Odenton, MD · country

Jackson Dean

1 upcoming festival →

Gravel-voiced Maryland native writing country with a dark, cinematic edge — 'Don't Come Lookin'' was just the opener.

Jackson Dean Nicholson was born in Odenton, Maryland, in 2000. At Arundel High School he played defensive end on the football team, and a video of him singing the national anthem before a game in his senior year spread widely online. After graduating he moved to Nashville to pursue music.

He wrote songs with Casey Beathard and Luke Dick and opened shows for Kane Brown, Jake Owen and Brothers Osborne before signing to Big Machine Records in 2021. His first release for the label was a self-titled EP featuring the song "Wings."

"Don't Come Lookin'" came out as his debut single in February 2022, followed the next month by his debut album, Greenbroke. The song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and appeared in an episode of Yellowstone, and Dean went on to open Brooks & Dunn's Reboot tour that year.

His second album, On the Back of My Dreams, followed in September 2024, led by the single "Heavens to Betsy." An earlier Greenbroke single, "Fearless (The Echo)," continued to climb the airplay chart into 2024.

Read more

country