JD SHELBURNE

In 2021 alone, he has opened for ZZ Top, entered the iTunes Country Top Ten, drawn thousands of fans to a hometown show that made national news, and resumed one of music’s busiest tour schedules. Then, to top it all off, he has released his best album to date, Straight From Kentucky, a project People called “an all-encompassing look into the heart and soul of the kid that grew up on a tobacco farm loving country music.”

It’s a year that has turned him from regional powerhouse to one of music’s fastest-rising national stars, an explosion of popularity with its roots in the uncertainties of 2020.

“I’m so glad I was able to use 2020 to regroup, to engage almost daily with my fans online, and to write and record music I’m really proud of,” says the native of Taylorsville, Kentucky. “That let us hit 2021 full-tilt.”