Exclusive Spotlight Series: Brooks Herring

September 11, 2026 Katie Schnorrbusch Exclusives, In the News, Interviews, Spotlight Series 0

Experiences in life lead to the best songwriters, because they have the stories to tell.

Brooks Herring did not borrow his.

Chris Ramos of Sons of Lions chatted with him for The Country Note, and this one is a whole lot of life in one chair. Born in Louisiana, raised in Conway, South Carolina. Guitar at 14. Nobody in the family was in the business — brother on drums, Mama singing at church — and he started writing anyway.

Then he served.

U.S. Navy. Multiple combat deployments in support of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. That is not a bio line you toss off. That is the thing that sits under the songs. He wears IGY6 across the knuckles of his left hand — I got your six — and he means it. Holy schnikies. That is a whole person before you even get to the chorus.

He came home and kept serving. Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of South Carolina, with the idea of working with veterans coming back from combat trauma. Then Belmont for a bachelor’s in songwriting and music business. Nashville. Shows six or seven days a week. Country with blues grit and alt-rock in the elbows. Acoustic sets that get quiet. Full-band nights that do not.

“Why Me” is the one that first grabbed people. Not Country is the 2024 record that refused to stay in the box somebody else built. “How to Fix a Broken Heart” is the raw one — pain, hope, the long way back. Then “Leave a Mark,” “Running Wild,” “Before I Go.” A couple million streams of songs that sound like somebody who has actually had to put himself back together.

Offstage he is still in it. Guitars for Vets. CreatiVets. Memories of Honor, writing songs for families of the fallen. 2026 South Carolina Military Veterans Hall of Fame inductee. He has shared stages with Jamey Johnson, Chris Janson, and Rehab, and he will play a honky-tonk or a festival like both rooms matter.

Find him at brooksherringmusic.com and on the socials as Brooks Herring.

This is TCN Spotlight Series. A different artist every day. Pour something, watch the video, then come read the story.

Watch Chris Ramos chat with Brooks Herring for The Country Note here: https://youtu.be/KC0K_m7c8io

He’s @brooksherringmusic across the board.

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