If not for Lauren Alaina, country music might not have a Kane Brown. The father of three reveals that it was Alaina, whom he went to school with, who encouraged him to pursue music.

“I would say the first person that inspired me to pursue music was probably my mom,” Brown tells CMT. “And then second, I would say Lauren Alaina, just being in middle school with her, and seeing what she did. And she got me to sing in chorus. I actually had a very high voice, and then out of nowhere, this happened.”

Alaina joined Brown on “What Ifs” in 2017, which also happened to be Brown’s first No. 1 hit. He recently released his The High Road album, a record that includes songs with Brad Paisley, Jelly Roll, Khalid, Marshmello, plus two songs with his wife, Katelyn Brown.

“I love putting songs out with Kate all the time,” Brown says. “I was sad whenever she would come on stage for ‘Thank God’ and then she had to get off stage. So we ended up making it where she could come out and sing three songs, and maybe more.”

It might seem ironic to some that Brown included different collaborators, with entirely different sounds, on The High Road. But to the 31-year-old, it makes perfect sense.

“I like a lot of music, and that’s probably why my album sounds like a lot of different sounds. I’m like a walking jukebox. I’ll be playing heavy metal, then playing screamo and then playing jazz. I’m just all over the place.”

The High Road is Brown’s fourth studio album he has released, and by far his favorite.

“I’m really excited about it,” Brown, who last released Different Man in 2022, says. “It’s my favorite album I’ve ever released. I’ve been working on it for two years… I would say this one’s more carefree, and a lot more thought out. I have a new studio, so I got to go in and redo things on my own time. I probably have 250 to 300 songs that are in my Dropbox. I basically just compared them all to the other ones that we wrote, and see which ones fit on the album.”

Included on The High Road is the deeply personal song, “Haunted,” which Brown sings with Jelly Roll. The song is about Brown’s own battle with depression.

“I hope it will give awareness to other people,” Brown tells American Songwriter. “One of the main things is actually talking about it. If you don’t talk about it, that’s what makes it dangerous. If nobody knows, nobody can help you.”

Brown wrote it about his own struggle, one he admits is ongoing, in spite of his success.

“The hardest thing right now is just because I’m going through it, and I have a beautiful family that I need to be here for … I’m still haunted,” admits Brown. “I still have all these crazy feelings of hurting myself and doing the worst things. Money does not solve your problems.”

Brown will embark on his The High Road Tour on March 13, joined by Scotty McCreery, Ashley Cooke, Mitchell Tenpenny and Dasha. See a track list below. Find The High Road, and all of Brown’s music and upcoming shows at KaneBrownMusic.com.