Kelan Browne made his move into the Irish country music scene backwards. He started behind the camera before hitting the stage.
Here, the 20-year-old, from Ballybofey, opens up about moving in with his girlfriend, the advice he received from Robert Mizzell and turning the tide after being forced to withdraw from Glór Tíre
My Mum and my Granda were really into country music.
My Granda sang in some local showbands in Donegal and he introduced me to Big Tom’s music. The main draw for me was American country music. Once I turned 16 I began to take music more seriously.
I sing and perform full-time.
I don’t think I’d have time for anything else at the minute, things are very busy. I’m very lucky to be doing what I love, so I can’t complain. I got quite lucky at the beginning of my career because I could hide behind a screen during the pandemic. I was posting videos online and, in a way, I approached everything backwards. I was in front of the camera first and then I went on stage gigging.
Straight away I was supporting Robert Mizzell and now I’m touring with Keltic Storm.
I’ve received a lot of support from people and they’ve really helped me. Country music is changing a lot, it’s moving into country pop, country rock and country rap, but I’ve stuck to the real American country. Robert and Susan McCann came from that background and they told me to know what I’m good at and to stick to it. They told me to use my own personality and keep it real to build a following.
Hank Williams is my favourite artist.
In my opinion, there’s Hank Williams and then there’s everybody else. More recently, I’m into Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and another guy I really love is Tyler Childers.
I’m in a relationship with my girlfriend Agnes.
We’ve been living together for the last year and things have been going great. She’s a dancer, so she’s able to tell me what songs to play at the dances and what beat I need to do them at. She’s a great support to me and I hope I’m a great support to her as well. Moving in together was a big step, but I needed to become more independent. I also needed my own space to write songs and to relax after touring. I still go home to spend time with my family.
I’ve also experienced some downsides to this industry.
Appearing on Glór Tíre in 2021 was a huge step forward, but also a knock back when I had to withdraw from the show. A lot of things were said about me and a lot of those weren’t necessarily true. It was during the pandemic and everyone had to be in a bubble. I was going between Glór Tíre and school in my bubbles. My friends came to visit for my 18th birthday and I shared a picture online of my cake in my shed and people took it that I was breaching the rules. A lot of the comments said I had Covid and I gave it to the cast, which wasn’t true. I had only turned 18 and it had a detrimental effect on me. I wasn’t mentally ready for it. It was my first time on TV. The way I looked at it was that people are going to like me for who I am, and they’re going to base their judgement on meeting me and coming to see my shows. You can’t always keep everyone happy. When you put yourself into the public domain, people will have things to say and as a young guy it’s hard not to look at the negative comments.
I’ve just released my first original song called Back Home to You.
I co-wrote it with James McGarrity and performed it alongside some great musicians. I also released a new music video. I want to progress as a songwriter and I’ve a few songs ready for release. My original album will be out in 2024, which I’m really excited about. I’ve been working hard on it. I haven’t released many songs for the dancing scene here in Ireland and that’s also a big goal of mine. I want to tick as many boxes as possible.
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