Thanks to BRELAND, a new type of Country has officially landed in Music City with the release of his debut album Cross Country today (September 9).

The 27-year-old New Jersey native is blending his favorite genres — country, hip-hop, R&B, gospel and pop — into one with his debut record, proving that no matter where you’re from or what you like, you can enjoy this fresh new sound that’s about to dominate the music industry.

“[‘Cross Country’] was just a phrase because people kept asking me back in 2020 when I first started dropping music. People were asking me, what do you call [your music]? What is this type of music?’ I knew I wanted something clever, so I came up with the phrase ‘cross country’ and after zooming out, I realized it was definitely ‘cross country,'” BRELAND says of the name in a media session.

“I knew initially I wanted to make it the name of my debut album, but I figured it would be cool to add another layer after looking at all the places around the country I’ve lived in and moved into trying to find this sound,” he adds.

Admitting to always having a creative side, BRELAND recalls that he started putting together jingles as young as four years old. However, while attending Georgetown University, the 27-year-old took songwriting more seriously, penning one track per day until he finally had another artist record one of them.

Since releasing his platinum-certified hit “My Truck” in 2019, BRELAND quickly earned the title of being the most in-demand songwriters in Nashville, participating in writing sessions with big names like Ashley Gorley, HARDY, Sam Hunt, ERNEST, and Ryan Hurd. He is truly living up to his moniker as “The Pen Point Guard,” as the type of music he’s putting together is truly making an impact worldwide.

“There’s no higher form of flattery as a songwriter, a producer or an artist than to inspire other creatives to make things differently or to use what you’re doing as inspiration,” BRELAND tells Celeb Secrets Country reporter Juliet Schroder in a media session. “But you know, I’ve had a few up and coming artists, people who are even newer at this than me message me and say how much they love what I’m doing and that they might have been country fans, or hadn’t been country fans, and now they are. I’m watching what my music does in real time, and it’s definitely cool to see a lot of new people and people of color being brought into the genre because of it. I’m excited to be an inspiration to them.”

Co-writing all 14 songs on Cross Country, each track means something to the budding superstar. However, the one that really means the most to him is “For What It’s Worth,” as he tells Celeb Secrets that it was originally being pitched to another artist rather than used for his own project.

The more he listened to “For What It’s Worth,” BRELAND knew that it was a story he needed to share, as it detailed past relationships and mistakes that he experienced over time.

“[‘For What It’s Worth’] was just a song when we wrote it. I almost felt we needed to pitch it because I felt that there was someone in country music that would have been able to do this better than me. But the more I listened to it, the more I realized that it’s the only song on the project that I started out pitching and then eventually put on [‘Cross Country’],” he told CS. “I’ve been in relationships in the past; I’ve been the one that made a mistake or the one that attentive enough, or wasn’t able to give someone what it was that they needed; and I’m a mature enough person right now in my life to be able to look back on some of those relationships and say, ‘hey, that’s my bad and I hope you’re doing well.'”

Admitting that the song gets “more and more real” for him after each listen, BRELAND says that he’s at the point in his life where he’s able to hold himself accountable for those types of things, and he’s happy he chose to put it on the project, making it “really special.”

A true trailblazer in the world of music, Cross Country is only a taste of what’s to come from the standout talent. With the sky being the limit for the 27-year-old, BRELAND hopes that people see themselves in his story, encouraging them to go for their dreams just like he did.

“I would love for people to see themselves in my story and to recognize that we all have dreams, goals and things that we wanna pursue, and some adversity in trying to pursue it,” he says. “I would love to encourage people to go for it, because the worst case scenario in real life is rarely as bad as the worst case scenario in your mind. I’m someone that took the risk; I’ve worked in Corporate America and left a salary position to try to do music; I left my home in Atlanta at the time when I was building momentum writing songs to move to Nashville and do this. I’m someone that likes to take the risk and think outside the box, so I encourage all of the people who listen to this project to do the same or feel inspired to go out there and get after whatever that thing is.”

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of Cross Country by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @CS_Country.

You can connect with Breland by giving him a follow on Instagram at @breland.

LISTEN TO “CROSS COUNTRY” NOW:

• Juliet is the founder and executive producer/host of Celeb Secrets and Celeb Secrets Country. When not reporting on the latest news in pop culture and country music, she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, and exploring the latest fashion trends. Juliet holds a B.S. in marketing from St. John's University.

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