If your ideal playlist sits somewhere between a Jack Johnson afternoon and a Kenny Chesney sunset, Kurt Stevens has your new favorite three minutes. The rising Nashville-by-way-of-Vero-Beach singer-songwriter just dropped “The Rain,” a sun-warmed single that turns a near-ruined surf session into a quiet little life lesson.

Written by Stevens alongside John Frank and Tom Pino, “The Rain” leans into everything that makes his catalog feel like a long weekend off the grid. Ukulele plinks, island percussion, and a clean electric guitar line drift across the track while Stevens shrugs off a sudden downpour with the calm of a guy who has clearly waited out a Florida storm or two. The result is less “woe-is-me ballad” and more “grab a towel, it’ll pass.”

The backstory is as low-key as the song itself. “I wrote ‘The Rain’ after a surf session that almost didn’t happen back home in Florida,” Stevens says. “As soon as I got to the beach, a storm came out of nowhere, and everyone was running to their cars. I figured I was about to get wet anyway, so I grabbed my board, found a seagrape tree to hide under, and waited it out. Fifteen minutes later, it was blue skies and perfect waves that I had all to myself. ‘The Rain’ is about being patient and sitting tight through the bad stuff in life, knowing that sunshine is always on the other side.”

That patient-optimist streak has been working out pretty well for him. Stevens was named the debut “Festival Find” at the Maui Songwriters Festival in 2025, and his fan-favorite single “Everglades” caught the ear of SiriusXM’s Radio Margaritaville, where he now lands regular airplay as a featured artist. He’s also logged opening slots for Luke Combs, Jake Owen, Maren Morris, and The Band Perry — not bad company for a guy who started on piano at four years old.

The live calendar is just as sunny. Stevens performs at the annual Key West Songwriters Festival this weekend, then headlines the Bowers Beach Buccaneer Bash on May 23, with more new music promised throughout the summer.

Stream “The Rain” on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/kurtstevens

Until the next single drops, consider this your reminder to stop sprinting to the car. The sun, as Kurt puts it, “ain’t goin’ nowhere — it’s just hiding for a little while.” Find out more at kurtstevensmusic.com.