Brothers Osborne have never hidden their support for political causes or even for candidates. The country music duo have actively supported gun control reform and LGBTQ rights, and in 2018, they headlined a fundraiser for the Democratic candidate for Tennessee governor.
But on Thursday, they’ll make arguably their most high-profile political apperaance when they perform at a Kamala Harris campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, a pivotal swing state in the upcoming presidential election. “We’ve been hearing ‘shut up and sing’ for years, so we’re taking that great sage advice and are lending our singing voices in support of Kamala Harris this Thursday in Greensboro, North Carolina,” TJ Osborne tells Rolling Stone.
The Democratic nominee for president will be in attendance and is expected to address the crowd as part of her New Way Forward Tour, which kicks off Thursday and hits battleground states around the U.S. through Sunday. While Harris is in Greensboro on Thursday, her running mate Tim Walz will be campaigning in Michigan.
Made up of singer TJ and his guitarist sibling John Osborne, Brothers Osborne released their latest album, a personally and creatively liberating project informed by TJ’s decision to come out as gay and John’s struggles with mental health, last year. “A lot of things coming to light allowed us to feel more open about who we are creatively. We took that feeling into the studio with us, and it gave us a newfound sense of freedom,” John told RS then. “It wasn’t necessarily that we weren’t who we were before, but we weren’t fully who we were. And now we could just feel like we have no limitations.”
Brothers Osborne, who received a CMA Award nomination for Vocal Duo of the Year when the nominations were announced on Monday, have always subtly challenged country music fans with their music and videos. Their Grammy-winning song “Younger Me” gave a voice to those who grew up different from the norm, and as far back as 2017, they were poking fun at Donald Trump and his border wall in their “Ain’t My Fault” video. Last summer, they performed for President Biden at the White House’s Fourth of July concert.
TJ is steadfast about defining the duo’s activism as more humanitarian-focused than political. “I don’t see it as [making] a political statement. I see it as just simple right and wrong,” he told RS last year. “We grew up in a very small town, and we were raised that when we see something wrong, we speak up.”