In Kent Jenkins' music, there’s a little bit of all the diverse musical and cultural experiences that brought him from the nation’s capital to Nashville.   

“I grew up in the city and the country at the same time,” Kent says. “My family lived in a rural area south of Washington, but every day I drove into town for school. On that long commute, I listened to all kinds of music: country, rock, soul, bluegrass, – everything. I want my songs to have all of that inside and to capture the fun I have making them.”

Kent found his way to the stage early on, acting professionally at Washington's famed Ford's Theater and Shakespeare Theater by sixth grade. But a year later he joined his first band, and he was hooked. The group did classic rock – Zeppelin, Skynyrd, Petty – and before long was playing everywhere from biker bars to a July 4th concert for a crowd of 10,000. By the time he graduated from high school, his band had been named Fan Favorite by Washington's most respected professional music association and he had recorded a solo country EP, winning nominations for Best Debut Recording and Best Country Vocalist.

Kent came to Nashville in 2015 when he was accepted into the prestigious songwriting program at Belmont University, where he's a senior. At Belmont, he's also fallen in love with the recording process. "There's nothing like playing for a crowd," Kent says. "But I love everything about creating a new song - starting with the right phrase or idea, hammering out a melody and lyrics, delivering the vocal, arranging and playing the instruments, and mixing a final product that sounds the way it ought to sound."  

On original tracks like Good As Old and Neck of the Woods, Kent does everything himself, singing, playing and recording in his home studio. "It's kind of crazy that you can do it all, from start to finish, without leaving the house," he says."But you can put just about everything you need to make music in your bedroom - except the crowd!" 

If you want to hear more, join Kent’s mailing list and follow him on social media. He’d love to say hello at a show somewhere around town.