While a student at the University of Kentucky, he would ride around town with the songs of Tim McGraw blaring from his truck and fall headfirst into the luscious lyrics of Keith Urban in his dorm room.
Now, Nashville recording artist and Taylorsville native J.D. Shelburne will play on the same stage as both of them.
He still can’t believe it.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Shelburne says, his voice showing his excitement over his upcoming spot in the lineup of the Hometown Rising Country Music & Bourbon Festival lineup. “I always loved both Tim McGraw and Keith Urban’s individual sound and, more importantly, their charisma. I mean, they are two guys I have looked up to my whole life.
“I’ve been chasing my music dreams for over a decade now, and without them even knowing, they have shown me how to keep a level head and how you always need to keep grinding, no matter what.”
The inaugural Hometown Rising Country Music & Bourbon Festival will make its much-anticipated debut in Louisville on Sept. 14 and 15 at the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center. More than 30 artists will play on three stages—including two side-by-side main stages—over the course of the weekend.
“I first got wind of the event about a year and a half ago,” Shelburne says. “I had no idea who would sign on to play, but I just knew I wanted to be there.” The festival also will include performances from country music powerhouses Luke Bryan, Little Big Town and Kentucky’s own Dwight Yoakam.
Shelburne’s burning love for the state of Kentucky has been a common thread throughout his entire music career.
“Everyone knows how partial I am to Kentucky,” says Shelburne, who recently performed in his home state as part of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400, presented by Walmart on July 13 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. “The best people I have ever met have come from Kentucky. My hometown of Taylorsville specifically gave me the platform to tell my story from the very beginning.”
That story is one of perseverance, strength and a will to continue pursuing a dream that began when he found an old guitar in his grandmother’s home following her death in 2002.
“I was raised on a tobacco farm, just outside of Louisville,” Shelburne recounts. “When I was 19, I found a guitar in my grandmother’s home—a guitar I never even knew she had. I taught myself how to play it, and I began writing and singing songs. By college, I started playing gigs at local bars in Louisville and Lexington.”
And before he knew it, he was on his way.
“It’s been a crazy ride,” says Shelburne, who moved to Nashville in 2008. “Its amazing that I picked up a guitar, and here we are. I had no music in my blood growing up. I started from the bottom. And now I get to do it for a living.”
It hasn’t always been easy, though. Shelburne’s first shows were in Kentucky churches and pizza joints. But those days are now far behind him. In 2018 alone, Shelburne played more than 200 shows. Singles such as “She Keeps Me Up Nights” and “One Less Girl” from his album Two Lane Town have gone far in raising his star power nationally.
“I had a hometown show back in Taylorsville when the album came out last year, and thousands of fans came out,” Shelburne says. “I used to get excited if 100 people showed up to a show.”
Working on the album with veteran Nashville songwriters such as Mark Nesler, Marty Dodson and Carson Chamberlain has brought a new sense of life into Shelburne’s music.
“I’ve been playing so many shows in recent years, and each show brings in more fans,” says Shelburne, who has a regular weekend gig at Blake Shelton’s Ole Red bar in Nashville.
“It’s so hard to break through these days from a national standpoint, but there is no reason to feel bad for me,” Shelburne says with a laugh. “I’m actually playing music for a living. It pays my mortgage and my car payment and, yes, I make more money making music than a 40-hour job I just wasn’t made to stay in.”
Of course, Shelburne’s career has also experienced new heights thanks to social media, something that wasn’t around when he was just getting started.
“I think people truly gravitate to my story because it’s really been done in a true grassroots sort of way,” says Shelburne, who through the years has performed with more than 50 national acts, including Craig Morgan, Jamey Johnson, Kellie Pickler, Steve Wariner and Clay Walker. “Whether its Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, social media has allowed me to talk to my fans one on one. I do all my social media myself. I mean, I have 100 percent control of all of that.”
He pauses for a moment.
“All of the encouragement I get from my fans on social media really motivates me to keep going,” he says.
Shelburne shows no signs of slowing down. The vocal powerhouse has a new album in the works for next year and has a song on the next album that delves into his love for his beloved home state.
“It’s called ‘Straight from Kentucky’ and, gosh, I would love to play it at Hometown Rising,” Shelburne says of the festival, which also includes bourbon tastings and workshops for fans ages 21 and over. “I know that audience in particular is going to get what I am talking about. They know why I love it so much.”
Even today, as his career continues to skyrocket, Shelburne makes sure to spend time in his home state—uninterrupted time where he can reflect on all that has been and all that there is to come.
“This past week, I got to spend time with my parents at the family farm, and there is just no explaining what that kind of peace and quiet feels like,” Shelburne says quietly. “Mom and Dad cook straight from the garden, and I go to the gas station and know the guys who work there …”
His voice trails off.
“It ain’t Nashville,” he says. “Life slows down for a little bit in a small town, you know? There’s no place quite like Kentucky.”
IF YOU GO:
Sept. 14-15
Hometown Rising Country Music & Bourbon Festival
Kentucky Exposition Center Louisville