Luke Borchelt’s pursuit of country music glory started in Anne Arundel County
Luke Borchelt used to be a rapper.
In 2016, he released the tongue-in-cheek, braggadocious “Annapolis Anthem,” an infectious hip-hop record about his hometown. His rap moniker was Airbud, a nickname he picked up on the lacrosse field at Annapolis Area Christian School thanks to the flowing blond locks that streamed out the back of his helmet.
But while the song has picked up hundreds of thousands of digital streams since its release and gave Borchelt, now 26, a semblance of local fame, he has moved on entirely from the genre to what he views as his true calling: country music.
Now, his hair is cut short beneath a camo Maryland hat. He strums a guitar instead of crafting 16-bar verses, remaking himself as a country artist who has had a rocky road to get to where he is at present – in pursuit of stardom.
His journey from rapping about “crab cakes and Old Bay and croquet and arrogance,” to making country tunes like “Every Rain” that asks if “maybe I should start going back to church, quit drinking, or maybe I’m cursed,” is one of self-discovery and healing. When Borchelt tells his story, he often starts at his lowest point – living at home, working odd jobs and wondering if he would ever be able to accomplish more.
“I graduated college in the spring of 2019 and that winter I was home living with my parents in this rock-bottom place,” he said in an interview in mid-March. “I decided I had to do something because I couldn’t just be roofing houses and building decks and landscaping for the rest of my life – it wasn’t fun.”
Borchelt was born in Annapolis and raised in Riva. An only child to Ben and Cindy Borchelt, faith was a cornerstone of his upbringing and still informs many of the decisions he makes today. His friends describe him as the type to make anyone feel welcome, a trait that has defined him since he was young. He speaks slowly and with intention, choosing his words carefully.
While Borchelt loved sports, art and other pastimes, the genesis of a music career started early when he heard a rap song for the first time. Growing up, he was allowed to watch PBS, Maryland Public Television and the Country Music Channel.
“I heard ‘This is Why I’m Hot,’ by Mims and I was like, ‘Bro, this is crazy,’” he said, chuckling.
Soon, the Annapolis Area Christian School choir member and 2015 graduate had an iPod filled with hip-hop. Of course, only the censored versions of the songshis parents monitored as he downloaded them. Or so they thought.
“When he was in middle school, we discovered a pretty large” playlist, Cindy said, before Ben interjected, “REALLY large. …”
“With explicit music on it,” she laughed. Needless to say, that didn’t go over well in the Borchelt household.
Sometime after graduating, Borchelt said he was worn thin after years of trying to make it in the hip-hop industry, ultimately deciding that he wasn’t making music for the right reasons. He decided to move back to New York City, home of King’s College, the second of two small Christian universities he attended and the one where he earned his degree. He got a job working at an up-and-coming fashion brand.
During this time, he had given up on music after releasing “Medusa,” an indie rock album under his Airbud moniker in December 2020. The most successful song from that album, “When You Wake Up,” has garnered more than 1.3 million plays on Spotify.
“I felt like I was doing music to be cool, and I wanted to feel like it was my calling, not that I was doing it just for my self [image],” he said.
He didn’t play again until the summer of 2022. Earlier that year, he had a realization, after some prayer and hard work, that he was meant for the music industry.
“I decided I was going to get serious about music,” he said. “This is what I am supposed to do with my life.”
The first step was learning guitar. Singing has always come naturally to him, as it did to his father and grandfather who also anchored their church choirs with the deep Borchelt voice. But Luke decided that it was time to challenge himself.
“I usually like to do things that come easy to me,” he said. “So, I locked myself in my room and decided I was going to figure out guitar.”
After months of work, he experienced a creative awakening.
“The songs just started pouring out,” he said.
The first song he wrote would become one of his most popular singles, “Same Old Square,” which tells the story of how he would take girls on dates by driving between four stop signs in the small Indiana town where he first attended college. That was his way of skirting the strict rules of the evangelical university.
He didn’t release this song, or any others, for a while. Borchelt said he needed to focus on his craft before introducing this side of himself to the world.
After leaving the fashion industry, he took a job with Mercy Chefs, a humanitarian organization that visits the sites of natural disasters and prepares hot meals for victims.
Craig Wishart, a Severna Park High School graduate, met Luke when they were in college. They became fast friends and worked together at the fashion brand in New York and for Mercy Chefs.
“It gave both of us a purpose,” Wishart said of working with natural disaster victims. “And I think it also showed us how good our lives are.”
Borchelt’s first trip was to a Western Kentucky town wrecked by a tornado. His group distributed lasagna, salads, vegetables and other food.
homes,” he said.”]
“They couldn’t get me to leave. I stayed for 12 days,” he said. “It’s as much my calling as music is.”
It’s not just Borchelt and his parents who believe this career is his calling. The first time Joe Putnam heard Borchelt’s music, he knew he had a star. Putnam is the co-founder and COO of Grey Area Music, a label based in Nashville. He listens to new artists for a living and has heard hundreds of burgeoning acts during his tenure as a record executive.
“We heard his music and said, ‘Holy crap, who is this guy?’” Putnam said. “The vocals are as good as the writing, and the writing is just insane.”
Borchelt signed to Grey Area and another label Droptine Music in February, and also has a songwriting deal with Sony. He currently has close to 80,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and is on a run of releasing singles that he hopes will lead to more industry attention and radio plays.
He takes occasional trips to Nashville, Los Angeles and other cities around the country where he performs at small venues for crowds that often end up begging him for one more song.
One of the Nashville executives that Borchelt has been introduced to has coined a unique name for his style of music.
“Where we’re from is such a unique place. I make music for people who grew up on the water,” Borchelt said, smiling. “One of the guys in Nashville calls my music ‘Crab Country.’”
For now, he is still based at his parents’ house in Riva. He loves where he is from and joked that he is a mainstay at Stan and Joe’s on West Street.
While he eventually decided big city life wasn’t for him, Borchelt credits his time in New York City for teaching him how to stand up for himself professionally, and also for giving him his style.
He dresses like a southern dad who does most of his shopping at Goodwill, but also knows his way around the stores in the ritzy New York neighborhood of SoHo. In his promotional photos, he wears a mix of camo sweats, a Carhartt vest and Jordans. Around his neck hangs a gold chain with a cross.
Before he could take on the country music industry, there were two other demons that Borchelt had to conquer to get himself back on track: heartbreak and alcohol.
A breakup after college “crushed him for like a year,” Ben Borchelt said.
“When he came back home after that he was not himself,” Cindy Borchelt said.
Borchelt said he coped by drinking.
“I realized that drinking was a symptom of a problem,” he said. “And the problem was that I hated myself. I felt fake and I wanted this music thing to happen for me without any hard work.”
A conversation with Garrett Atkinson, Borchelt’s engineer since his initial days recording as Airbud, helped turn things around. Atkinson encouraged him to rely on his faith.
Atkinson said the biggest change he saw in the music Borchelt made when he was known as Airbud to the music he makes now is that he doesn’t seem to be trying as hard, it just comes to him.
“The music he is making now just feels effortless,” he said. “We were sort of pushing against the grain trying to create something [with Airbud]. It was cool in the moment, but it wasn’t exactly what he was fully comfortable doing, what he fully felt like himself doing.”
Borchelt said that he will always look back fondly on his time as Airbud, and has no plans to take that music off the internet. For one, he wants the people who enjoy it to still be able to listen to it. But most important, he wants to preserve his entire journey.
“I don’t take myself too seriously, and I’m proud of [that music],” he said. “I’ll never take those songs away or stop [singing] them.”
Warren Russell, a touring guitar player and music producer, said Borchelt’s evolution from rap to indie to country was organic, never something that was consciously decided. Two years ago, the pair tried making country music.
“As it was happening, we would joke about how I’m not necessarily a country producer, but I’m making country music,” said Russell, a Severna Park High School graduate who now lives in Los Angeles.
Borchelt’s unique musical journey only added to his mystique, Putnam said.
“When he was a rapper, he sampled a lot of unique lo-fi beats and had some really cool songs,” he said. “It was just so obvious that he was smart, and he was trying to do [something] and say something.”
Jim Catino, the head of Droptine Music, has been on hand for the genesis of A-list country acts during his career, including superstars Kane Brown and Maren Morris. Borchelt has a chance to add his name to that list.
“He can be as big as any artist that’s out there right now,” Catino, a former Sony executive, said. “His music has that compelling feeling and unique identity. The first time I heard him was like the first time I heard Kane or Maren.”
For Catino, it’s impressive that Borchelt has found his niche after trying something new.
“I just always circle back to the fact that he has his identity,” he said. “And that he writes his songs by himself. That makes him [unique].”
Other local talent have helped Borchelt in recent years including Jackson Dean, the Odenton-born country artist nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award last year.
Borchelt also credits musician Earl from Yonder, an Anne Arundel County native, for letting him open for him at a show at Metropolitan Lounge in downtown Annapolis, Borchelt’s first live performance. Cindy recalled Luke earnestly asking her to help sell merch to the small crowd of local fans.
As he continues to gain momentum, Borchelt stays grounded by keeping his loved ones close.
Among those important figures is Joi Jackson, a music industry professional whom Borchelt calls his manager. Jackson sees herself as more of an adviser figure to the young Marylander.
“I would say that [Borchelt] comes from a good stock. He’s raised by incredibly wonderful people,” she said. “He doesn’t take things for granted. He listens to people’s advice. He’s just a deeply caring and considerate person.”
One of the most important things to Borchelt is staying true to the area that raised him. He grew up listening to CMT but still plays Maryland-based rapper Big Flock in the car on occasion. He has met people in the industry from every corner of the country and hopes he can be the one who gets big enough to give Maryland the shine he says it truly deserves.
Borchelt has said plenty about what he hopes to give back to others through his career, from his parents and friends to his audience. But as for what he hopes he gets out of it, the answer is simple: Borchelt wants to be the world’s biggest artist who lives on a 100-acre farm in Davidsonville and spends his time making music and pouring his resources back into Anne Arundel County.
For some, this might be a reach. For Luke Borchelt, this feels right on schedule.