Nashville’s New Duo Own Their Queer, Black, and Country Identity

The Kentucky Gentlemen Invite YOU to the “Rhinestone Revolution”

Photo Credit: Peyton Dollar

The country album of the summer has arrived.

On Rhinestone Revolution, The Kentucky Gentlemen mine the depths of their life experience as Black, queer men from the south on introspective, inspiring tracks like “Atta Boy” and “To Kill Me.” But the duo’s Derek and Brandon Campbell never stray too far from the country club dance floor, either. This project, the twin brothers’ first for Nashville-based River House Artists, features plenty of Wrangler-clad, ass-shaking numbers — most notably the steamy “Denim on Denim” and the all-inclusive “Country Hymn.” If you’re looking for some classic, heartbreak country, they’ve got you covered with “Cheap Motel” and “Hard Pill to Swallow.” The freewheeling mix of songs showcases the Gentlemen’s blood harmonies while inviting the listener into the duo’s fabulous, inclusive world, which they just brought to life last week with their joyous, sold-out Rhinestone Revolution album release party in Nashville.

The Kentucky Gentleman join me to talk about writing 400 songs in preparation for this album and their mission to create the rhinestoned country world they want to see.

(NOTE: SUBSCRIBERS CAN WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW FOLLOWING THE Q&A.)

Hunter: Brandon and Derek Campbell! The Kentucky Gentlemen, welcome and congratulations on Rhinestone Revolution! Y’all have grown so much in the four or five years since I first saw you on Instagram. I know y’all have been writing a lot, and these are all-new songs on the album. It’s just such a strong project.

Derek: Thank you so much. We’re glad you enjoyed the record, because there’s so much that went into it. Honestly, it was tough choosing those songs. We just wanted to bring the most all-encompassing version of ourselves to this record, and choosing these particular songs as a collective best reflected that. Some of the songs, like “Vintage Lover,” were written years ago. That’s been something we’ve been singing on the road for years.

Brandon: Obviously, the record showcases so many different parts of our inspirations and influences. We got questions while making the album saying, “Are these songs cohesive enough?” I was like, “What makes it cohesive is that it’s The Kentucky Gentlemen you’re hearing, and it’s authentic.” These were very important songs to us, and they just reflected every note we’ve ever heard in our lives that has inspired us. We were happy to be able to finally put all of that into one record.

Derek: The first track on the album, “To Kill Me,” really kicks off things off with us showing our roots and baring it all.

Hunter: That is such a vulnerable song. Was there back-and-forth about starting the record off with a banger? Because there are plenty of songs on the album that will fill a dance floor. “To Kill Me” really captures the fight you’re fighting every day, because it’s a tough thing to be a country singer.

Derek: For us, there was no other choice besides “To Kill Me” for the first song. There were other opinions, but we had something to say. I think people alongside us have been waiting for us to say it. It took so long to get to make this record, and “To Kill Me” is us baring it and letting everyone know that we are pushing and that we see the other side.

Hunter: I understand you’ve written 400 songs since y’all started this thing. Tell me how it works for you — showing up every day to write songs and make music?

Brandon: Yeah, honestly, our whole lives we’ve had to show up. Either we were not wanted there, just based off how we grew up and how small-town Versailles is, and who we are. It’s nice that I’m able to say what I want to say without lashing out at others. I can put that in my art. Art is one of the best forms of expression in my very biased opinion.

When we wrote “To Kill Me,” we wanted to make sure that we talked about what we actually have gone through. But when people listen to us and they see us and they see that joy — the joy isn’t a facade, and we are blessed to be able to wake up and do music every day. But it’s a difficult road to wake up every day — especially when you have obstacles in front of you, and especially when the obstacles aren’t always external. They’re even internal.

Derek: For us, it’s showing up and making music every. It’s training yourself to show up for yourself every day. That is why we’ve stuck to writing those 400 songs in 400 days. It was a way of showing up for ourselves.

Hunter: I hear that. It’s about taking those daily steps and asking yourself, “OK, what progress do I need to make today?” That showing up and doing something every day leads to a finished product — a full body of work — like Rhinestone Revolution.

It’s really exciting to me that River House in Nashville came on board to partner with you to release this project. How did they come on board and what has that relationship been like for y’all so far?

Derek: It’s actually a pretty funny story. We initially met [River House Founder and CEO] Lynn Oliver-Cline when we were auditioning to do the national anthem at a college football game. She was one of the judges, and we didn’t even win. We just introduced ourselves to her afterwards. Then about a year later, all of a sudden we kept getting these DMs from this account. We couldn’t tell exactly who it was. They just kept saying, “I’m in” and then “Come into the office. I’m in.” We were just ignoring it and not really paying attention.

Hunter: Did it seem like spam?

Derek: Yeah, it seemed like spam a little bit. Finally, we were chatting and she decided to send an introduction message, like, “Hi, I’m Lynn Oliver-Cline.” We were like, “Oh my goodness, it’s Lynn. We should respond.”

Brandon: Yeah, and then we went to the office, and she just explained how she had watched us for a year. She said, “Even if I swiped off your post, y’all always popped right back up on my feed later that day.”

She loved “Neon Cowboy,” and she was just talking about how we were unique and she saw the amount of growth we’d shown. She said, “I can tell that there’s so much passion with your visuals. There’s a creative mind a process behind what you do, and that’s not always the case.” Lynn appreciated that. So, we do appreciate that, because we had been at this for a long time, and we’d accepted that it was just gonna be us working on this forever. Then, we finally got an actual team in Nashville behind us on the label side, which is nice.

Hunter: Y’all definitely have a vision, and you’ve been honing in on it. One thing I love about your point view is that you’re always going to bring a hot song to get down to, and “Denim on Denim” really does that for me. It’s a hot one. How did it come about?

Derek: Actually, we wrote that in a room with two of our very dear friends. I’d the same room where “Neon Cowboy” was formed, and once you say that out loud, you’re like, “Oh, this is clearly a ‘Neon Cowboy’ vibe.’ We call ourselves the Neon Cowboys when we’re tighter. With “Denim on Denim,” the hook came along as we were sharing some updates from the past weekend. We started being a little scandalous and being funny with the line, “We can take it to the dance floor/We could take it to the back.” And it just went from there. We were like, “We’re messing around a little bit, but this is really fun. So, we pulled out the banjo and just started to really feel it. Andrew Capra pulled out some of these disco strings, and we started from there. When we finished the song, we truly were like, “Oh my goodness, this song turns ME on.”

Hunter: Oh yeah, and everyone wears jeans to the country club, so I’m seeing it as two guys with that line “I don’t know where I end and you begin.” It’s hot.

Brandon: That’s one of my favorite lines. I’ve always wanted to put that into a country song, and I’m glad it got put in “Denim on Denim.”

Hunter: Oh, the message is received loud and clear from the gays, honey. Now, I didn’t have much FOMO watching the posts from this year’s CMA Fest in Nashville, but I definitely had it when I watched the videos from your album release show last week in Nashville. It looked like so much fun with that whole experience you created for your fans. What world did y’all create there?

Derek: So, we did the Rhinestone Revolution Experience. We wanted to bring people into our world — How we we see it. Our ploy is to make things shiny anyway. There was so much love in that room, and we were filled to a hundred percent capacity. It was probably one of the most special nights of my life.

Brandon: It was THE most Kentucky Gentlemen. We had rhinestone mannequins.

Derek: We had a vintage thrift store vendor.

Hunter: Yeah, it looked like a Dolly Parton exhibit the way your outfits were displayed on those mannequins. I was proud.

Derek: Of course, we had fans for everyone to clap all throughout the night.

Brandon: You walked in, you got a fan. We really wanted it to feel like an experience. When people walked in, we wanted it to feel like they were inside of our worlds and our minds. As far as I can tell, that’s exactly what transpired, and we’re super-excited to put that even further through the year.

Hunter: I know when we talked about your single, “Neon Cowboy,” y’all wanted to create that inclusive country space in Nashville. So, was that release show y’all bringing that dream to fruition?

Derek: Yes, we proved that it can be done, and it can be successful. So, we’re excited for the future of that.

Hunter: Again, your work ethic. I was getting tired just looking at all the places y’all were popping up at CMA Fest.

Derek: Yeah, we had three shows on the album release date. Seven shows in seven days. We loved every second of it, but boy were we tired! It was wonderful to just celebrate at the end of the night like that at the album release show.

Hunter: You mentioned “Vintage Lover,” which is the last song on the record. For me, that’s the one that best showcases your harmony, and you save it for the very end of the record on that last note. Y’all are twins, but your voices are different. So, I’m wondering if you would describe what similarities you hear in your voices that make them blend? Also, does the fact that your voices are different make it more interesting when you sing together?

Brandon: Our voices are so different, because they not only have a different timbre, but they’re literally on different spectrums of octaves. Honestly, it seems like it would be a weakness, but it’s definitely a strong point — especially when we’re writing and sharing verses. To me, you hear our different perspectives. I feel like it really helps bring out the fact that we are two individuals who come together to make this music. It really helps that shine. Even if we’re singing the same thing, you hear both perspectives in the two different voices. But honestly, the family genetics of being twins makes it way easier for blending and all of that.

Derek: I have this weird thing where my talking voice is high, but, for some reason, my singing voice is very deep. But we've really leaned into that, and we've learned to have fun with it.

Hunter: It’s almost like you’ve switched voices, because Brandon, your speaking voice is lower than Derek’s, but when you sing, it’s the opposite. So, can y’all do vocal impressions of each other?

Brandon: We do just to make each other mad. [Laughs]

Derek: He’ll sing something [low], and I’ll look over like, “This ‘mf’er is making me fun of me right now.” Brandon likes to hold certain things out and give things certain flares that I just don’t do. I’ll admit some things I can’t do. So, sometimes when I do a very specific run and nail it, Brandon will look over at me like, “Oh, I see what you did there.”

Brandon: Also, I’m glad we’re recording this because you just admitted that you can’t do that, and I’m gonna hold on to that for something. [Laughs]

Hunter: Yes, it’s on the record!

Derek: No! Take that off the record! [Laughs]

Hunter: There are a couple more songs I want to ask you about, starting with “Country Hymn.” This song really is an invitation to that inclusive “Neon Cowboy”/Rhinestone Revolution party you’re throwing.

Brandon: Yes, that was the first song we wrote with David “Messy” Mescon, who produced most of the album. We sat down first and got to know each other for the first 30 minutes of that writing session, and then he asked, “So, what I’ll wanna do today?”

And I’m like, “Hear me out. I want to yodel, and I want the banjo to come in, and then I want a beat to drop.” Messy said, “So no more.” And he immediately did it, and I yodeled, and it came on from there.

Derek: At that point, we hadn’t figured out who was gonna help us produce this album. Working with Messy, we realized how easy it was for him to see and hear that vision. The songs would fall out of us when we were together in a room. We said, “If he can make ‘Country Hymn’ happen, we know he can make Rhinestone Revolution happen.

Brandon: He’s incredible. He plays almost 100 percent of the instruments you hear on the album. He did all of that himself, so when we say we want something, he never says no. He just does it. Even if he knows it’s gonna sound stupid or ridiculous, he at least lets us her that so we can see it didn’t work. He never says no. He’s always open to hear our creative ideas — everything that we can think up. So, that relationship just really jived.

Derek: Yeah, Messy just vibed with that “Come as you are” thing that we love so much. Just being able to write “Country Hymn” and say that with him in the room, we knew that he got us and could understand the world we’re wanting to create and what we’re wanting to put out there. Like, “If we throw down, we don’t cast any stones or give a damn about where you’ve been or where you’re from.”

It was really cool to be able to create something like that and have it resonate with people. They could see themselves in a song like “Country Hymn” when they normally wouldn’t.

Hunter: This effortless rapport you had with Messy shines through on the album, because there was never a moment where I thought, “Oh, this doesn’t quite work” or “This feels a little forced.” So, I’m hearing that easiness y’all had with Messy as a listener.

Now, I want to talk about the “cheap slut” moment on the album — “Cheap Motel.”

Brandon: We love that song, and we’ve been singing that for two years or so. It’s one of our most honky-tonk, classic country songs. It’s so fun to sing, and it’s a crowd favorite on the road.

Derek: It’s a little bit about my life, but we live and we learn to love ourselves another day.

Hunter: You have a lot of fun singing about your family on “Loose Screw,” which you can only do with folks you’ve known your whole life. You know all their business!

Derek: Yeah, that song has always been so fun kind of calling out some family members. Everyone in the audience can relate. They’ll say, “That’s exactly what my aunt is like,” and everybody’s got the cousin who’s smoking a little too much. It’s really funny to watch the reactions people have when they hear those lyrics. They just crack up like we did when we wrote it.

Hunter: The last song I want to talk about is “Attaboy.” It’s really about being able to go back and speak to your younger self that had these dreams and is now seeing some of them come true. It’s so powerful. Was writing this song like a therapy session for you?

Brandon: Yes, it was actually the first song we wrote about we officially signed our record deal, and it was a therapy session. It was just us saying, “You’re gonna be OK. I got you. It’s all gonna be OK no matter what you go through.” There were some tears shed writing that. We especially wanted to shout out our home county, Woodford County, Kentucky. That was a proud moment. I stood up taller after I wrote and recorded that.

Derek: We’re here the way we are today just trying everything we can to heal that younger little Derek and that little Brandon. I think that us being able to sit down and tell our [younger] selves, “With your fears, as valid as they are, you’re going to be OK. Everything is gonna work out. It’s gonna be tough, and it’s gonna be brutal at times, but it’s all gonna be worth it. I promise you.”

It’s just saying those things that we didn’t necessarily get to hear growing up and being very specific about it. It was a very freeing experience.

Hunter: And in 2025, young kids growing up like y’all in Kentucky or like me in Alabama need to hear those messages. It does feel like an act of defiance just really fighting for our inner children but also wanting to be an example out there for the next generation of kids who feel they don’t belong.

Derek: Yeah, it’s definitely important that we get to say that to folks, but it’s also special that we’re able to say that to folks. I think it’s just a matter of continuing to show a very real front, but also a very strong front, to keep going. The only way you can find out if it gets better is if you keep going.

Hunter: And to look fabulous while you’re doing it.

Brandon: It’s easier to deal with it all when you’re rhinestoned.

Subscribers get the full video of my interview with The Kentucky Gentlemen below….