Thomas Junior Brown, known as “T.J.”, was born in the hills of Kentucky and moved to rural Florida at the tender age of 9. He grew up in a small town and played sports throughout most of his school years. “As far back as I can remember, I was singing karaoke at family reunions. I was big into country music back then.” Tim McGraw and John Michael Montgomery headed the top of his list of favorite entertainers back in the early 90’s. T.J. began writing poetry in 6th grade and got his first guitar in 10th grade which was a gift from his Uncle George, a “Samick” acoustic. Around the same time, T.J. grew more interested in Top 40 music listening to the likes of Sugar Ray and Matchbox 20. By his senior year, T.J.’s focus on sports was replaced by a love and passion of music; in part as an homage to his best friend, Richard Carl Wright, who took his own life during the end of their junior year.