Welcome to Brownsville: How Will Brown Turned Gospel Roots into Pop Gold

On a sunny London morning, American singer / songwriter Will Brown is talking about Kansas.

Not in the nostalgic, rose-tinted way artists sometimes romanticise where they’re from – but as a starting point. The son of a preacher, Brown spent his formative years criss-crossing America on church tours, singing gospel in front of congregations before he was old enough to fully understand the power of the voice he was carrying. Music wasn’t a career path back then. It was devotion. Discipline. Community. It was a calling.

Those early years – highways, hymnals, and hard wooden pews – built the foundation of a performer who learned quickly that a song means nothing if it doesn’t move someone. But somewhere between those gospel harmonies and the wide open skies of the Midwest, Brown began to feel another pull. One that sounded less like tradition and more like possibility.

Now based in London, he’s channelled that upbringing into something brighter, bolder, and unmistakably his own. His breakthrough single ‘Golden’ announced him as a pop-soul force with stadium-sized instincts and a preacher’s conviction, while his forthcoming EP ‘Welcome To Brownsville’ (out April 17th) feels like both a homecoming and a reinvention. The gospel influence still shimmers in his phrasing and emotional delivery – but this is pop music with ambition, polish and pulse.

What makes Brown compelling isn’t just the journey from church tours to sold-out shows. It’s the refusal to let his beginnings define his limits. For him, pop wasn’t a departure from who he was – it was the clearest expression of it. And in chasing that clarity across continents, he didn’t abandon his roots. He transformed them.

This is the story of an artist who found himself not by escaping where he started, but by daring to dream far beyond it…

You grew up in Kansas as the son of a preacher, travelling across America singing gospel on church tours – what’s your earliest musical memory from that time?

My earliest musical memory? Wow… this is going to take me back! Okay, so I would say, it was the day I did my first ever solo vocal performance. I was 7 years old, it was in a small, store front church, and I promise you, I will never forget it. I sang a song called ‘No Greater Love’, and part way through the performance I felt what we call the ‘Holy Spirit’ wash over me. Tears started falling down my face, I was so overwhelmed. In the moment I didn’t know what it was, but I soon learned it was the power of God. I remember once I’d finished singing going back to my seat, and my Mum hugging me and telling me everything was going to be okay, and I believed her. The feeling I had that day awakened something in me, and I knew from that moment on I had to keep singing.

How did growing up in the church shape you not just as a singer, but as a storyteller?

For a lot of people who attend church, the musical part of a service is all about emotion! So when you’re singing in front of a congregation, every word, and every lyric you sing, has to have a meaning behind it. I remember when I first started performing, I used to just stand there and hardly move… I was very bland (laughs). So I used to rehearse at home with my Mum, who was amazing. She taught me how to really use my body and navigate my way around the stage. She would also talk through the meaning of various songs with me, and encourage me to feel the lyrics and the messages on a personal level, so that I was then able to convey that emotion to anybody listening in a very real, and tangible way. I owe my Mum a lot, I really do. 

Gospel music is all about emotion and connection – what lessons from those church tours do you still carry onto stages today?

I know it might sound crazy to some… to always sing with your eyes open, because that way you’re always able to see what people are connecting with. You never know what will resonate with an audience, it could be a lyric, or it could be a melody, so being aware and keeping in tune with their standing on things, allows you to then moderate the vocal emotion you’re expressing moment to moment, song to song. As a performer, you can’t ever be afraid to tap into the emotion of a song, whether that be happy, joyful or sad – you have to be expressive and tell stories; I feel I really learnt how to do that by watching my Dad. 

Do you ever feel like that upbringing gave you a kind of “performance training” from a young age?

I wouldn’t necessarily call it “performance training”, but growing up in that environment definitely taught me how to deal with the real word. Despite what some may think, a church isn’t a place where all these perfect people come together to live in perfect harmony – it’s way more complicated than that (laughs). I always say a church is a bit like a hospital, made up of all these different types of characters, dealing with different issues, and it’s up to us as a community to lead with love and be there for one another. Scripture says “with loving kindness i have drawn you”, and that’s how I aim to live my life.

Was there ever a moment when you realised your path might go beyond gospel and into something more mainstream?

Most definitely. From a very young age I knew in my heart that I wanted to make pop and R&B sounding records, even though I was only introduced to those two genres later in life. Gospel was my first introduction to music, but I was aware there were other styles and sounds to explore; the problem was, I knew that if I said that out loud, my family would encourage me not to… which is fine and I understand their reasons why. What were their reasons? Well, and I can only speak from personal experience here, I think it’s important to make that clear… growing up I saw that a lot of people in the church weren’t always able to digest more contemporary styles of music, because they couldn’t quite handle hearing authentic stories told from an individuals perspective. In church, we live between four walls, and the messages bouncing off those walls are ones of spreading love, leading with love, having zero tolerance for hate, being a good person and loving thy neighbour as thyself. All important and timely messages right? But at a certain point, you have to learn how to step outside of those four walls, and share that same energy with the rest of world without trying to push a certain religion, or belief system onto people. You just have to be open to love and accept what love really looks like, in all of its forms. I love and respect my church, but I had to step away from the place I grew up because I knew that the gift God had placed in me, was bigger than the church, because my messaging wouldn’t have fit just in the church. 

Were there any artists who helped you bridge that gap between gospel and pop-soul?

Whitney Houston for sure – she’s like the blueprint! And also artists like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin… basically just all of those wonderful soul singers who we know grew up singing, and learning their craft in the church. They are my vocal inspirations, now and always. I also have to give props to Bebe and CeCe Winans, because they really paved the way for artists like me in the sense that they were able to crossover, and make records that worked both in and out of the church – which is not an easy thing to do! As songwriters, producers, vocalists and performers, Bebe and CeCe found a way to strike that balance between a song being worldly and inspirational. They never strayed too far away from that quintessential gospel sound, but instead of following the same old formulas and production styles, they incorporated pop beats and contemporary lyrics that spoke to a wealth of different people. 

Even in your more pop-leaning tracks, you can still hear the gospel influence. Is that something you consciously lean into, or is it just in your DNA?

It’s just in my DNA. When I first started out in this industry, it was very hard for me to find my artistic identity, and I would often say to the producers I was working with: “please tell me when to pull back on my vibrato and relax a little bit” because I felt that if I were to approach every song as a gospel singer… that would be exhausting, for me and for the people (laughs). That said, I don’t ever want to hold back too much, because I want to give people the tools to feel what they need to feel, and I believe gospel music has the power to do that. How would I define gospel music? Gospel fundamentally means “the spreading of good news”, and I guess I can’t explain or define it any clearer than that. It’s a vessel to spread hope and joy, which is what I hope to do with my music. The great thing about being an artist is that you can be more than one thing though, and it’s important to me to express all sides of my character and personality, I don’t ever want to be boxed in or told I can’t be something just because of my upbringing and background.

What inspired the move from Kansas to London, and how has the city influenced your sound?

My love for British pop music – it’s as simple as that! Back in Kansas I was working at a law firm as a legal analyst, living that Corporate America life (laughs), which I guess was fine for a time, but it wasn’t lighting a fire in me like singing did. Throughout my working day I would always listen to music on YouTube, and get inspired by all of these amazing artists and creatives. One time I saw this clip of Lianne La Havas and it was like nothing I’d ever heard before! We weren’t really hearing music like that in America at that time, so it felt super exciting and new. From there I fell in love with artists like Adele, VV Brown, and then Sam Smith dropped ‘Stay With Me’ and it was at that moment that I said: “I think I want to move to London to make pop music.”

Do you think being slightly removed from your roots – geographically – has helped you reflect on them creatively?

In terms of honing in on my vision, and realising who I want to be as an artist, I’d say so yes. Like I said before, gospel music is a part of my DNA, and always will be, but now working in the pop genre, I can be more of who I want to be. So much of the music that comes out of London is rooted in storytelling and truth. Artists aren’t afraid to be vulnerable in their lyrics or share a piece of their soul. Songs have substance, they’re not out and out bubblegum pop or written and produced just to cater to radio, and I love that. I don’t want to be an artist who is forever chasing trends or here today and gone tomorrow, I want to experience and enjoy longevity in my career – being based in London has allowed me to connect with the right people who can help me to do that, I don’t think that would have been the case had I stayed in in America. In America, had I tried to do pop music, people would have tried to categorised me as an R&B church singer, and I don’t want to be that, I want to be me. Living in London allows me to be me.

Will Brown – Golden

‘Golden’ feels like a real statement track – did you know you had something special when you wrote it?

Now I’m not trying to sound cocky here, but I 100% knew there was something about this song that felt special right out of the gate! I’d reached a point where I wanted to change things up. I remember after the release of ‘Better Man’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ saying to my team that the time felt right, and that I needed my next single to be an out and out pop record. Because I’d been researching and listening to different styles of music for some time, I soon found the sound I wanted, so then it became about creating the story I wanted to tell.

You collaborated with Ash Howes on the track, what was it like working with him?

It was amazing. Before going into the writing session he actually with hit me up to talk through some ideas, and from there he created three different backing tracks for me to listen to. He played me the first one, and I’m telling you, my insides started jumping! I was so happy and excited… but I tried not to let that show right away as I didn’t want to influence him. We both agreed the first was the strongest and from there I was happy to just go with the flow and let things happen organically, because then you know whatever you’re creating is coming from the divine. As I’m sitting on the couch writing the song I envisioned this scene in my head, where I saw this couple who are drunk, and in love, but they’re arguing! Their friends are getting involved, and telling them to sort their problems out… that’s when the lyric: “say you don’t call when you’re drunk in love / I don’t think that I’m drunk enough” came to me, and I promise you, within two hours we had the song written, I recorded the demo, and I told my team: “this is my next single!” Conversations that followed were super positive, but I do remember saying to the marketing team: “as much as I love this song, I know it’s not for radio; they are not going to play this song on the radio.”

Getting play-listed on BBC Radio 2 and earning praise from Scott Mills must have been pretty surreal then…

So surreal! I’m super grateful for the support I’ve had from them!

Did the success of ‘Golden’ change your confidence as an artist?

It gave me the biggest confidence boost; it really did! But it’s equally important to remember that you can’t rely on external influences to make you feel good. For me to be able to thrive in this business, it’s vital I have confidence in myself, and a belief that whatever I create and present to the world is enough, before it’s put out into the world. I remember a member of my team asking if they could send a rough cut of ‘Golden’ out to a couple of people and without hesitation I said “no” because I didn’t want that fire and excitement that I had about the record to be spoiled or watered down. I had to get to a place where it didn’t matter if nobody else liked it, because then I knew whatever the outcome, I’d still be happy with what we produced. Eventually I said: “go ahead and send it!” Next thing you know, being played and playlisted on Radio 2! It was a big lesson for me in realising the importance of trusting yourself, and remembering what you have is enough. 

Your new EP ‘Welcome To Brownsville’ is set to be released in April, the title of which feels personal – what does ‘Brownsville’represent to you?

Brownsville is a space I created in 2008 as a way for me to escape. It’s a place that people like me can retreat to whilst they are in the stage of rebuilding themselves. I think we all arrive at a point in our lives where we want to overcome past issues, and be better versions of ourselves right? Sometimes in order to be able to do that, we need a little bit of help and a little bit of support from a community. Because even though you have put in all the work to transform your life, there’s something to be said for having a guiding hand to help propel you forward, and a voice that says: “you got this, you can do this!” So I wanted to create safe space for people to retreat to when life feels a little bit too heavy. In 2008 I had given up on music, because after trying for so many years all I heard was: “no, no, no.” Nothing I was doing was connecting. But still, I would be sitting there at work and have all these melodies and song ideas swimming around in my head. I tried my best to push them aside until one day I finally allowed everything I’d been holding back to come to light. I went out to my car on my lunch break where I kept my writing journal, and I put pen to paper and wrote what was in my heart. I never considered myself to be a songwriter, and I was confused about what I saw on the page staring back at me, because I couldn’t relate to the words I was reading because they weren’t describing situations I’d be in. But sure enough, a few months later I found myself going through the exact same situations I’d been writing about. The song actually  became an apology to myself. Being in that creative space felt very special. In the days and weeks that followed I found myself daydreaming constantly about this fictional place called ‘Brownsville’ that I knew I had to bring to life. The EP is me welcoming my audience onto that world. 

If listeners take anything away from this music, what do you hope it is?

A sense of hope, healing and help.

What does success look like for you now?

Success to me is when someone tells me a song or a lyric of mine has touched them, or helped them navigate a difficult situation in some way. Or that my live show has resonated with them and helped them to move forward. Hearing that means I’ve succeeded in doing what I set out to do when embarking on my musical career, and that is to inspire and give people hope. Also, if I’m being really honest, success would be a sold out arena tour! Playing sold out shows, opening up for a big artist, headlining my own tour, building the Brownsville community and having beautifully broken, healing people coming together wanting to be better human beings… that would be success to me.

If you could go back and give your younger self – travelling on those church tours – one piece of advice, what would it be?

You are enough. What you have was uniquely created specifically for you. You’re not here to be anyone else but yourself. Yeah… you’re are enough little one, flaws and all.

With everything building right now, what feels like the biggest turning point in your story so far?

This may sound small to people, but having my song played for the first time on Radio 2 – that was huge!

And finally – what do you want your future to look?

Honestly, I want to be one of the biggest pop / soul singers in the world! And more than that, I want to be an artist that inspires and empowers people to be better. I want the Brownsville community to continue to grow, and have our members move with purpose, and to go out into the world and change the lives of people around them for the better. I know we can do that… I always say to my supports, please take whatever I give to give to you, and pay that back to your community, that way we truly can make the world a better place.

Will Brown’s new single ‘Scars And Glory’ is available to download / stream here

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