COREY KENT
A native of Bixby, Oklahoma, Corey Kent has been poised for a career in music from the beginning. A fan of anyone bold enough to walk their own path, Kent grew up on the music of independent-thinking stars like Randy Rogers Band, Turnpike Troubadours, and even Willie Nelson – unconventional Texas/Oklahoma legends who toured hard, took creative chances and weathered all storms. And right from the start, he followed their lead. Corey began his musical career at age 11 when he took stage as a lead singer for a Western Swing band. Corey hit early milestones opening for legendary acts like Roy Clark and The Oak Ridge Boys.
In 2020, Corey released his From the West LP which garnered 3.5+ million aggregate streams and set the stage for his next chapter. His song “Gold” and fan favorite “Ain’t My Day” has nearly 15 million streams combined.
In December of 2021, Corey released his sophomore album, ’21, to an overwhelmingly positive reception and landed on multiple playlists across the streaming platforms with his single “There’s Always Next Year.” Both albums were released via Combustion Music. On March 4, 2022, Corey released his smash hit single “Wild As Her” and shortly after signed his deal with Sony Music Nashville and their RCA Nashville Imprint. At this time, Corey has been seen out on the road, performing over 100 shows a year.
2023 comes around & Kent marked his debut album for Sony Music Nashville. The Blacktop title nods to the key themes of this rising star’s life … and to the long journey that lies ahead. After 15 years of paying dues, he now boasts a Platinum-certified hit, “Wild as Her,” over 450 million career streams, a massive social following and next-big-thing accolades from across the industry – plus a heartfelt fusion of country honesty, raw Red Dirt power and live-performance passion. The 10-track album features writing credits from Kent himself as well as Morgan Wallen, Ryan Hurd, Kelly Archer, Lydia Vaughan and more with production from Jay Joyce and Chris Farren and is an actual representation of various pieces of Kent’s life and the next evolution of his sound.
For the past three years, at the end of each year, Kent has put out a project as a thank you for his fans.“23 is described to be a raw record. No producer. No band. Just a man, his guitar, and wooden chair in a studio down the road from his home in Texas. Nothing to hide behind. Just one shot at a raw performance. Imperfections & all.” A collection of 9 songs for the fans that brought him this far.
2023 was an eventful year for Kent—the adventure-seeking road veteran joined Parker McCollum on tour, played multiple festivals and recently wrapped being on the road for Jason Aldean’s 42-city “Highway Desperado” tour playing in front of 15,000+ people each night. To close out the year, he headlined a slew of shows of his own.
Kent is entering 2024 with quite the momentum—officially reaching gold status with “Something’s Gonna Kill Me.” The track has over 80 million streams worldwide and is working its way up the country radio chart. He also dropped the highly anticipated song, ‘This Heart.’ Kent says, “Some songs take on a life of their own. They demand to be put out into the world. I’ve been lucky enough to experience that a time or two. But never like this…our most highly anticipated release ever and it’s not even close. You guys have waited patiently, and we promised you it would be worth the wait. Well, now this song is yours. Hope it makes you feel something.” Most recently, he released “Rust.” Kent said, “In a world full of love songs that seem hard to relate to & too good to be true, I wanted to write one that felt real; Perfectly imperfect. So I wrote Rust. Real love doesn’t quit when it gets hard. It endures. It keeps fighting. It weathers the storms.
When the shine fades & the rust sets in, it should be a badge of honor… because the love endured & that’s a love story worth singing about.”
Corey Kent finds himself musically at the intersection of rock infused country, heartland values, and red dirt grit. Still in his 20’s, he built the foundation of a fanbase, has been developing his show for 15 years, and is now positioned as one of country music’s next breakout artists nationwide. Drawing inspiration from The Eagles, Keith Richards, Turnpike Troubadours and more, Kent strives to build an undeniable stage presence as his bandana-wearing, Rock ‘N’ Roll spirit comes to life on the stage. He is set to hit the road with Ashley McBryde and Parker McCollum this year.