Rhean grew up in Virginia Beach, VA. Both parents were musical, but it was older brother Hoss Burns who became his strongest musical influence. Rhean got his first guitar at age seven and was mesmerized every time singer-songwriter Hoss played his original tunes. By the time he reached high school, Rhean was a local rock star. But by then, he was also destroying his talent.
"When I was about 13, me and my buddy each drank five wine coolers and got falling-down drunk. And that started off my drinking career. With me, a musical career couldn't co-exist with that. Drinking and drugs stole my music from me. I left home at age 17 on a bad note. Drunk. I grew my hair long, got my first tattoo and was living with a bunch of bikers, The Southern Riders. I was really not heading to a good place."
Meanwhile, Hoss Burns had become a prominent Nashville disc jockey. He invited Rhean to join him in Music City in 1989. Five years later, Rhean hit rock bottom, got sober, found Jesus, picked up his guitar again and started writing songs. He has already had his works recorded by Lee Greenwood, the Canadian band Doc Walker and others.
Rhean took a job as a security guard at Belmont University in Nashville. New arrival Marvin applied for a similar job in 1999, and the two were soon riding around in a squad car, writing songs together. A few months earlier, Jeremy had walked into choir practice at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Lebanon to find Rhean sitting in his spot. He sat down beside him, and they heard one another's voices for the first time. Then Rhean brought Marvin with him to services. They got Jeremy a security-guard job at Belmont, and the trio began rehearsing in earnest. Their first songwriting collaboration, "Carolina Rain," named the trio.
"The other day, I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame for the first time ever," says Rhean. "I stood right in the middle of the rotunda, looking all around and thinking about everything that we've been through. I was thinking, 'I can't imagine not doing this music.' It just tore me up, and I broke down."