Brinley Addington, originally from Kingsport, Tennessee, began his music career after a trip to Nashville. Influenced by both Country and Christian music, Brinley found that Nashville is the perfect home for his songwriting. Brinley recently spoke to TOWERMIX about how he got his start and his experiences along the way.
Nashville, TN
United States
Genre: Country / Acoustic / Bluegrass
Album(s): All Over Town EP, This Is Christmas EP
Website: http://www.myspace.com/brinleyaddington
MATTHEW: When did you realize you wanted to make music for a living? What influenced you to pursue this dream in Nashville?
BRINLEY: I don’t remember ever not wanting to make music my life. My parents and grandparents took me to see the Grand Ole Opry when I was three and from then on I knew what I wanted to do. I sang in church growing up and did a lot of contests around East Tennessee, but started taking music really seriously at the end of High School. After booking some of the bigger events back home and getting feedback, I really started to believe there was a future for me in music. I went to MTSU for two years before transferring to Belmont and I was coming to Nashville 3 or 4 times a week to write, take guitar lessons, or meet people so I figured that since I was in Nashville so much anyway I might as well be here all the time so that I can take full advantage of the songs I’m writing and finding and the people I’m meeting. As a country artist, there is no better place to be than Nashville.
MATTHEW: You have had the opportunity to open and perform along with many talented groups and artists. What are some of your most memorable experiences?
BRINLEY: The two that come to mind are opening for Gavin DeGraw and Marty Stuart. The show we did with Gavin was in my hometown of Kingsport, TN at the biggest event they have all year called Fun Fest. I grew up going to the Fun Fest concerts and watching and meeting a lot of the artists that played and was just in awe of how cool the whole thing was. I never thought that in a million years I’d ever play there, let alone at 19 years old. That same summer, we got the opportunity to open for Marty Stuart at one of Kingsport’s downtown concert series and that show still holds the record for attendance for a show downtown. There was nothing but people as far as you could see. They were all there for Marty of course, but we got to play to over 8,000 people that night and I’ll never forget it.
MATTHEW: You have a video for your song, “Why I Never Will”. How does the concept of the video convey the lyrics and music of the song? What did you enjoy about the video making process?
BRINLEY: The video was shot in Gate City, VA where my aunt and uncle live. It’s a very small, country town about 20 minutes from where I grew up and it ended up being a perfect setting for the video. The town looks the same as it has for years and is full of some of the best people in the world. People who are motivated by faith, family, and in most cases, farming and that’s just what this song called for.
As far as making the video goes, I enjoyed getting to act a little. I had not really done much acting until that so it was a nice challenge. I don’t know how much more I’ll be doing, but it was fun at the time and worked for the video.
Video for Brinley Addington’s “Why I Never Will”
MATTHEW: What can we expect from Brinley Addington in the next few years?
BRINLEY: I’m working on a full length album right now which will hopefully be out early next year and we’re going to try to do another video when we have the right song for it. I’d really like to get a record deal, but regardless of whether that happens or not, I’m going to continue to write, find, record, and perform songs that matter to me for as long as I live. I can’t believe how lucky and blessed I’ve been so far and can’t wait to see what God has planned for the next few years.
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