Brooke Eden was born in Loxahatchee, Florida, which is about an hour north of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the home of the Tortuga Music Festival. And this past April, Brooke was selected as a performer at the beach-based music festival along with artists like Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen, Sam Hunt, Chase Rice, The Band Perry, Zac Brown Band and many more. So for Brooke, it was an amazing experience and opportunity, one she describes as, “really cool, because not only do you get new fans and meet new people, but also you get to reward your old fans who have been with you for a long time.” At Tortuga, Brooke had dozens of friends and family in attendance. From elementary school friends to high school and college, aunts and uncles and cousins, mom and dad all to see her take the Sunset Stage right before Kenny Chesney would play the main stage.
It was just last year when Brooke signed a record deal with Benny Brown and his record label, BBR Music Group. And Brooke signed with BBR Music Group for one reason, Benny Brown. She says, “He’s a winner. Benny Brown just likes to win. And I like to win. So we had a common view on that. They are just so great at what they do. He believed in me from the very beginning, so I just knew. I knew BBR was where I wanted to be.” With fellow artists like Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Randy Houser, Thompson Square, Joe Nichols and many more in the Broken Bow family, Brooke is in great company and sees these artists as mentors. When she moved to Nashville three years ago she said she wanted to be a mix of Adele and Jason Aldean, so the country megastar (Aldean) is “absolutely” a mentor of Eden’s.
Brooke was first introduced to the country music industry via SiriusXM The Highway’s Highway Find initiative and in the past few years, Brooke has played over 500 shows including opening for some of the biggest names in country music. Acts like Florida Georgia Line, Sugarland, Alan Jackson and more. For any up-and-coming artist, these experiences are crucial to their growth as they get to watch, witness and learn from the veteran artists. So to learn from the acts that Brooke has opened for has been huge! And it was Alan Jackson that gave her the best advice. Brooke recalls,
“He is the nicest man, and exactly who you think he would be. I saw him (Alan Jackson) after and said, ‘I opened up for you.’ And he said, ‘No way. That’s so great. Thank you so much for opening for me.’ So I asked, ‘Do you have anything you can tell me?’ He said, ‘always meet every single one of your fans. Because if they want to meet you, then there is somebody that you should want to meet.’ And that’s exactly how I treat my fans. My fans become family and friends. I call them my ‘frans’ because they literally become part of my life.”
Brooke has been getting even more attention with her song, titled ‘Cover Girl,’ a song she worte with Brett James and Chris DeStefano to raise awareness of domestic violence. She explains, “I think that there are a lot more ‘cover girls’ than any of us will ever know. I had a friend in high school, that was my best friend all throughout high school, and she was being beat by her boyfriend and none of us knew it for a really long time until she ended up in the hospital. I just thought, if I have a friend like that, I know that there are a lot of other women out there that are dealing with the same situation. I just think that nobody has really written anything about that since Martina McBride. I just think that this is the time to bring up awareness about that subject and really let them know that it’s not okay, for the men, and the women don’t have to stay and deal with that.” And with her friend, and now superstar artist, Sam Hunt releasing his video for ‘Take Your Time’ with a similar theme, Brooke thinks that this topic could be more prevalent going forward. “I think that it’s just kinda coming to the surface as something you’re allowed to talk about and something that you don’t have to hide anymore. I think a lot of women have hidden for a long time. I think that Sam Hunt and other artists that are taking a stance will really allow women who are having this issue to stop hiding it and get away.”
So flash forward to the Tortuga Music Festival. We are with Brooke, her label representative, and a few of her friends in the media tent, Will Hoge is just steps away performing on the Sunrise Stage, the same stage where Josh Turner and Jake Owen will both play later in the day. Brooke is taken back and lost for words to be playing at a festival of this magnitude with the lineup of artists who will be joining her. “I’m confused as to how this has happened to me. But really it’s very surreal. It’s incredible. It makes you realize what you have worked for all these years. I don’t have any other words,” she describes. As a fan, she was most excited to see Sam Hunt as they had done a tour together last year, on a much smaller scale, and says how proud she is of him. And for her performance, she wants fans to take away that there’s a lot more that can be said that isn’t being said. “There’s not a lot of females in country music right now. There’s a huge voice that’s missing from country radio. I grew up in the era of Shania Twain and Faith Hill and Martina McBride and JoDee Messina and Mindy McCready and the list can go on and on and on. I want people to realize that there are girls that are saying something that means something to everybody. It’s not just about tailgates and headlights. There’s a lot that can be said that isn’t being said.”
From a small town in Florida to the Music City, from small bar shows to the big stages with some of the biggest names in country music, Brooke Eden has come a long way in just a few years. But through it all, she’s still the same Brooke that she was before all of this. She’s a normal girl who has the same dreams that her fans have. And she wants her fans to know that she’s a dreamer just like them. With her outlook, talent, and drive, Brooke’s dreams could all become reality.
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You can purchase Brooke’s music on iTunes here.