Crown Royal and Kane Brown On The High Road Tour: Exclusive Interview with Kane

When you think of Nashville, country music and a shot of whiskey are likely in the forefront of that mental image. Crown Royal and Kane Brown have paired up for a second year, this time for the North American portion of Brown's The High Road Tour.

A drink is poured — Guests 21+ Enjoy Signature Crown Royal Cocktails at Kane Brown’s The High Road Tour in Nashville | BFA Images for Crown Royal // Bre Johnson

As the Official Whisky Sponsor, Crown Royal kicked off an incredible weekend in Music City with a backstage VIP event. With a signature Kane Brown cocktail in hand, VIPs age 21 and over were able to meet up with the superstar and receive exclusive merch. One of the highlights of the evening was the opportunity to pack a Crown Royal bag for the Purple Bag Project. These bags will be distributed to active military personnel around the globe.

Brown packs a bag — Country music superstar Kane Brown participates in Crown Royal’s Purple Bag Packing to support veterans | BFA Images for Crown Royal // Bre Johnson

Multi-platinum country music artist, Kane Brown, was at home in Bridgestone Arena, where he packed the stadium two nights in a row. We had a chance to catch up with the soft-spoken and genuine singer/songwriter.

Rodeo On SI: How does it feel to play Bridgestone Arena in your home state?

KB: I never thought that I'd be playing here and to do it two nights in a row is kind of surreal. It's just been fun.

Rodeo On SI: What song on The High Road is your favorite?

KB: I have so many. There's a lot of personal ones. My favorite would either be "3" or "When You Forget."

Rodeo On SI: You've done so many great collabs over the past few years, how has it felt to work with those artists and their styles?

KB: It's just fun. I'm an artist who just loves music in general. I always say I'm like a jukebox, I play whatever. It's been cool to work with artists that I love and appreciate.

Rodeo On SI: Some of our favorite collabs are the ones with your lovely wife, so we would love to hear more about that.

KB: When we started dating, we used to sing on YouTube all the time, so my fans knew she could sing and she was an artist before we met. Then "Thank God" came across the desk and it just felt like the time to get her on a song.

Rodeo On SI: What have been some of your inspirations and influences as you've grown as an artist?

KB: I would say just trying to write music that's different than what's out right now, trying to mature and grow my music as much as possible.

Rodeo On SI: These days you're balancing your family with touring, tell me a bit about that.

KB: It just hit me recently that is tough. Usually when people ask, I'm like, "It's a breeze!" I live day to day and I'm pretty laid back, but the other day it hit me that it's a tough job. Katelyn is a great mom and a great wife and we have great support all around us. Our kids are great and make it easy for us.

Rodeo On SI: Tell me a little about your partnership with Crown Royal.

KB: Crown has been an awesome partner and this is our second year together. I love everything about the military and I love everything that Crown is doing with them, from That Deserves A Crown** to the Purple Bag Project. It's all just amazing and I'm glad to be a part of it.

Rodeo On SI: What is your favorite Crown cocktail?

KB: The Signature Ranch Water.

Rodeo On SI: We're going to check it out in a bit, but tell me about the Crown Royal Rig.

KB: It's been following us around on tour and is really cool. I got to sit in it and take some pictures with it. It's totally decked out.

Rodeo On SI: We all know there is no such thing as an overnight success and when your career really caught fire on Facebook a decade ago, I know a lot of hard work had gone into it already. Tell us a little bit about the work that got you there.

KB: It was really just posting videos, finding out when I'm getting the most likes on the videos, what type of music was getting the most likes. I was posting every day, then I found out that once you have a steady following, once a week kept it growing. I just started experimenting with it until I found the formula. I was just doing it and never knew what to expect of it. It's a crazy road that I've been on to get me here.

**That Deserves a Crown with Kane Brown had thousands of entries in 2024 and Crown Royal expanded it for 2025, including military veterans, as well as those (ages 25 and up) who have donated their time to a military related charity. Two winners will be invited to a special performance with Brown this summer. Each valid nomination will also result in a $1 donation from Crown Royal to CreatiVets, a nonprofit organization that helps veterans heal through music and the arts.

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