Rising country artist, Swisher native KC Bruner to perform sold out show

When a singer-songwriter leaves for Nashville and scores a recording contract in less than two years, that's efficient. The assumption would be that the songsmith left for Music City and put every ounce of energy toward a career there.

KC Bruner left Swisher as an emerging 19-year-old songsmith in 2023 for Nashville. However, it wasn't to follow her musical dreams. Her sister relocated to the country music hub and asked if Bruner would join her.

Bruner, 21, prioritized a steady income and immediately found a 9-5 job. She became a hair stylist to follow in her mother and grandmother's footsteps.

"I had to pay rent and so I was an associate at a salon here," Bruner said while calling from her Nashville home.

Bruner worked on songs in her spare time and built a devoted following on TikTok. She earned a spot on the cover of Spotify's Fresh Finds Country playlist, which featured her catchy single, "Bigger Fool."

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That led to a deal with Nashville's Electric Feel Entertainment in September. Less than two months later, Bruner is on the road and will play her first big headliner show Saturday at the Olympic South Side Theater.

"I'm so excited," Bruner said. "I can't wait to go back home and play this show. I'm feeling the anticipation. I wish I could do it right now. But I can't believe how quickly this all happened.

When Bruner graduated high school four years ago, she left for Des Moines where she learned the hairstyling trade for 14 months. The plan she hatched with a friend in Des Moines was to relocate to Arizona and work in a salon. When that fell through, her sister hit her with the Nashville plan.

What's also remarkable was that Bruner dealt with a major health crisis not long after moving to Tennessee. After suffering from extreme shortness of breath, Bruner was diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the pericardium, the sac-like membrane that surrounds and protects the heart.

"One day I had a hard time breathing and I went to the emergency room, and I was told that I had pericarditis," Bruner said. "It took months for me to heal. It was devastating. I was doing OK and then I had a recurrence. The good news is that I'm completely healed but it took months to get back to where I was."

That lengthy ordeal makes it even more impressive that Bruner signed a deal during that short period of time. However, she hasn't been inspired to write about that dark period.

"It's still too fresh for me to go there as a songwriter," Bruner said. "That's been the hardest thing to write about. I'm not there yet."

But there is plenty of other fodder for Bruner to explore. The emerging talent is adept at crafting old school relationship tunes. Tracks like "Old Fashioned" and "Bringing Home a Cowboy" are throwback cuts. The retro sounding songs are impacted by what Bruner heard around her father's house in Swisher.

"My dad, who is a musician, played a lot of Alan Jackson and George Strait when I was growing up," Bruner said.

Bruner was schooled on solidly constructed songs with a hook and a compelling story. She learned the art of live performance by watching her father perform in clubs.

"I learned a lot by seeing my dad play in bars," Bruner said. "My dad is so good at winging it onstage. I remember when my dad heard me sing, he said, 'We should get you a guitar.’"

Bruner started playing when she was 12 years old and not long after started writing her own songs. Less than a decade later, Bruner has a deal and is hitting the road as a touring recording artist. Her father is ecstatic.

"My dad is my number one fan," Bruner said. "He's so excited about me coming back home to play."

Bruner used to return to Swisher every month, but she doesn't have the opportunity to come back often.

"It's a shame that I can't," Bruner said. "I miss my siblings. I have 7- and 9-year-old siblings that I miss and a 17-year-old brother back home. But I have so much to do here in Nashville."

Part of Bruner's Music City obligations are working as a hair stylist two days a week.

"My clients are begging me not to leave," Bruner said. "But we'll see what happens. Working in the salon is a passion of mine, but so is music, and I have to see where this goes."