Brandon Heath was 15 the first time he ever stepped foot in The Bluebird Cafe, the iconic Nashville institution that’s ignited the careers of innumerable acts like Taylor Swift, Faith Hill and Garth Brooks, among many others.
“I remember seeing these four writers in the middle of the room and them talking about going on vacation together… ‘Oh, we were in the Cayman Islands when we wrote this song, or so and so had just gone through a breakup, and she cried when we wrote this song.’ I was like — I want in that club,” Heath reflects. “That’s what originally drew me to playing music.”
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The Nashville native set out to be a professional songwriter but ended up stewarding his own songs, which eventually led to a record deal with a major Christian label. Since then, Heath has gotten the opportunity to perform at The Bluebird, and despite also having played much larger rooms throughout his tenure, the intimate in-the-round setting remains his preferred way to share music.
“That’s my personal favorite way to see music as a fan — to hear the stories behind the songs, but maybe most importantly, to see the camaraderie between the writers. Because you’re kind of getting to peek into a really special relationship,” Heath contends. “As songwriters, we’re a support system to each other. As artists, we really rely on songwriters, not only to help us find songs, but really to help us process what’s going on in our lives.”
The connection that initially captivated him at The Bluebird is one he sought to replicate when he hosted last year’s Emerging Artist Showcase at the K-LOVE Fan Awards for the first time. After he was invited to emcee the event, Heath says he asked for each artist’s contact information and intentionally spent time with each of them prior to the showcase. “I feel like people did that for me when I was starting out, and I feel like I’m in that season now where I’m still putting stuff out on my own, but also, I actually feel a burden to be a mentor,” offers Heath, who often quietly uses his talents to support organizations like Young Life, the student-focused ministry that helped the Platinum-certified artist discover his own relationship with Jesus. “I’m just trying to pass on any wisdom I’ve learned the hard way. I feel like I’m supposed to, you know?”
The established musician will return as the host of the Emerging Artist Showcase as part of the 2023 K-LOVE Fan Awards Weekend, and he once again plans to reach out to any artists in advance he doesn’t already know to ensure their time on stage together feels authentic. This year’s lineup includes Dan Bremnes, Ben Fuller, Cody Carnes, Consumed by Fire and Rachael Lampa.
Lampa actually joined Heath for a previous round — one the “Give Me Your Eyes” singer hosted for K-LOVE On Demand in his backyard last fall. “When we bought our house, the house was not great, but the backyard was beautiful. And I literally thought it would be so cool to do a concert back there,” Heath shares of his patch of land split by a stream and shaded by a canopy of trees. “So it’s always been in the back of my mind — doing some sort of night of music in the backyard.”
In addition to Lampa, the three-episode “Brandon’s Backyard” series also features Dave Barnes, Hillary Scott, Blessing Offor and Andrew Ripp, among other friends of Heath’s. He hopes to host more nights like this in his backyard in the future, but until then, he’s bringing a piece of his own green grass straight to select fans across the country on his “Brandon in the Backyard” tour April through June — a tradition he started during the pandemic that has evolved into one of the best musical experiences of his career.
There was a time, however, when the five-time GRAMMY® nominee wasn’t sure he’d ever tour again. He fulfilled his first recording contract in 2017, a pivotal year for the hitmaker. His dad passed away that September, and his first daughter, Palmer, was born in December. Already committed to spending nearly all of 2018 on the road with Big Daddy Weave, the first-time-father played more than 120 shows over the course of the next 12 months. “It was very hard on my wife,” he confesses, “because she basically raised our newborn by herself.”
Attempting to maintain professional momentum following years of chart-topping hits, high-profile tours and award wins, Heath admits, “I toured too much in 2018, and I was absolutely feeling that. I don’t know that I can point the finger at anybody other than myself. I think it was all self-inflicted and driven by fear. Fear of not providing for my family. Fear of not being able to do music anymore. Fear of failure.”
By the time his second daughter, Elliston, arrived in April 2019, Heath found himself at a crossroads. “I was mourning the loss of my father, realizing that his absence when I was a kid left a mark on me, and I didn’t want to do the same thing to my kids. So I was really considering coming off the road,” he reveals. “I think when you’re serious about what’s right for your family, nothing has to be off the table.”
While he debated moving forward independently or even simply writing songs behind-the-scenes for other artists, eventually, Heath and Siebe — his wife of almost nine years — reasoned that coming off the road completely wasn’t the answer. Instead, they decided the best solution for their family was to dial back the number of days he was away from home. It was a boundary line he drew when he opted to enter into a relationship with a new label, who proved supportive of Heath’s resolution to be present for his girls.
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Under the fresh alliance, in 2022, Heath released his first collection of new music in five years. The nine-track “Enough Already” earned the multi-Dove Award winner his sixth career No. 1 and his first chart-topper in 11 years with the quirky, tongue-in-cheek “See Me Through It.” The album also features poignant ballad “That’s Enough,” which became a catalyst in Heath’s return to artist life.
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He originally wrote “That’s Enough” for another artist. With the ink barely dry on the song, he made a spur-of-the-moment decision to perform the freshly penned track at a radio event. The radio station played his spontaneous acoustic performance on-air the next morning, and after receiving several calls from listeners in response, the station’s program director reached out to Heath and encouraged him to record it for himself. That moment tipped the scales in favor of Heath pursuing his second act as an artist and kickstarted the creative process for “Enough Already,” a collection of originals that confront Heath’s feelings of inadequacy — many of which stem from a tumultuous childhood that included his parents divorcing when he was a toddler.
The implications of their divorce really came to the forefront when his oldest daughter turned three. “It hit me that this is when my dad left. This is how old I was when he left. I always thought, ‘Oh my dad left my mom, he didn’t leave me. He just didn’t get along with my mom. But then I looked at my little girls, and I’m like, ‘He left me,’” Heath shares. “And at that point, my dad was gone. He had died.”
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Heath sought counseling to deal with the hurt and anger that ensued. “There was real sadness that he was gone and I couldn’t work it out with him. So I really needed some help — professional help — to unpack it and then to know what to do with it. To forgive my father, and to forgive myself,” he admits. “I discovered I have some pretty deep childhood wounds that still show up as an adult.”
Consistent therapy has really been beneficial for the “I’m Not Who I Was” singer. “Just because you’re in therapy doesn’t mean you’re going to be better,” Heath adds. “You have to do a lot of work. It requires brutal honesty.”
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It was his therapist, in fact, who helped him understand the complexities of forgiveness and the fact that it’s not a one-and-done ritual, but an ongoing practice. “It’s important to forgive people, but don’t think you’re just going to forgive them once and it’s done. That’s why it was presented to us through Jesus that seven times 70 times is often the way that we are going to have to forgive,” Heath offers. “It was a huge relief for me to realize I’m going to have to forgive over and over again; and that’s not only healthy, it’s normal. It’s OK. I don’t have to be so hard on myself.”
Perhaps this is one reason why the topic of forgiveness shows up so often in Heath’s songwriting. It’s a lesson he’s learning in real time. But if anything, it’s this gut-level honesty that has made him one of the genre’s best storytellers.
It’s been nearly three decades since he experienced his first songwriters’ round and found himself mesmerized as Music Row’s finest circled up at The Bluebird, but the award-winning artist hopes when it’s now his turn in the round, his stories matter. “I have people who are my age who are listening, and I am living their life, their experiences,” he offers. “So hopefully I get to remind them that God loves them, and He is still telling a great story through them.”
As for Heath’s unfolding story, in some ways, it’s coming full-circle. In other ways, it’s just beginning.
