High Valley is down to one Rempel brother, as Curtis Rempel has left the country duo. The younger member of the duo says he has returned home to Canada and opened a business with his wife.

Brad Rempel remains committed to High Valley. In a message shared on social media, both men offer thoughts on the change, encouraging one another while assuring fans that the music will continue. In fact, new music seems to be forthcoming.

"On the road and touring with High Valley is the only life I've ever known since I was 15 years old," Curtis writes. "It has always been my older brother Brad's passion, and during quarantine my wife and I have had some amazing time to discuss our own passions, dreams and goals. We began to think of things we could start from the ground up and build together."

Brad and Bryan Rempel formed a band together more than two decades ago, and Curtis joined 10 years later. Bryan remained with High Valley until he left focus on family in 2014. That was when the band moved to Nashville after an award-winning career as Canadian touring musicians.

While High Valley continued to hit No. 1 on Canadian radio charts, their songs struggled to gain a similar foothold on American charts. "Make You Mine" (No. 17) and "She's With Me" (No. 7) are their most successful songs, to date, on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. They released one full-length album and two EPs on Warner Music Nashville and toured the country as headliners and opening acts while playing dozens of fairs and festivals. A peek at the WMN website reveals they are no longer part of the label's active roster.

In 2016, Taste of Country caught up with the duo at Country Jam in Colorado, and they shared that Blake Shelton plays basketball and is pretty good.

Rempel's new business venture is a wood and leather goods store called Curt + Myr Co. Handmade belts, home accessories and more are for sale on their website. While with High Valley, Curtis Rempel took on wood working and furniture making as a hobby, occasionally sharing with his fans on social media. Brad Rempel was always the driving songwriter and decision maker in the band, so even without another brother in the band, the music should remain unchanged.

Country Music's 10 Hottest Artists of 2021

The culmination of the annual Taste of Country Hot List is the 10 Hottest Country Artists list, a true measure of the songs, the tours and the intangibles, combined. Luke Combs was No. 1 in 2020, but he had trouble holding off a few artists for this year's list.

Just six of the 10 artists featured last year make the 2021 version — a collection that gets to consider touring plans and award achievements. We've had four new Entertainer of the Year of the Year winners in the past eight months, and three are featured below. One misses out for taking a year off the road and the radio, but we're confident she'll be back soon.

This list is an effort to combine and assess an artist's commercial success, fan appeal, touring demand and social media presence. Emphasis was placed on what's coming, not what has happened so far.

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