Taylorsville, Kentucky –-(Ammoland.com)- J.D. Shelburne grew up on a tobacco farm in the small Kentucky town of Taylorsville. At the age of 19, his grandmother passed away, and he found comfort in country music. This comfort would change his life forever.
Instead of music just being a comfort, he decided to make it his life and set out to entertain the masses all over the country. J.D. has performed over 1000 concerts and 300 festivals. He has been featured on CMT and Great American Country. He even edged out Taylor Swift as the number one trending artist on CMT.com. All the while he remained a down to earth farm boy.
In June 2017, J.D. premiered a music video for his hit single “Better Man” on Great American Country. On July 28th he launched his newest album “Two Lane Town” with a free concert in his hometown of Taylorsville. I had a chance to speak with J.D. about his life and his finding of country music.
John: You seemed to have found comfort in music after the loss of your grandmother when you were 19. Can you talk a little about the impact she had on your life?
J.D: My grandmother had a huge impact on my life from the time I was in diapers until her death in 2002. She was always in my life every day. She only lived a couple of miles from our house growing up, so as a kid we spent a lot of time at her house.
I moved off to college at 18, and in June 2002 she passed unexpectedly while I was home for college summer break. I discovered a guitar after her death and picked it up naturally and begin teaching myself chords and songs to pass the time while in college. It gradually became a new venture in life that I fell in love doing and realized I was better at it than I thought. Music started a whole new chapter when I least expected it.
My grandmother is the 100% reason I play music today. I owe every amount of success I reach, to her.
John: You grew up on a Kentucky tobacco farm. Was it hard to go from farm boy to country music star?
J.D: Not as much as you would think.
I grew up listening to country music, and each day we worked on the farm or in tobacco, the radio was always blaring country music. If anything, it was a great platform to get into this business. I felt I knew enough knowledge about it and what makes a good song to give this career a chance. Tobacco farming taught me how to be a man and work hard.
I learned a lot of wisdom from my grandfather and father during those days. All those days of hard work on the farm make for great country songs I have written and will continue to write. I am a farm boy at heart.
John: You have performed at a lot of sporting events including the Kentucky Derby and NASCAR racing events. What has been your favorite event to play?
J.D: I have played hundreds of sporting events. The Kentucky Derby is pretty special to me. My wife and I attend every year back near my hometown. I perform at a lot of Derby events every year, and it’s a great way to connect with fans and my family back home that I don’t see as often.
A close second was the Chicago White Sox Game. Last September I performed at Guaranteed Rate Field prior to the White Sox vs. Indians game, and it was one of my most memorable experiences that I could ever dream of.
John: You have a brutal tour schedule. Playing 230 to 240 dates a year. How do you pull that off without getting burned out?
J.D: Playing shows is how I make a living and get in front of fans. Living that life never gets old. I am still hungry for more!
John: Your new album “Two Lane Town” released on July 28th. Is the album named after your hometown of Taylorsville, KY?
J.D: Well, about 50% came from that idea. One of the songs on the album that I recorded “Young Again” has the lyric in the song about a “Two Lane Town” and those words just really stuck….plus it reminded me of home. Taylorsville, KY is technically a “Two Lane Town.”
John: Instead of having a release party in Nashville, you are played a free concert on Main Street in Taylorsville. What played into that decision?
J.D: I wanted to bring back new music to my fans back home. Taylorsville provided a great platform for me to lift off and move to Nashville. I am an artist who believes in giving back to the community that raised me and what better time to release new music and throw a concert in my hometown than now. It was great to get back home and perform for all my fans that help me build this success. I owe it all to them.
John: Last year you came out with your first music video, “Better Man”. How was it making a music video?
J.D: It was nerve-racking to say the least. We filmed the video in Midway, KY at a small country church. While shooting the video, my producer suggested my wife play the female role in the video – that had not been planned leading up to the shoot. The rest is history. She had never been in a music video and the acting just came natural. She made the video. It is one of my favorite songs that I have written.
John: Is there anywhere that you want to play, but haven’t?
J.D: The Grand Ole Opry.
John: Do you think small-town values can survive in the current music industry?
J.D: I feel most certain that it can. It all starts with a song and getting out and playing live shows. A lot of diehard country fans come from small towns across the country. Fans still buy music and CD’s and attend live concerts. I’ll keep doing it that way until it’s irrelevant.
John: What is your opinion on the Second Amendment?
J.D: I was raised in a house full of guns used to hunt. My family and I love to hunt deer and turkey, so it is common to see many types of guns in the house. I will always own guns. The right to keep and bear arms is the people’s right to possess weapons (arms) for their own defense, in which I believe.
John: What is next up for you?
J.D: Getting out and promoting this new music and try and make it reach to as many fans as possible. I feel my new record, Two Lane Town, is my best collection of songs and they are songs that fans will relate too. I try and record songs that I feel or have lived.
These songs describe my upbringing, and me a lot of who I am and that is important to me. I am also on the touring circuit looking for new opportunities to grow my fan base. Fans are the most important part – I will try and reach as many as I can. I still love to perform and entertain country fans. I won’t stop. The sky is the limit right now.
Fan’s can purchase J.D.’s album at all major outlets.
Fan’s can also find out more about J.D. and his tour at www.jdshelburne.com
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or at www.crumpy.com.