We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kent Dean a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kent, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I would say my current project is the most meaningful. I’m currently working in the studio to release an EP of songs that are deeply personal and also somewhat autobiographical. They get back to my roots and are some of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well that’s a loaded question. So I’m one of eleven kids, so I have 8 brothers and 2 sisters all of which have are very musically inclined thus I’ve been involved with music and the arts all my life. Around the house there was always someone singing, playing the piano or guitar, or the radio was on playing one the family’s favorite artists. Fresh out of high-school I started taking acting classes and performing in local theater productions, (my favorites were and still are musicals,) I moved to southern California to attend acting school at the Baron/Brown Acting Studio in Santa Monica and from there was afforded many opportunities- from starring in a production of the musical “Newsies” as well as several Indie feature films to performing at Disneyland and beyond.

Now I haven’t stopped acting yet and still go out for auditions so if anyone has a project call me! Still with that as a background in 2018 I felt drawn back to music and started dedicatedly writing songs and performing out in as many venues and opportunities that I could get. In what I like to call greenlights (thanks NF) the very next year I got a call from a Talent Agent in Nashville TN offering to represent me and that settled my move to Nashville and I’ve never looked back. Going to put a caveat in there though cause a lot of people will hear “talent agent!” and think that’s it– I’ve made it. That’s very definitely not the case. In 2020 COVID actually caused the agency representing me to fold and to me it felt a little like starting over. All that to say is there’s been ups and downs on the journey but there is still a long and work-heavy road to travel but so worth it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Oh definitely the creative process. Everything about it… There’s just something magical about starting out with an idea, whether that’s humming a melody into my iPhone or a lyric that pops into your head or really anything can be that spark but then taking that idea and fleshing it out into a complete song and then to take that into the studio and hearing the musicians and working with the professionals… There’s just nothing like it.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

A couple very particular words come to mind… Expression- definitely. Legacy is also part of it. But at its heart I would say it’s passion. As we all know being a creative and an artist for the vast majority of those who pursue it does not quickly make money. It’s a short-lived starry-eyed dreamer career who moves to Nashville thinking they’re going to be the next Taylor Swift or George Strait. But being fueled by passion as I am, it’s not so much about the fame or money but about following my calling, the journey fuels my passion, and the expression is unmatched in its reward. I think that’s the best I can explain it haha– It’s just something I have to do.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thekentdean.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thekentdean
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thekentdean
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/thekentdean
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYMLCdxvPnfuTVX7oC-5_zQ

Image Credits
Nathaniel Clayton