Kane Brown Launches His Own Record Label, 1021 Entertainment

02/11/2021 04:39 pm EST

In addition to being one of country music's biggest rising stars, Kane Brown is now a label boss, launching his record label 1021 Entertainment as a joint venture with Sony Music Nashville, Brown's own label home. The 27-year-old discussed his new venture in an interview with Variety, sharing that the name comes from his birthday, 10/21, which he shares with manager Martha Earls.

"And it was (the date of) my first No. 1 with 'What Ifs,' and the first time I ever released music was October 21, so it kind of just became a thing," he added. Brown noted that starting his own label "wasn't something that I always wanted to do, but we just got to a point where I started finding artists online, and the only thing I could really do at the time was just refer them over to my label and hope that they get a record deal. We knew that we had a platform and I knew the people that I wanted to sign first, so I started talking to my manager and found out that we could do it as a joint venture with Sony, and we just kind of went all-in at once."

1021's first signing was the trio Restless Road, who have been friends with Brown for years and are on the bill as an opening act for his Worldwide Beautiful Tour, which played a handful of dates in early 2021 and is scheduled to resume later this year. Restless Road is composed of Colton Pack, Garrett Nichols and Zach Beeken.

"I'm really big on trying to use my social media and my fans to grow their fan base," Brown explained. "I'll be bringing them out on the road with me for all the tours that we do, getting them out in front of my audience. They've never even toured, and their first tour is going to be in front of 12,000-plus people every night. We've got my manager on the team as well, helping develop and get in front of people as well."

Brown confirmed that Restless Road is his label's only signing for now, as he wants to give them his full attention. "I just want to put all my focus behind them, and then once we break them, go for the next one," he said. On Wednesday, Feb. 10, Restless Road released its debut single, "Took One Look at Her Momma."

"I want to give people chances to succeed. With 1021 Entertainment, I feel like we have a platform and team that can mentor and build up talent in country music," Brown said in a statement. "With my own label, I want to use it as an opportunity to shape and promote artists that may not have gotten a chance otherwise, for Restless Road and others in the future."

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