Progressive American country singer/songwriter Kyle Jennings broke into the independent music scene in the fall of 2004 when his debut album “SHINE” was released on Dark Horse Records Nashville. Out of the box Jennings music made an aggressive first impression likely due to his cross-genre musical influences by bands like Journey, Bon Jovi, and Matchbox 20. Poignant lyrical composition, powerful vocals, and dynamic production have become signature since early on in Jennings’s work. Originally a Michigan native; Jennings planted roots in Nashville in 2002 after a successful amateur career as a hockey player. Once seated in Music City Jennings teamed up with Steel Guitar giant Bruce Bouton (Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Reba McIntyre) to record his first independent album. The album was named after the title track, a song written and recorded by the late Waylon Jennings that was originally released in 1981.
Prior to the market release of “SHINE”, Jennings label released “You Can Hear The Ryman Cry” to regional Southwest Michigan radio for test marketing. The song was aired on numerous stations including Clear Channel’s country mega-station WBCT B93 (Grand Rapids, MI) and received a 90% approval rating by the listener market and spent 2 straight weeks topping local country station WNWN WIN 98.5’s nightly Top 5 at 9. The song received similar success in various other regional markets and became Jennings first identifiable piece of work.
On February 2, 2005 Jennings kicked off his first tour by debuting the first concert date in his hometown of Kalamazoo, MI and performing to a sold-out attendance of 1500+ at the historic State Theatre. The performance was Jennings first sell-out as a headliner. After the show, Allegan Country Fair Manager/Director of Entertainment Terry Bonnell, who was in attendance that night met Jennings backstage and offered him the opening slot for the up-coming Hank Williams Jr. concert scheduled for September of that year. The concert was a massive success and one of the most anticipated in Allegan Fair history.
By the end of his first independent tour Jennings had established himself as an unpredictable high-energy live performer. Often incorporating select cover tunes in his live performances; Jennings commonly pays homage to many of his musical influences throughout the course of his shows.
In 2005 Jennings received worldwide songwriting recognition when “Can I Run In The Dark (and Still Walk In the Light)”; a solo-write by Jennings off the record “SHINE” was selected as one of thirteen finalists in the International Songwriting Competition. The annual competition commonly receives over 15,000 entries per year.
In the summer 2006, after significant regional success and a year and a half of touring, Jennings was invited to perform at Clear Channel Radio’s WBCT’s (Grand Rapids, MI) annual “Birthday Bash” summer concert event. On Saturday June 17th Jennings and his band opened up the 2-day festival at Ionia Fairgrounds to an estimated attendance of 80,000+ screaming country fans.
By the fall of 2006, Jennings took as job as a new front man for the house band at the largest indoor live music venue in the Southeast, Wild Bill’s Atlanta. (Indoor capacity over 5,000) Jennings moved to Atlanta and spent 6 months performing at Wild Bill’s and writing new material for an up-coming album. In June of 2007 Jennings re-located back to Nashville and began work recording his album “Long Black Cadillac”.
For his second independent effort Jennings teamed up with friend and bandmate/guitarist Kevin Post to collaborate on producing of what would come to be titled “Long Black Cadillac”. Once again Jennings turned out a loud, explosive, rambunctious new project, which also included some traditionally rootsy and even folk-like overtones. Jennings also introduced a softer side on the tracks “Where You’ll Find Me” and in the cover “Whatever It Is”, a song Jennings cut prior to it’s national release by the Zac Brown Band.
“Long Black Cadillac”, the kick-off and title-track to Jennings second project was written by Jennings and Post as an album cap after the two wanted a heavily guitar-based anthem to finish out the project. With one recording session remaining the two sat down to write it. The song was composed and originally recorded without lyrics or a title and was finished by Jennings while Post was on tour performing with national country artist Terri Clark. When Post returned from the road Jennings introduced the new lyrics and the two took their completed song into the studio and recorded a two-take vocal of the song. The song was released independently to radio in the spring of ’08 and with little promotion was added by 5 major-market reporting stations and over 100 small market stations in the US all as an independent release. It posted a 35-1 record against major releases in new song radio war contests across the US, and regularly beat out 1 songs “In Color” by Jamey Johnson, “Back When I Knew It All” by Montgomery Gentry, and “That Song In My Head” by Julianne Hough losing only once to Kenny Chesney’s “Better As A Memory”.
Jennings music is honest and sincere. Covering an array of topics from faith, life, love, and loss Jennings candid “heart on his sleeve” approach to his writing proves he’s not afraid of getting his hands dirty when it comes to sensitive and/or controversial issues. He currently tours the US both acoustically and with his band, and since 2002 he has performed over 700 shows in the US in venues ranging from the honky tonk circuit, to fairs and festivals, and various live music venues coast to coast.
Jennings continues to constantly write and record new material. A new project is currently underway, although there is no talk of a scheduled release date in the near future. Once it is released it’s safe to say from his past work that it will be one worth getting your hands on.
