Brothers Osborne

“We think integrity and standing up for what you believe in is very important,” Brothers Osborne guitarist John Osborne told Apple Music in 2020. “But you just learn with age that you can’t make everyone happy.” Osborne may have been talking about the lyrics to his band’s ode to self-determination, “I’m Not For Everyone”, but he could very well have been speaking to his own experiences navigating the country-music world since he and singing sibling T.J. Osborne joined forces in 2013. On albums like 2016’s Pawn Shop and 2018’s Port Saint Joe, the Maryland duo offered an arena-ready fusion of outlaw-country storytelling and Southern-rock grit whose ideological concerns were best summed up by the title of their lonesome barstool ballad “Weed, Whiskey and Willie”. But as they firmed up their place in the Nashville establishment through collaborations with modern-day stars like Dierks Bentley and legends like Brooks & Dunn, the Brothers Osborne broke ranks by lending their voices to various progressive causes, whether featuring biracial and same-sex couples in the video for their 2016 romancer “Stay a Little Longer”, speaking out in support of gun control, or stumping for Democratic Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean during the 2018 midterms. With 2020’s Skeletons, the Brothers clocked their third consecutive Top 5 debut on the Billboard country charts—proof that, if their mix of red-state musical traditions and blue-state politics isn’t for everyone, a growing number of country fans are eager to join their campaign.