‘Catch of the Day’ – Kane Brown ft Lauren Alaina – “What Ifs” [AUDIO]

Today's feature pairs two high school friends, who both came to our attention performing on TV reality singing shows. One of the two made it all the way to the finals of American Idol, and the other walked off of the X Factor when he balked at their suggestion of making him a member of a "boy band".

Kane Brown auditioned for both American Idol and X-Factor after watching high school friend's success on Idol, finishing second in 2010. Brown was chosen for X-Factor following his 2013 audition, but left the show when the producer suggested placing him in a boy band. Brown decided he was going to do it on his own, and began posting cover version of popular country songs on youtube and other social media sights.  Brown's covers of Lee Brice's "I Don't Dance" garnered the singer a small following, but when he posted his version of George Strait's "Check Yes Or No" in September of 2015, he went viral, collecting over 7 million hits on his video. When Brown released his video for his first original song, "Used To Love You Sober" on October 15th of 2015, it was viewed more than a million times in it first three hours on youtube, reaching over 11 million views in less than three weeks.

The single would reach #2 on the Billboard Country Digital Singles chart in just two days of release, selling more than 38,000 copies. His second single, "Last Minute, Last Night" debuted at #9 on the digital chart, helping to push his self-produced debut EP Closer to #22 on the Country Albums chart.

Brown would sign with RCA Nashville in January of 2016, recording the EP Chapter 1, which was released in March. It would included rerecorded versions of his first two singles, and would debut at #9 on the country album chart. The EP led to Brown securing the opening spot on Florida Georgia Line's 2016 Dig Your Roots Tour. In June, the first of two singles from Brown's full-length debut album was released. "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" peaked at #19, and was followed by the release of "Thunder In The Rain" in August, which lost its early steam and peaked at #30.

For the third single from the album, Brown called on the services of his "old" high school friend, former American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina, who finished second to Scotty McCreey on the program in 2010. Alaina has finally began to gain traction in her recording career, beginning to show maturity in her song selection, picking music to compliment her power-house voice. Her most recent single, "Road Less Traveled" has become her first top-20 single, and is still climbing the Country Singles charts.

Brown and Alaina have teamed up for the third single from Brown's self-titled album. Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina with "What Ifs" is today's Catch of the Day, new music you haven't heard, but you're gonna want to hear it again.