Brothers Osborne on Subtlety and Diversity in Country: The Ram Report
Chris Stapleton tied a single night record with his six ACM Awards wins on Sunday, an indicator that doors are opening up for left-of-center country artists. Brothers Osborne, who scored a Grammy nomination for their single “Stay a Little Longer,” feel like that ultimately benefits everyone in country.
“That does so much good for so many artists,” singer TJ Osborne tells Rolling Stone Country. “I think it’s amazing.”
“It just widens the spectrum. It all doesn’t have to be one thing,” adds guitarist John Osborne. “It’s OK to have very ultra-produced music and on the other end of the spectrum you have Stapleton doing a more organic, throwback record. It’s great that we have a lot of diversity in country music. That’s when all genres start getting better.”
In January, Brothers Osborne released their debut album Pawn Shop, which includes a handful of all-out rockers as well as the duo’s dreamy new single “21 Summer.”
“That’s a song that gives us a break in the set,” explains John. “A lot of our songs are pretty rocking — ‘Stay a Little Longer’ is a long, epic guitar solo, but ’21 Summer’ gives a really good chill moment in the middle of the set where it brings it back down. It’s actually surprisingly one of the more challenging songs for us, because it’s all about the subtlety.”
With the exception of “21 Summer,” Brothers Osborne’s sets — like the one they played at ACM’s Party for a Cause Festival — tend to be less subtle and more in your face. Fans can catch them on the road with Miranda Lambert and Kip Moore this summer.