"I don't think I chose music, I think it chose me," says 17-year-old newcomer Kaci Brown, explaining that it all began for her at the tender age of three. "My mom said I would run around the house with a wooden spoon and diapers singing "I've Got Friends In Low Places" by Garth Brooks."
With one listen of her debut album Instigator, it's clear that Kaci has that innate star quality bestowed on very few. Not only does she have impressive pipes with extraordinary range, moving from honey-sweet whispers to rich, full bellows on gorgeous ballads but she also delivers playful, dance-infused vocals over big beats.
After winning the title of "Little Miss Texas Grand Talent" at 10 years old, Kaci performed every weekend at oprys and venues across the state, honing her skills, but it was during her first trip to Nashville for the Fan Fair CMA Music Festival that she realized where she belonged. "I couldn't enter the talent competition because I was too young and by the time I went home I was already writing my first song," remembers Kaci, who plays both piano and guitar by ear. And so that Kaci could follow her destiny, her family uprooted their lives in Texas to move to Nashville, where Kaci landed a publishing deal at just 13 years old.
When she began the songwriting process with some of the best on Nashville's Music Row, Kaci was encouraged to embrace different genres and mix up her sound from straightforward country. "At first I was like, 'I'm from Texas, I yodel!'" says Kaci with a laugh. "But country music is very structured with verse-chorus-verse, and I liked experimenting."
And that's exactly what she did. With the help of her producer and co-writer Toby Gad, Kaci created a diverse album that moves with ease from big, sweeping ballads to soulful pop. With all her talent at such a young age, Kaci has a blindingly bright future ahead-though for her it's really all about the music. "I just want to do this for the rest of my life," she says. "I'll always be involved in music."
