor and when someone’s down lift them up. Collins is going to be developing a lot of things around the song and the message it portrays, and he hopes people will really gravitate to the song. The lyrics from the chorus, “We’re all in this together, blue skies and stormy weather. Come on and shine a little love for me,” Collins hopes will encourage people to get “out there and spread the love.”
Although most musicians will say they do not have a particular favorite song on their album, Collins actually does. ‘Harder I Run’ is one of his favorite tunes, because it sums up what it is like to be a musician and that is someone who gives up the life of 9-5 and a family and pursues a dream for many years. You may not know what is at the end of that road and you do not know if it will be success or another dead end. But either way you know you should take that chance yet you still ask yourself if you are chasing the right thing. “But when I get on stage and I see people showing up and I see how much the music makes a difference in their lives I realize I am a part of that. It’s a really cool thing. It’s just one of the many reasons why I love music.”
Collins is very humble with the success he has had so far and credits several outlets for that success. Social media, like New England Country Music,has played a big part in getting his music out to the fans. He appreciates country radio for getting behind the independent artists, such as himself, believing in them, and recognizing all their hard work. Collins is also grateful to country radio for helping him break the top forty with his first single and to CMT for getting his single, ‘Never Really Left,’ to number two on CMT Pure 12-Pack Country Countdown. Collins is especially grateful for his team at Blue Light Entertainment and for the fans, The Brigade, who helped push his songs and album alongside all of the radio and music outlets. Collins sums it all up saying, “You got to love it (music). You have to have a lot of love for what you do, if you are going to do this. You hear the word ‘no’ more than any other word in the dictionary, but when you hear ‘yes’, it makes all those ‘no’s’ worthwhile.”
New England Country Music would like to thank Brian for taking the time to talk with us about how music has touched his life and how he hopes that his music brings meaning to others by touching their lives in some special way. Brian’s talent and dedication to his craft is evident in his songs. His songs have already touched the many people whose paths he has crossed in the past and those songs are truly touching those that are currently listening to his stories put to music. Without a doubt he will have a profound effect on those people who will in the future be lucky enough to see him perform and hear his soulful voice in a song.
You can follow Brian Collins here on Facebook, Twitter, and on his website.
Interview conducted by Lorraine Frigoletto contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter.