If you were online at any point in 2023, you probably heard “4runner” – the infectious slice of indie-folk crafted by Brenn!, the 21-year old out of Tuscaloosa, AL. The world caught on to Brenn! early on – with over 100m streams on the track that resonated for fans of artists like Noah Kahan and Caamp, leading to a warmly-received debut EP (2024’s County Line) and a completely sold out U.S. tour that led to the biggest crowds yet for the young troubadour. With the release of May’s Upstate EP, it’s clear that Brenn! isn’t a viral flash-in-the-pan – songs like “Franklin House” and “Days On End” reflect a maturation in sound from the songwriter, with lyricism and a mission to remain as personal and honest as ever while expanding his sonic horizons. We caught up with Brenn! following the release of the EP and chatted about the EP’s creation, his upbringing in rural Alabama, and his big 2025 –
I caught the Atlanta show this past year, and I got a taste for the live experience and what you were bringing to the table. Seeing the show that night and the fan fervor surrounding you, it was clear to me that this was an elevation from when I saw you way back when in tinier rooms in Alabama. What was that like to take that leap?
Okay, so I know I’m not, like… I know I’m not him yet, right? I haven’t had my Fenway Park moment, you know what I mean? But I kind of looked out and I saw the barricade, and the folks behind it, and I was elevated a little bit. I realized that “Wow, I’m out here doing this. People are buying tickets to see ME for the first time.” And that’s pretty cool to watch that progression as we’re going to bigger rooms and playing to more and more people.
Is there any notable venues or notable nights that stood out from that run that put an exclamation point on the tour?
Man, the El Rey [in Los Angeles], I think. I was so excited to show my team how far that I’ve come on touring, even though I felt that wasn’t a good performance on my end. We had some technical difficulties towards the end, and it wasn’t a great show, but I still was so excited to just show how far we’d come to the people in my life. It just felt like a moment of realization of where we’d come from, and where I want to take this.
Upstate dropped earlier this year, and I feel like I’ve been watching you go from “4Runner” going viral to County Line, and now to this EP, and it’s felt like a steady upward trajectory. How do you, as an artist, feel like you’ve evolved since “4Runner” went viral, all the way up to this new EP? What do you feel like is the biggest change in your artistic process now that this new music’s out?
I just think that I’ve had an opportunity to live through things that real men live through. (laughs) I don’t know. I think that I’ve done my fair share of travel and growing over the past few years. I was in my first relationship through all of this, my first long-term thing, and I lost that person amidst the writing for this record. From there, I had to go on this “do-everything-by-myself” kind of thing, trying to manage a lot of things and figuring things out all by myself. So, I think it’s not only been an evolution of artistry, like figuring out my sound – it’s also been an evolution of just a growth of my character as a human being. I just remember leaning on my faith through all of it, and I feel like I’ve come out on the other side of this really big growth moment a better human being.
Your songwriting is remarkably personal. What you’re putting out there is very open and I think people naturally gravitate to that. Was there ever a point when you were making these songs where you were like, “whoa, this is too much to put on the record? Is this too open?”
I’ve talked with artists before that also write from the heart like it’s a form of therapy and sometimes they’ll approach the line of, “I don’t know if it’s comfortable to sing about this stuff.” I did write this one thing recently that I was going to make it into a song and put it on the album – but I wrote it and realized that it crosses a line that I don’t want to cross. So, I tucked it away – if anyone wants to use it, you can give me writer’s credits, but I’m not going to put this on my brand. (laughs)
Walk me through your writing process on some of these newer songs.
Man, a lot of these songs are literally just that I sit down and it happens. Like, not in a session, just in my room. And I write the first half and then I’m like, “whoa, this is cool. I like this idea. I can see this going somewhere.” And I take it to my boys and we flesh it out and make it great. I have executive power at the end to cut down or add stuff, but I trust their ideas and I usually latch on to them to strengthen the sound and flow because I can sometimes struggle with that sort of thing.
As you were on the road, did these new songs ever change shape?
Not really, because all the songs had been done at that point. I do think that playing them live was a fun realization of how we can tweak them around the edges – it’s like, “All Too Well” vs “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” – the crowd’s paying to hear us put on a great show, so I’m not just going to play them exactly as they are on the record. I want to make it an experience and let them flow into each other.
Do you have a favorite song off the new EP, and how did that song come together?
“Franklin House”. For sure. I dropped off my girl in Indiana. And did a 20 hour drive with a U-Haul, and then just wrote it. It just fell out of me on my Notes app as I was digesting that whole situation, and it came together perfectly. No questions, no notes – it never works out that well, at least for me.
It’s always nice to talk to other people from the South because I feel like folks struggle to see the real South – they just see it as rednecks and college football. What was your upbringing like in Tuscaloosa?
And I would love to know what your upbringing is like. What has upbringing meant to you in your music? I’m going to be honest, man – I was I was a little late bloomer. And I started doing music maybe four years ago after listening to Twenty One Pilots as a kid. I don’t really have much musical background in terms of like, “oh, my mom played piano and my dad played guitar and they had a band.” I don’t have any of that. My brother’s really like into like Midwest emo and like math rock and he produces his own stuff – but other than that, like, I just kind of started doing it for fun with no intention of taking it anywhere.
Did your folks and the people around you in Tuscaloosa like take to it early on when you got into it?
They kind of made fun of me. Because the stuff I was putting on before was very much like what I was listening to – mxmtoon and lo-fi melodic rap. So they were saying stuff like (mockingly) “Oh, this is good. This is good.” (laughs) I was working at a daycare and I loved that job. I was convinced I wanted to be a teacher as a result for the LONGEST time – I love kids. We both like playing with Hot Wheels, you know? My music started to gain traction and I was just producing demos in my room – and I got linked up with some folks in Nashville and we made “4Runner” in the first session, and since then that’s sort of shaped the sound that I want to create.
So how in the hell did “4runner” come from lo-fi melodic hip-hop? (laughs)
This is actually silly (laughs). I was working a summer camp at the daycare, and I had a girl working with me that sent me “Maine” by Noah Kahan just like “This kind of sounds like your voice!” And that moment and introduction just fully changed my world. I dove off way into artists with deep lyrics – folks that are telling a story – and I realized that’s what I wanted to do. I fell in love with Noah’s stuff, and Briston Maroney, and Gracie Abrams – I felt like they were building these worlds, and I was aspiring to be on that level. “4runner” just came off the dome while I was listening to that music for the first time – I took that first verse to Nashville to record it and from there, it just fell into place.
I don’t listen to a ton of Bob Dylan – but I see there are two types of people: folks who think he sounds amazing, and people who just hate Bob Dylan. (laughs) BUT – I’m that third guy that’s just latching onto his storytelling and his writing and not really caring about the sound – if I can write a good story, it doesn’t matter what the sound is. And I think that’s what I want to get across as I continue down this path. I just want to tell stories.
Is there anyone up and coming that you think continues that story-telling vibe?
Absolutely – there’s a dude named Yuat that’s blowing my mind right now. He has a song called “Todd’s Point” that’s gone semi-viral recently. Then, my buddy Maddox Schaefer – and I’m trying not to be too biased, but I think he’s one of the best writers I’ve ever met in my life. His song “Wolves” is perfect. He’s going to be the next Jon Bellion, I’m calling it now.
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Listen to Brenn’s Upstate EP here and find him online at Instagram / TikTok / Spotify.
