Drowning in memories with T. Graham Brown, a country song’s best friend

Come hell or high water, late 1980s country-soul song stylist T. Graham Brown runs until his feet don’t touch the ground in the first installment of his most in-depth interview. A country song’s best friend, the incomparable Brown poses in casual street clothes after performing a sold-out show at the Alapaha Station Celebration in Alapaha, Georgia, on November 13, 2010. Photography by Jeremy Roberts

How does an artist reconcile the fact that after notching 15 Top 40 country songs during an enviable 33-year career, country radio won’t play their latest record? Regrettably, that is an issue facing T. Graham Brown. Rather than cashing in his chips and becoming a stagnant oldies jukebox or settling for retirement, Brown continues to tour and record prolifically.

From the cotton fields of Arabi, Georgia, to a boulevard of fulfilled dreams on Nashville’s Music Row, the chart-topping singer had plenty of anecdotes to share in an exclusive feature, perhaps the most comprehensive interview he has ever granted.

Brown first made a name for himself in 1985, landing comfortably in the Top Ten with the soul stirrer “I Tell It like It Used to Be.” Genuine number ones followed in short order, including “Hell and High Water,” “Don’t Go to Strangers,” and the upbeat, groovin’ ode to an elusive girlfriend, “Darlene.”

Kindred spirit Tanya Tucker lent her vocals to the grandiose pop ballad, “Don’t Go Out,” in 1990. The follow-up single, “With This Ring,” originally recorded by the Platters, inexplicably signaled the singer-songwriter’s final significant hurrah on Capitol.

Ably demonstrating Brown’s propensity for the melting pot of country, soul, and rock ’n’…