Would-Be Jamaican Farmer Becomes Chart-Topping Global Gospel Phenom

Pacing across the campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, Kevin “K-Anthony” Fowler is out of breath and running late for class. It is a brisk morning, the chill in the air a stark contrast to the warmth of his homeland, almost 3,000 kilometers away in the farming parish of Trelawny, Jamaica, where his story began.

The day has barely started, yet it is already packed. Having dropped his wife Kamelia to work and his three kids, Nia-Olivia, Nyla-Jade, and Noah, to school, the Master of Divinity student hurries to his first lecture, his mind racing through the day’s lengthy to-do list.

Balancing family, studies, and a burgeoning music career is no small feat. To observe K-Anthony now, huffing and puffing across the university grounds, one might never guess that this was the same man who, less than two months prior, stood on the grand stage at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax accepting a Juno Award— Canada’s equivalent of a Grammy— for Christian/Gospel Contemporary Album of the Year.

The momentous win for his album, Arrow, was his second Juno nomination, the first being in 2021 for his EP, The Cure.

“Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought that I would be on this stage,” he shared emotionally during his acceptance speech, his voice thick with gratitude and disbelief.

There was great truth in his words. The trajectory of his life had been anything but predictable.

Born in the small town of Falmouth, to Ralin and Beverley Fowler, Kevin Fowler seemed destined to follow in the agricultural footsteps of generations before him.

Kevin’s paternal grandfather, Ronald Fowler, left farming behind during the Windrush period in search of greener pastures, while his paternal grandmother, Rachel Reid, remained a dedicated farmer until her passing soon after Kevin’s birth. Each was an essential branch of his family tree, deeply rooted in farming. Kevin—he was the fruit of their legacy.

“My mom’s stepfather, Clinton Scotchman, or ‘Papa’ as me and my brother, David, called him, was very close to us. He was a subsistence farmer, growing produce— mostly yams and bananas— for himself and the community.”

The family also owned a corner store, that sold essentials as well as inputs to local farmers.

Kevin’s great grandfather— Gladstone Green— grandfather of Floyd Green, Jamaica’s current Minister of Agriculture, was a peanut farmer who would later begin growing coffee and bananas. Kevin recalls how Gladstone would make ice cream from scratch and sell it to the community.

“He was very loving,” he fondly recalls. “He was also a man not necessarily of a lot of words— not unless he needed to talk. He would often sing songs.”

It was Gladstone— the stalwart of the family when it came to being a Seventh-day Adventist— who provided Kevin with the first example of how food and faith were intertwined.

“Seventh-day Adventists traditionally link food and spirituality, seeing diet as crucial to spiritual well-being,” Kevin explains. “Many follow a plant-based diet, and avoid ‘unclean’ foods, viewing their bodies as ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’ and embracing habits that enhance physical health and spiritual clarity, fostering a deeper connection with God.”

While Kevin listened to his family’s faith-based teachings, it was not until he was 11-years old that he had what he describes as his “first encounter with God.”

A leisurely afternoon at the beach, initially filled with fun and laughter, took a terrifying turn while he was swimming near the shore, when the ground beneath him abruptly dropped off. Kevin found himself submerged in deep waters, struggling to stay afloat. In a moment of desperation, he prayed, begging God to save him. Then, miraculously, help arrived.

“His name was Dwayne Brady. He told me not to give up,” recalls Kevin, of an older boy who saw him drowning and came to help. “He told me to dive down deeper under the water and come towards him. He stood on the ledge, the embankment in the sea. He was just telling me what to do. He reached out to me, until our fingers were intertwined, and he held on to me. By the time he pulled me out, I had ingested so much water.”

A mere week later, tragedy struck as two children met their demise in the very same spot. Kevin’s heart lurched at the realization of just how narrowly he had escaped their fate.

“It was the biggest marker in my life. God saved my life. I don’t take it for granted that I’ve now lived to be this age. Everything changed for me from that day.”

In the years that followed, opportunities arose, small at first, like seeds planted in fertile ground. His talent, unmistakable and raw, was cultivated by a relentless hunger for success. What began as singing in the choir at Falmouth Seventh Day Adventist Church would eventually lead to recording sessions and concerts far beyond his hometown.

When Kevin graduated from high school, his original plans to study agronomy were put on hold as the university he intended to attend had no openings until the following year. Seizing an unexpected opportunity, he decided to pursue his passion for music and enrolled at Northern Caribbean University.

That was when he would begin writing his own music and recording in a studio for the first time.

Influenced by island music, his love for reggae, R&B, and his faith, K-Anthony reworked traditional hymns, blending them with contemporary sounds. His strong musicality, honed through his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, crafted well-made songs with optimistic lyrics centered on his love for God and hope for the future.

Another highlight of his years at Northern Caribbean University was meeting Kamelia Burrell, a nursing student who would eventually become his wife. Following their studies, the couple decided to relocate to Saskatchewan, Canada, where there was a high demand for nurses.

In Canada, Kevin witnessed a scale of agriculture that he had never encountered. As major producers of grains, oilseeds and pulses, farms in Saskatchewan were vastly different from the smallholder farms of Trelawny.

“I’d never seen farms so big. Seeing the size of it all, the quantity of chemicals that were being used… I would often think of my grandparents’ farm which relied on very few chemicals and grew just enough. I felt that there was something problematic about that type of mass production that I was witnessing for the first time.”

While Kevin had ventured so far away from home, his strong farming values were what propelled him forward.

The traits that would have made K-Anthony a successful farmer—hard work, resilience, and a deep connection to nature and family—were the same qualities that helped him to navigate the uncertainty of the music business.

“Through every twist and turn, I’ve learned invaluable lessons,” he reflects. “The power of patience, the importance of waiting on God’s timing, like a seed growing into a tree with fruit that can only be picked in the right season.”

K-Anthony’s journey from Falmouth to the world stage stands as a testament to faith and purpose. Each stride was marked by diligence, sacrifices, and an unwavering belief in his purpose— despite inevitable hurdles along the way.

As eloquently expressed in his song, Arrow, “Every pull back, was for the let go.”

As he rushes to class, the morning sun casting elongated shadows on his path, the worlds of Kevin Anthony Fowler and K-Anthony seamlessly intertwine. The award-winning, chart-topping contemporary gospel singer is also a dedicated student, a loving husband, and a devoted father. The simplicity of his beginnings on his great grandfather’s farm, and the grandeur of his musical achievements coexist synergistically, each grounding and propelling him forward.

His life, spanning from the verdant fields of Trelawny to the hallowed halls of Andrews University, embodies the power of perseverance and the beauty of unexpected journeys.

From nearly drowning as a child to floating on the euphoria of a major musical award, K-Anthony’s career is buoyed by faith, resilience, and the deep-rooted values of his upbringing.