Have Some Whiskey With Shane Profitt

Get To Know Rising Country Star Shane Profitt

Shane Profitt might still be weed-eating ditches in the hot sun if it weren’t for a life-changing encounter at a sushi restaurant in suburban Nashville.

Just the thought of eating sushi nearly made him gag, but that’s what his date wanted for dinner, so there they were. Quite unexpectedly, so was country star Chris Janson, who happened to be one of Profitt’s favorite artists. Janson not only held the door open for the couple to enter but after an extended visit ended up ushering Profitt into his own career in country music.

What are the odds, a billion to one? But Profitt says it’s a lot more than a lucky break.

“I know without a doubt it was a God thing,” says the 24-year-old rising country artist. “That’s why I wrote the song ‘Good Luck and God.’ I was put in that restaurant for a reason, and he was too that night.”

Sushi Date Night & Chris Janson

It’s a story Profitt has told many times since it happened nearly three years ago, and he’ll probably be telling it for the rest of his life. He was on a first date with a young lady and asked her what she wanted to eat. He wasn’t crazy about her suggestion but went with it anyway, and it’s a good thing he did.

“I punched in ‘sushi near me’ on my phone and I clicked on the closest sushi restaurant to where we were,” he recalls. “We get there and go to walk in and there’s Chris holding the door for us.”

Not wanting to intrude on what was obviously a family outing, Profitt waited carefully for the right moment to properly introduce himself to Janson. He eventually approached the table where Janson and his wife and manager, Kelly, were seated with their kids.

“I told him what a big fan I was and that I wrote country songs and that it would really mean the world to me if he would listen to some of my music,” Profitt says. “Kelly was sitting right beside him and said, ‘Is that a receipt you’re holding in your hand? I’ll write down my email address on it and you can send whatever songs you want. You have our word, we’ll listen to them.’

“I said, ‘Yes, ma’am, that’d be great, thank you.’ And Chris looked up at me and said “Did you say, ‘Yes ‘ma’am?’ and I said, ‘Yes sir.’ And he said, ‘I like that a lot. Pull up a chair and talk to me,’ and so I did. We sat there for over an hour. We talked about hunting, we talked about fishing, we talked about God, we talked about writing songs, country music, Merle Haggard—anything you could imagine, we talked about it.”

From his truck in the parking lot, Profitt emailed a few simple guitar-and-vocal recordings of what he thought were his best songs. Two weeks later, while cutting grass and trimming weeds on his day job with the city of Columbia, Tennessee, he felt his phone ringing in his pocket and saw Janson’s name as the incoming caller.

“He said, ‘I listened to those songs you sent my wife and I want you to do me a favor: Go find your boss and give him two weeks’ notice and come out on tour with me,’” Profitt remembers. “And I said, ‘OK,’ and that’s what I did.”

Shane Profitt, As Real As It Gets

It wasn’t just Profitt’s manners that captivated the Jansons. He has a big voice and powerful songs to match his imposing presence. Having picked up a guitar for the first time only five years ago, his uncommon talents and regular-guy personality have put him on a fast track to success.

‘I think even more so than the music, people seem to like me as a person,” says Profitt. “I’m actually no different than anybody that listens to my music. I put my boots on one foot at a time just like everybody else.”

His sly humor is another factor. His first big hit, “The Way Things Oughta Be,” takes on a serious topic but is good-natured enough that it doesn’t come off as an angry rant over what’s wrong with America these days. His “Better Off Fishin’” is an amusing kiss-off to the lesser half of a match not made in heaven.

Shane Profitt The Outdoorsman

Profitt has loved hunting and fishing since he was a kid and says crappie, ducks, and turkeys are pretty much his favorite targets. This passion for the outdoors earned him a brand ambassadorship with Federal and HEVI-Shot ammunition even more effortlessly than how he got his boots in the door in Nashville. He was talking about hunting one night between songs and a company representative came up to him afterward and said they needed to partner up. An Instagram message hours later sealed the deal.

The Hook Up with HEVI-Shot

“I was using their ammo anyway, so I really have it pretty good,” Profitt says. “They send me new products, old products, whatever I want really, and they want my input on it. And then I just make some social media posts letting people know, ‘Hey, this is the stuff,’ you know.”

This turkey season, he shot his two-bird limit by the second morning, and here’s his report:

“I killed both of mine with a 12-gauge using the Magnum Blend HEVI-Shot, and I talked my father into taking a .410 with the HEVI-Shot TSS, and that’s a deadly combination,” he says. “Most of the time with a .410 I’d want it to be within 25 yards. With this HEVI-Shot TSS, you can kill a turkey with a .410 out to 50 yards. It’s unbelievable.”

Editor’s Note: Shane Profitt has lots of cool music and videos online, including his latest single, “Whiskey With You.” Check them out, at shaneprofitt.com and on Facebook and Instagram.