Singer, songwriter and frontman Kenny Sharp stoked the R&B revival he’s been aiming to inspire in Music City over the past five years at a June 26 concert at the National Museum of African-American Music in Nashville.
Backed by his 14-piece Brown Liquor Music band, he demonstrated his charisma and star factor in a two-dozen song set that spanned two hours.
Kenny Sharp performs during a concert at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, June 26, 2025.
Sharp, who is signed to the Nashville office of Prescription Songs as a songwriter, delivered a youthful interpretation of the intersection of blues, country, folk, R&B, rock and soul. The performance invoked beloved and timeless musical spirits, pushing those in attendance to dance in joyful reverie.
“I’m in a surreal moment where I’ve embraced a unique style of music that feels like I’ve found comfort in my voice,” said Sharp, just before he took the stage.
How the Nation’s Capitol developed Sharp’s work
Sharp is a military brat whose teenage years and twenties were spent along an uptown corridor of downtown Washington, DC, along U Street in the northwest sector, once renowned as “Black Broadway.”
“Black Broadway” included jazz haunts like Bohemian Caverns, which honed the skills of a half-century of iconic talents, including Cab Calloway, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Nina Simone. Additionally, there was the Howard Theater, a hub of the all-black, Southern-touring, segregation-era Chitlin’ Circuit. James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and Motown revues featuring D.C. native Marvin Gaye, as well as The Supremes and Stevie Wonder, among many others frequently visited the venue.
“Black Broadway” is intersected by the popular hippie era- neighborhood of Adams Morgan, where acts including Jimi Hendrix often barnstormed.
Kenny Sharp performs during a concert at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, June 26, 2025.
In Sharp’s D.C. era, he was a guitar-slinging rapper who could merge Billy Joel’s style of storytelling with the lyrical work of performers such as Nas, Outkast, and Rakim.
He fused this with the influence of suit-wearing frontmen from D.C.’s legendary go-go scene, like “Bustin’ Loose” vocalist Chuck Brown and “Let Me Clear My Throat” rapper DJ Kool. These artists fronted globally acclaimed funk bands that rocked venues from cabarets and clubs to arenas and stadiums a generation ago.
How successful has Sharp been at developing his and his band’s sound and swagger? The performer recalls a moment during a Brown Liquor Music tour of Europe in 2024 when he met the father of his band’s Italian-American lead guitarist, Lorenzo Piccone.
“Lorenzo’s dad doesn’t speak a lick of English. But when he met me, he smiled, pulled out an Otis Redding record, then pointed at it and me,” Sharp said.
Kenny Sharp’s live show ‘comes in hot, tells a little story’
Of the two dozen songs Sharp performed, 10% were covers.
His education at Washington and Lee University in Southwestern Virginia inspired a folksy-styled take on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” His time in D.C. pushed him to perform Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”
The rest reflect the ambiance that Brown Liquor Music hopes to inspire. The new track “Amy” is a caustic note to a former supervisor, doused in every bit of soulful jump blues that straddle the line between R&B and classic rock.
“The Louvre” is a previously released, waltz-time crooner that oozes romantic soul.
Additionally, “Renege” is a guitar-driven tearjerker that utilizes the African-American community-beloved playing card game Spades as a metaphor for maintaining love.
The burgeoning star adds a key piece of advice he still uses regarding how to deploy his and his band’s skills in the live realm.
He recalls being mentored by Tom Goldfogle, a four-decade-long go-go artist manager, music licensor, song publisher and former president of the D.C. Chapter of the Recording Academy. He advised him to “come in hot, tell a little story and provide an emotional arc that leads people to the dance floor.”
Imagine a sonic vortex that has the potential to consistently feel like the happy place between Earth, Wind & Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, plus combining a night at Skull’s Rainbow Room with an evening on Beale Street.
Kenny Sharp performs during a concert at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, June 26, 2025.
Sharp’s stylings, craftsmanship, evolving in Nashville
The ensemble includes a four-person horn section, four female backing vocalists, two percussionists, a keyboard player, and three guitarists, all selected from the bluesy, dive-bar scene of Printer’s Alley. This area, known for its swampy soul vibe and original music, has nurtured multiple generations of successful Music City performers, including Gretchen Wilson and Eric Church.
In the studio, Sharp brings a lyrical pen sharpened by the pop-charting reach of Prescription Songs’ peerless radio and streaming legacy, alongside a long partnership with Megan Moroney’s “Tennessee Orange” co-writer, David Fanning, as well as work with world-renowned commercial hitmaker Tolan Shaw and singer-songwriter Joshua Radin.
He described his work as best when reflecting his band’s live sound via “outside of the box” methods. Those include moments like Radin removing the pop filter from the studio microphone to allow for Sharp’s raw, yet developing vocal stylings to feel and sound like something akin to “what James Brown or Sam Cooke could’ve recorded like.”
Sharp’s growing comfort in fusing numerous storied traditions is becoming increasingly evident in the brightest lights yet.
“It’s gratifying to have good and great accomplishments finally outnumber the struggles, sacrifices and challenging times in my life and career,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kenny Sharp & Brown Liquor Music’s Nashville R&B revival