MICHAEL WARREN

Michael Warren’s unwavering quest for country music stardom will take him through America’s small and college towns, where he will unquestionably bring new fans into the genre he’s loved since he was a kid growing up outside of Birmingham, AL.

His four-song EP What's Country To You, recorded in Nashville, TN reflects his ability to channel his love of “Southern things” – “faith, family, friends, Bass Pro Shop, football, barbecue, hard work” — into songs that are as danceable in a honky tonk bar as on a Spring Break mix tape.

Warren says, "With culture finally seeing that country music is not only meant to be inclusive but our differences celebrated, I love asking this question: ‘What’s country to you?’ Like life, love and art, country music means a little something different to us all. This fall I'll get to release this EP and play it live, and ask that question to fans everywhere — maybe even bringing some love to the world as I do it."

These are not R&B songs that err in the direction of country music via instrumental or production choices. Instead, these are veritable country songs that bear the ability to translate the soulful flourishes from contemporary influences like Jason Aldean, John Mayer, and Rascal Flatts.

Warren reimagines these influences from a perspective that intermingles his unique personal experiences from an upbringing that exposed him to equal parts Southern rap icons like Master P, to classics like James Taylor, Bob Marley, and Garth Brooks (who led him to the acoustic guitar). 

His tastes haven’t deviated much as an adult. His proudly Southern, guitar-loving, rock-ready music fits effortlessly alongside contemporary country artists like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, and Darius Rucker.

After playing more than 200 shows a year for almost a decade and writing songs in Los Angeles for A-listers like Jennifer Lopez and Akon, he found his way back to his home along the Interstate 65 corridor where it all started for him, where he splits time between Birmingham and Nashville.

“For almost a decade I’ve been telling smalltown stories through a blend of country, pop, and R&B in venues ranging from small clubs to being in front of thousands opening for massive talents like Lauren Alaina, Jake Owen, and Zac Brown,” he says. “When people hear my music, I want them to feel like everything is going to be OK. Because it is.”