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Brantley Gilbert’s ‘SmallTown’ Is A Classic ‘Breakup’ Song

Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell’s song, “What Happens in a Small Town,” was written by Brantley and is about not being able to escape the memory of your ex- when…

Brantley Gilbert's 'SmallTown' Helped Him Cope
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Brantley Gilbert and Lindsay Ell’s song, “What Happens in a Small Town,” was written by Brantley and is about not being able to escape the memory of your ex- when you break up in a small town.

As Gilbert says, he and his wife Amber endured a breakup before they got married, which inspired songs like this one. He said, “You write songs about it and it’s like you relive it every time.”

He continued, "But I did find that a lot of, even the sad ones about breakups when it came to Amber, it kind of helped. Every time I play it you kinda cope with it a little different and a little more and you have to fight through it to get through a show, so then you just figure out how to fight through it and get through life.”

The good news is that any emotions Brantley relied on to write “What Happens in a Small Town,” are all in the past. These days, he and Amber are happily married and expecting their second child, a little girl, this fall.

Gilbert kicks off his "Not Like Us" Tour in June in Cincinnati.

-Nancy Brooks

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.