while still in high school, with james taylor as his inspiration, brown began playing solo gigs in local venues, performing country and pop cover songs. brown attended the university of west georgia, where he became a member of the zeta kappa chapter of the kappa alpha order fraternity. he was also a camp counselor at camp mikell in toccoa, georgia, and camp glisson, a united methodist summer camp and retreat center located in dahlonega, georgia.