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by Steve Leggett Although it’s tempting to call Brantley Gilbert a country artist -- he certainly embraces the outlaw country side of things -- in many ways his music is closer to the heartland sentiments of artists like John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, and perhaps most apt, Steve Earle. Gilbert was born in the small town of Jefferson, GA, just outside of Athens. He grew up hearing country music, but he also heard a lot of Athens rock bands like R.E.M. and the B-52's and the swaggered Southern rock of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd -- at his best, Gilbert blends all of these various strains together in his music. It was a near-fatal car accident when he was 19 years old that spurred Gilbert to give music his all, and he started writing songs in earnest, playing mostly solo acoustic gigs before forming a band that could bring his vision of a hard-stomping country/rock/soul show to fruition. Moving to Nashville, he signed with Warner Chappell Publishing (his songs have been recorded by the likes of Jason Aldean and Colt Ford) and began working toward completing an album. Modern Day Prodigal Son was slated for release in 2006 when Gilbert was abruptly dropped by his label. The album finally appeared three years later in 2009 from Average Joe's, which also released the follow-up, Halfway to Heaven, in 2010.