Restless Road Calls Mentor Kane Brown 'A Really Nice Guy' (Exclusive)
When country trio Restless Road formed on The X Factor back in 2013, Kane Brown was originally [...]
When country trio Restless Road formed on The X Factor back in 2013, Kane Brown was originally supposed to be a part of the group, according to its members. Instead, Brown went solo and is now one of the biggest acts in country music, and he's using his star power to help his friends in Restless Road launch their own careers. Made up of Zach Beeken, Garrett Nichols and Colton Pack, Restless Road started with Beeken and Pack and original member Andrew Scholz, who was later replaced by Nichols.
Around five years after The X Factor, the trio reconnected with Brown, who they had been staying touch with after the show. "He watched us and supported us, and he would send us messages," Pack told PopCulture.com. "And then in May [2019] he reached out to me and told us a little bit of what he was wanting to do with the label and the tour, stuff like that. We were more than down to do something like that. It was super awesome. It was amazing that after all this time that he had thought of us for this opportunity."
After seeing Pack's online cover of his song "Good As You," Brown signed the trio to his label, and Restless Road released their debut self-titled EP earlier this year. The project features the group's debut single, "Take Me Home," a collaboration with Brown that was inspired by John Denver's classic "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
"We knew we needed to get into the studio and start working on an EP, and we've written hundreds of songs since we've been a band," Beeken said. "We were in the studio recording a couple of those, and last minute Kane sent us this song 'Take Me Home' and we fell in love with it immediately with just how familiar it sounded. We were like, 'Okay, and this will be a perfect opportunity for us to kind of really make this a whole full circle moment and for you to hop on the song,' and that's what he did. We couldn't be more happy with how it turned out."
Brown invited Restless Road on his Worldwide Beautiful Tour this year, and the group was able to play a handful of shows before the tour was put on pause due to the coronavirus. "It's all so crazy, just staying in touch with Kane and seeing how far he'd come. He's definitely got a strong fan base and it's just really cool to see his fans react to our music when we come out on stage," Nichols shared. "It's just a cool experience. He's a really nice guy."