FGL Reunion? Brian Kelley Shares Details on New Album & Where Does FGL Stand

Wayne D caught up with Brian Kelley, formerly of FGL, who has a solo career that's on fire right now. BK shares details on his new love for creating, recording and performing. We love the new chapter of his career but we also had to ask, is there a chance we may see and FGL Reunion some day?

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hanging out with a man that honestlyneeds no introduction, but I'm gonna do
it because this is the radio andI can't point and be like here he
is, BK. Brian Kelly's inthe house. What's up, brother?
How are you? Hey? Brother? How are you? Dude? Life
is good, but I gotta askhow is life for you, man,
because you're the new chapter of yourcareer is going great so far, right,

(00:22):
Man, I'm having a blast andI'm just you know, feeling so
grateful for just an amazing team,the support that I'm feeling, and then
at the end of the day,man, i mean just the fans support,
the support from country radio I'm feelingand man, it's it's all really
starting to click. And you know, I'm just I just kind of had
my head down writing a ton,working, you know, doing some guitar

(00:46):
pools for radio stations and just grindingand you know, to see things happen.
These these links connect, these dotsconnect one by one, week by
week. Man. It's it's justI'm just so happy. I'm grateful and
it's inspiring. Man. I mean, you know, like everything that everything
good happening in life, it justmakes you want to work that much harder
and keep keeep at it. So, yeah, Man, is any part

(01:10):
of this a surprise? I mean, because obviously you've had success in music
in general with collaborations, you've hadsuccess in country music already. But is
any as surprising as you kind ofwipe the slate clean and start as Brian
Kelly. Oh, Man, that'sa good question. You know, I

(01:30):
don't know if it's surprising. Imean, I think you know that's a
that's a dang good question. No, I mean, I guess, you
know, to be honest with you, you know, when you know,
I was having these conversations with withTyler and in twenty twenty and even before
than in twenty sixteen, you know, it was a holistic view of from

(01:51):
my standpoint of, you know,I want to do this and I want
to do that, and it wasn'ta this or that kind of situation.
And so at the end of theday, you know, a couple of
years down the road where we areright now, so much has changed,
and so I'm surprised that you know, FGL right now isn't isn't really existent

(02:13):
obviously, and so I kind ofsaw both going at the same time,
and it all working together. Soin that sense, I'm surprised. But
you know, when it comes downto putting in the work and and you
know, finding a vision and tryingto manifest you know, little winds to
add up to big wins, I'mnot surprised because you know, my dad

(02:35):
is eighty years old and still stillhustling, is still working and has always
said a great example of hard workand putting yourself surrounding yourself with a great
team. And so that's what I'veThat's what I've done, and so hopefully
you know, it's it's just amatter of time. And that's that's you
know, speaking any any kind ofartist, any creative, any any hard
worker, entrepreneur, anybody chasing adream. You know, it's not always

(02:59):
you know, instant, And that'sokay. I love the journey. I
love creating, and I love projectsand so and kind of getting in the
nitty gritty of it all. SoI'm really fine enjoy in each step of
the way. And yeah, man, I'm just really enjoying this process.
I as you bring up Tyler andyour time with FGO, I would I

(03:22):
would be disrespecting fans of the bothof y'all if I didn't ask, do
you think at some point that roadcrosses again, like like you guys have
gone and done your thing, andmaybe at some point, like I don't
want to say reunion tour because thatfeels like very you're like in your seventies,
right, But do you ever seethose those lines crossing again for the
two of you guys? You know, that's a good question. I know

(03:45):
people have asked that before, youknow, up up until the last show
last year, you know, Iwas really trying to emphasize the big picture,
in the holistic view of how howit could all work at the same
time, and so kind of wherewe're at now. Man, you know,
that's that's a tough question because youknow, something I'm not really willing

(04:05):
to budge on as my creative freedom. And so I think that's something that
you know, at the end ofthe day we couldn't really one hundred percent
agree on, is how you know, having solo outlets looked while you know,
maintaining FGL and you know, inmy my my headspaces, it could
all work. And so you know, if I'm I just can't imagine you

(04:27):
know, if if FGL gets backtogether one day, ten years down the
road or fifteen years down the road. You know, it's it's I'm always
gonna want to put out music nomatter what, and that shouldn't affect anything
if you know, it's supported.So it's that's just one of the one
of the things that I'm not reallywilling to do is give up. You
know, I would, I woulddown the road probably look at you know,

(04:48):
doing more FGL stuff. But youknow, if it takes away from
anything I'm wanting to do, that, that's just I'm not really willing to
do that. And I also think, you know, people have asked me
if I'm playing FGL songs live andall that, and you know, I
was given a clear message that wehad to put the baby to bed,

(05:09):
and you know, I just findit find it interesting that, you know,
I think, you know, thosesongs are getting played night after night
still, and so I think,you know, as a brand, it
would be nice to just have somesome silence for a second, you know,
and nobody play the songs so thatthere is a strong asset and strong

(05:30):
value to when we do come back, you know, if we do.
When it comes to the music you'reputting out now we got to see you
during CMA Fest, which is reallythe first time you've got to tackle all
the CMA Fest festivities as an individual. I gotta tell you, you look
like you were having the best timeof your life career wise. With the

(05:51):
fans. It didn't matter if itwas five hundred or five thousand people like
b K was in his element,right man. I you know, I've
told everybody about that week, andyou know, I think I'll look back
even even next year, just ayear after after CMA Week and and say
that that was a pivotal moment inmy solo career. You know, I

(06:12):
really felt so much love. Ifelt just you know, a lot of
support from fans that have have beenwith me and us along the whole journey,
and then continuing to support what I'mdoing, and just and then making
new fans that had no idea youknow, who who we were, who
I was. But you know,sometimes it takes a conversation or friend passing

(06:33):
the word, or hearing a songon country radio or you know, and
so it just was a blast.It was. It was great to connect
with with fans that are like minded, that love country music, that love
a good time that love people,and you know, it just it felt
really great to be there, tobe in town and trying to meet as
many people as we can and asI can and just just get out there,

(06:56):
man, just get out there withthem. And I mean, that's
what that week is, I mean, and that's what I try to do
it at my shows and any showon the part of I try to meet
as many fans, whether that's before, during, before during, or after
the show, what however it shakesout, you know, I try to
try to shake as many hands andtry to make as many connections as I
can so that they'll remember that moment. And so yeah, man, it's

(07:18):
just it's a special week. It'sall about the fans. And without fans
period, I mean, we don'twe don't really have anything going on.
So I try to treat every showkind of like CMA week. Well,
so so let me ask you thatwhy is that? So? Why is
that such an important piece of whatyou're doing now with your career, Because
you were even when we had youhere, When we had you here,

(07:42):
it was like, hey, he'sgot something literally in forty five minutes,
so like we gotta do this,we gotta do this. He's got to
hit the stage. But that didn'tstop you, Like you shook hands,
you signed autographs, signed hats andall that. Why why do you think
that's so important for you to makesure that that you're connecting on more than
just a performance level. Well,you know, I'm a fan too,
I'm a you know, I'm afan that pretty much as much as I'm

(08:05):
an artist, I'm a fan.I just music has has helped me in
ways, not only creating it,but listening to it along, you know,
every journey in my life, everychapter of my life. And so
you know, I know what it'slike to you know, wait around for
an artist at a concert, orget there early, or go around back
where you can get you know,a view of the bus or the backstage,

(08:26):
or hope for an autograph like I'vebeen the guy. I've been that
guy and on both ends of itin terms of not getting the picture,
not getting autograph, you know,as a fan. And so when when
you can, I mean you tryto. You try to make people's day.
And that's that's why they're there.They're they're there too, Yeah,
enjoy the show, but they're thereto really get you know, some kind

(08:46):
of core memory from the show,whether that's a guitar pick or a T
shirt thrown, or a set listor an autograph or a picture or getting
up on stage and singing. Youknow, so just trying to leave as
many people with the little BK ifI can, you know, little little
touch of BK out of the journeyyou've had so far in twenty twenty three.
Obviously, CMAFES was a big deal. Anyone that follows you sees you're

(09:09):
doing two ur dates, You're puttingout music. We're loving the single all
over. iHeart radio initiate it,bro, Thank you, dude. I'm
telling you, like I loved theBeach Cowboy collection of that that we got.
I loved it. But it wasalso to hear you tell the story
of Yeah, that was kind oflike some stuff I was sitting on.

(09:31):
But that's not like that wasn't yourmain focus, right, It was kind
of like, Hey, I wantto get this out. These are fun
songs, but like I'm already thinkingof what's next. Yeah, man,
I mean there's a couple different pointson that whole project. I'm forever grateful
for that I that I put thatout, that was made in the middle
of COVID. Everything was shut down. And you know, like I mentioned
before, that's that's one of theways that music helped me get through a

(09:52):
tough time of navigating when our normaleverybody's normal across the across the world,
where you know you're you're kind ofshut down, nobody's really doing anything.
And for me, I unexpectedly found, you know, just a ton of
inspiration everywhere I looked in at anyany free moment, I just couldn't stop
thinking the song titles and you know, ideas were just falling out, and

(10:16):
I just you know, made thatrecord pretty quick and put it out and
it was a snapshot of time.It's totally authentic to me, and it's
just one little, one, onepiece of the pie of of who I
am and kind of you know,what I'm all about. And so but
it was a blast to make,man, I mean, we we just
we had a pretty tight knit crewof writers and collaborators and it was just

(10:37):
a special time. And and youknow, I also made that with with
the mindset of you know, wewe had fgl dates on the books,
shows in the books for the comingyear or so year or two, and
so I was I was mindful aboutwhat I was creating and making sure it
wasn't you know, interfering or touchingon stuff that that we had done or

(10:58):
that we were going to do,you know. And so it's very mindful
of that that this could live inits own little space and be an addition
to what we were building. Andlike I said, obviously things have changed
and I've had to pivot, andso where I'm at now, you know,
I'm truly building a solo career andI'm just not I'm not going to
hold anything back, you know,I've I've got so many different you know,

(11:24):
uh, just ways I want toshare, you know, my life
and my music and just just havefun and not not worry about you know,
not no, have no worries whilecreating. Just like it, just
go as hard as I can onthe songs and the tracks, and just
at the end of the day landwith some great country music. You know.

(11:45):
That's That's really what I'm trying todo. So you'll notice, I
mean, see you next summer soundsa lot bigger production than you know,
anything on Sunshine State of Mind,and that's on purpose, you know.
I mean, you got rocking guitarsolos, big old drums on see you
next summer. And you know,even the vocal I think is stronger and
punchier. And so I'm just I'mjust I'm grateful to create. Every single

(12:09):
day I wake up, I'm alwaysthinking about song titles and hooks and ideas
and and how I could push thisthing forward. But you know, you
really find out who you are whenlife kind of throws you a curveball.
And I'm just so grateful for mywife and my team around me that are
just great, great champions of whatI'm trying to do and what I'm trying
to accomplish. And it's just afun, fun time of life right now

(12:33):
where it feels like anything's possible interms of showing up, and you never
know what can happen when you showup with a song Like I I'm still
writing, even though I've got abunch of great songs. I'm kind of
getting ready for the record and stilltrying to push at the end of this
cycle. And you know, Ilanded on a great song just a week
and a half ago, just fromhey, let's stay on this, let's

(12:54):
keep writing, let's keep seeing whatwe can do. And so just grateful.
Listen, you got a lot tobe grateful for. Man. Like
I said, that project is great. What we're hearing about the upcoming project
is fantastic. And I will say, you're even teaching us some geography because
when you say Jacksonville, Georgia,I was like, now, I was

(13:15):
like, he means Florida, right, So I had to google it.
So you're teaching me geography. Iappreciate that. Man, I do what
I can. You know, that'sfunny because the first time I heard that
song, I did the same thing. I go, oh, how clever.
I was like, obviously, Igrew up an hour from Jacksonville,
Florida, you know, over inDaytona Beach, and and I just was
mind blown. I go, dang, they pulled off Jacksonville, george I

(13:39):
go, is that even a realplace? You know? And so yeah,
they wrote the heck out of thatsong. And that's why I cut
it, you know, I justI love I love that song. First
time I heard it reminds me ofBrittany and I and our love that we
have. And you know, wegot married super quick, and I saw
the rest of my life and Iwas basically like, you know, hey,
I want to see you next summerand every summer after that, and
we're going on ten years area thisDecember, and and not looking back and

(14:01):
just just grateful for you know,and also kind of with this, this
whole pivot, if you will,was it was a different mindset of being
open minded to outside songs and kindof you know, some of my my
heroes have been Garth Brooks and Chesney, both great songwriters that have written hits
for themselves, but also you know, they they are the voice for songs

(14:24):
they didn't write that are amazing hits. And sometimes sometimes you're the voice and
sometimes you're the writer and the voice. And to me, you know,
Sunshine State of Mind was an outletwhere I could be a co writer on
every song. It was. Itwas artistic, it was fun. It
was such a playful, creative timein my world. And now it's like,
all right, well, let melet me see what I can really

(14:46):
do now in a sense, becausethere's no there's no limits, there's nothing,
there's nothing really in the way.I guess if you could say you
you just for me, because mynext question was what was about being a
songwriter, because there's so many artiststhat I don't want to say stick their

(15:07):
nose up, but they're like,I didn't write it, I'm not cutting
it. So I was gonna ask, like, why are you I don't
want to say so lax, butwhy are you so accepting of like,
hey, I might not have writtenit, but that's a damn good song.
I'm feeling it. I'm cutting it. Like how how do you make
sure to ride the line between betweenI'm a writer on this one or I
just loved it so I cut it. Yeah, I mean, I think

(15:28):
it's just when a song hits you, you know, and you're you're feeling
it, You're not having to thinkabout it. It hits you in a
way you're like it doesn't matter.You know, how lucky to have a
song by amazing songwriters and support thesongwriting community, having a great song sent
to my email for me to sing. I mean that that makes me lucky.

(15:48):
That makes me you know, that'sjust awesome. And when it when
it really connects, like when it'sreal to your life. If some other
songwriter has nailed you know, hasnailed a great lyric and melody and married
those two to you know, becomea great country song, that's what it's
all about. I mean, that'sthe same reason I think people sing karaoke,

(16:11):
because you know, the songs thatpeople love when they sing karaoke have
hit them in a way, havehit them in the heart or make them
want a party or drink or calltheir call their mom or dad, or
whatever emotion it evokes. You know, they want to sing that. And
so that's kind of how I feel. It's like, and I'm in it
for the long haul, you know. To me, it's like it's important

(16:33):
to have solid songs and remove anykind of ego from having it to be
you know, I have to writeeverything and I respect and you know I
did that with Sunshine State of Mind, not that it was an ego thing.
It was like, hey, thisis a totally different project. This
is like, this is not thisis this is its own little thing.

(16:53):
And so where we're at now,it's like, you know, it's it's
it's important to have rate strong songsand I don't care where they come from.
If they hit me in the heartand the soul, you know,
I'd be lucky enough to sing somegreat songs and by great songwriters, great
friends in town, and support thesongwriting community. I mean, that's that's

(17:15):
at the end of the day,high priority for me, you know,
And so just building this base andpeople and people to know that, like
I'm gonna sing stuff that's real tome whether I wrote it or not.
I mean, I just don't care, you know. I want to be
I'll wrap it up with this lastthing here. I want to be the
first, even though I'm nine daysearly to say happy birthday. Thank you,

(17:38):
bro, you are the first.I don't know if nine days counts,
but I'm gonna take it. It'sbirthday and month, it's all good.
But I'm August six, so Ifeel you. We get the month
right. Let us have our days. What do you got planned? Man?
What do you do You got anythingplanned laid out? For the b
day? We've got a little tripwith some friends, headed up to the

(18:02):
northeast, a little little spot upthere, just to try a little last
second summer little trip man for acouple of days and just taking it easy,
just enjoying life. Man. We'llbe kind of northeast, up on
the coast and looking forward to justdoing a little bit exploring, having some
good food and uh, just tryingto soak up any inspiration the universe will

(18:25):
give me while I'm there. Youknow, dude, get after it.
You You have put out some phenomenalstuff already, man. And the last
thing I'm gonna ask as a fan, as your catalog continues to grow as
a solo artist, if you moveaway from from the first project we got,
don't give up the Beach Cowboy.That is my jam. I need
it in every step. If Iever make a request, I need Beach

(18:48):
Cowboy. All right, let's go. No, that's the fun part about
you know, when I when Ilabeled at Sunshine State of Mind Season one,
you know, we may have upto season ten at some point,
but right now, you know,I'm just I'm just focused on on,
you know, building, building thisbody of work. That's that's just kind
of uh, you know where I'mat. And and also, uh,

(19:12):
just just I didn't want to putthe same record out twice in a row.
I think I think, you know, whoever's gonna hear this, and
my fans and you know, whoever'sgonna end up consuming this, I want
them to know that I didn't dothe same thing twice and that I left
some space. And also I'm sharingmore of of who I am and what
I love and just being a trueartist and just kind of writing and recording

(19:33):
exactly where I'm at. That's whatI do with Sunshine state of Mind.
That's what I do with this nextproject and and everything after that. But
I do look forward. I've already, I mean, I've got a whole
folder you know, of Sunshine Stateof Mind Season two songs that I've written
and people have sent me, soyou know, I've got songs. It's
just kind of a timing thing andwhen when that will happen. But now
I won't ever let that go.It's it's it's too much a part of

(19:56):
me to to not ever, youknow, be there again. And so
thank you for that, dude.We love it, man, and we
believe in it too. So youkeep being you and we'll keep playing it
all right. Appreciate you, bro, Thank you