There’s something about Kashus Culpepper’s voice that makes you feel like you’re sitting on a porch somewhere in Alabama, watching the sun go down and letting your mind wander back through all the moments that made you who you are. His latest single ‘Cherry Rose’ captures that feeling perfectly.
The track, a sweeping piano ballad from his upcoming debut album Act I (out January 23), is perhaps the most tender thing the Grammy Artist to Watch has released yet. It’s the kind of song that washes over you with feel good emotion, the sort that comes when you’re reminiscing about something or someone you care deeply for. Not sad, just… warm. Like flipping through old photographs and actually smiling at them.
Recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, Culpepper made that choice deliberately. “So much history between the soul giants of the world, like Aretha and Wilson Pickett, and then some of my favourite bands, like the Allman Brothers,” he explains. You can hear that heritage in every note.
Co-written with Mikky Ekko (the voice behind Rihanna’s ‘Stay’) and producer Brian Elmquist, ‘Cherry Rose’ tells stories of people “doing work, just to get by, because they have to.” It’s working class poetry delivered in that sandpaper growl that’s earned him praise from Elton John, who described him as “if Bill Withers made country music.”
The Alabama native’s journey from singing covers at barrack bonfires during his Navy deployment to selling out headline shows before formally releasing a single speaks to something genuine. When John Mayer says someone is “as good as it gets,” you pay attention.
Act I features collaborations with Sierra Ferrell and Marcus King, and judging by what we’ve heard so far, 2026 is shaping up to be Kashus Culpepper’s year. With dates alongside Eric Church and Wyatt Flores ahead, that sandpaper voice is about to reach a whole lot more ears.
