Brandon Lake has made a mark in Country music, thanks to his profound, faith-based approach to music and collaboration, and his desire to connect with as many people as possible through the power of song. The “Hard Fought Hallelujah” singer joined Katie Neal earlier this year inside our Nashville studio, during the whirlwind of CMA Fest, to unpack his origin story and share how so many meaningful relationships have been forged along the way. “I just feel like a kid who's just, I'm not a kid, but I think, my spirit, I just still feel like a kid who just loves writing songs and puts them out there,” Lake says of his path into music. “God's just like breathed on them and gotten them in front of millions of people.” Growing up Lake’s family started a church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and he watched as a community formed, and as his father taught him his first chords on the guitar. “I'm one of those few people that has been a part of the church my whole life and hasn't grown bitter of it,” he adds. “My parents did it the right way, so I grew up in a Christian home and my dad had a guitar laying around and he taught me my first few chords G, C, and D, and I kind of took it from there.” Singing in the church offered Brandon something special. “I watched this thing happen that I'm still addicted to now, and it's why I've stayed in it, just when people connect with a song, especially a song that's bigger than them and gives them hope, gives them faith to keep going. I got addicted to that I think I found my calling, you know, it's like this is what I was made to do.” The stages got bigger for Brandon Lake, and so did the impact, as his mission has taken him into the sphere of Country music. “I think the ultimate dream is like, I wanna influence as many people as I possibly can with a message that I know the world desperately needs.” Lake pushes back against the perception that his recent crossovers are driven by a desire for fame, emphasizing that his partnerships with artists like Thomas Rhett, Jelly Roll, Jordan Davis, and Lainey Wilson are built on genuine friendships, describing a culture where artists reach out to him not just for professional collaboration, but for life advice regarding fatherhood, marriage, and maintaining boundaries within the industry. “I feel like that's been my goal is just to, I don't know, like be a chaplain of Country music, you know, just be a guy who's available that can listen and encourage these other artists who I look up to and who are doing it so well, and so we went in and I was like, ‘I wanna put on the biggest coolest writing camp that you know I've ever been a part of and maybe that Nashville's seen,’ and so we booked Dark Horse Studios.. and I invited everybody who I've just been running into.” To hear much more from Brandon Lake, check out the full conversation above, and this week on the 'Superstar Power Hour' on your favorite Audacy Country station.
