Kory Brunson-Goodbye Insurance, Hello Music
by Tim Wenger
Kory Brunson is a man with a vision. His country/rock outfit has reached #76 and #63 on the National Country Radio charts in the last couple years, and things continue to look up with their upcoming release. Not everyone has the guts to throw away the luxuries and convenience of a steady job in order to dive head first into the abyss of the music world, but Brunson knew that was what needed to be done.
The group is working on a new record to follow up on recent triumphs, and Brunson is all in. “I used to run an insurance agency,” says Brunson. “About three years into that, my wife and I went to New York. It was about six months after 9/11. We went and looked at ground zero and all that stuff. It had been building up at that point anyway; I’d been doing music my whole life part time and playing in bands in high school. We were sitting at JFK and I looked at her and I go ‘Babe, I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to make music full time.’ We flew home, spent the next six to eight months shutting down the insurance agency, we sold the house, sold the truck, sold bikes, and moved in with her parents into a 10×10 room in their trailer. She worked full time, and I started making music.”
Brunson’s first release was a pop-rock album, which he says was basically more of a learning experience for him than anything else. The album did not sell much, and certainly did not turn Brunson into an overnight star. The time spent on that initial recording did, however, spawn what has become one of the Kory Brunson Band’s trademark hits, “We Know You’re Out There.”
“At the low point of all that, I wrote this song,” says Brunson. “I was sitting there waiting in the trailer, my wife was getting ready on a Saturday when we were going to go out. I watched this movie, and I was really thinking about the soldiers. I started thinking, ‘If I was over there, what would I want to hear?”
Brunson put the song together in about 20 minutes, and began sending out demos. He received an email from the choir teacher at Northglenn High School replying to his interest in having a choir on the recording. “I said ‘Great, why don’t you guys come to the studio,” says Brunson. The choir came down and recorded with him, and Brunson immediately started sending the song out.
It came into the hands of a small station called Point of Faith, 910 AM. A connection there got the song to the Program Director at KYGO, which provided some great exposure for Brunson. “All of a sudden I’m getting airtime on KYGO and I’m not even a country artist!” says Brunson. Brunson decided to carry on with more of a country style, relying heavily on the priorities of God, family, and country. As he finished the record, his newfound style and direction guided the band into the direction they are heading now.
Kory Brunson Band performed at both the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention in 2012, has done a couple appearances at Coors Field (and will be making another in July), and performed for a joint session of the Colorado Congress.
The band hopes to break down some more boundaries with their upcoming album, due out later this year. “The new guitarist has a degree in orchestration,” says Brunson. “I’m interested in how that’s going to play into the new record.” The first single released will be called “Freak.”
Additionally, the band hopes to put together some music videos. They just put out a song called “Oh Sandman, Where Art Thou?” This may sound familiar, because it is. “It’s [Metallica’s] “Enter Sandman” done in the style of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” The video is available on YouTube.
Brunson enjoys doing fun stuff like that in addition to constantly writing new music. “I think everybody is always writing because everybody is always thinking,” he says. “It’s just a matter of stopping long enough to put it on a napkin.” Fans can see what he’s up to on Facebook and pick up the band’s music on iTunes.
Despite the hard work they do, Brunson is satisfied with where he and the band are currently. “It’s cool that because of music, I get to stand out on Coors Field and I get to go to Colorado Congress and do all this cool stuff,” Brunson says. “The beauty and the gift of that have come full circle after ten years. I enjoy it.”
Online: korybrunsonband.com
Category: Local News
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