BROTHERS BROWN INTERVIEW

* answers by :

 

Paul Brown Los Angeles, guitar - PBLA

Paul Brown Nashville, Keys - PBN

 

How has the reaction to your latest CD been?

 

PBLA : We’ve been amazed at the love we’re getting from everyone who’s listened. They all seem to get what we set out to do, make great music without putting restrictions on style and genre. There’s a lot of layers to the cd, and they’re not going unnoticed ..

 

 

PBN : Totally floored by the love we’re feeling back!  Thrilled that although we cut this album in a very unconventional way the Critics and Fans are feeling how much of our Souls were putting into it’s making!

 

If you have to describe your music in there of four words,what would you call it?

 

 

PBLA : roots blues 

 

PBN : Americana Soul Blues Free

 

How did you become involved in the type of music you play?

 

 

PBLA : Growing up with groups like the Greatful Dead, the Band, the beatles blasting in the house 24/7

 

PBN : That depends on what music I’m playing at any given time.  If we’re talking about the Brother’s Brown album, then that would go back to my first tours with STAX Soul Legend Shirley Brown and then onto my Tours and albums with Soul Legend Ann Peebles and blues legend Bobby Rush.  A culmination opf those three aertist surely shaped the way I approach playing the kind of Music that ended up on Dusty Road.

 

What's the first song you ever remember hearing

 

 

PBLA : My parents are both musicians, so from a very early age I was exsposed to the greats, Sinatra, Ella etc...my dad had a love affair with the song “laura”, and played and sang it himself and listened to every artist that recorded it.

 

PBN : Man some of the Music I can remember hearing the most came from my Mom’s Vinyl. -Tijuana Brass, Abraham’s -Martin and John, Terry Jacks’ -Seasons In The Sun and The Rat Pack.

 

Who are your musical and non-musical influences?

 

 

PBLA : For guitar, Wes Montgomery and Jerry Garcia.For music, Peter Gabriel, The Beatles.Life, my parents

 

PBN : For me it was never really individual Keyboardists but the collective vibes of bands that inspired me. In my early years it was -KISS, Pink Floyd, Yes, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, The Beatles, Elton John and Paul McCartney and Wings.  Personally it was some of the beautiful mentors I had during my years in a school for the Homeless.

 

What inspires you to do what you do?

 

 

PBLA : Music is my spiritual link to the universe.

 

PBN : It’s a combination of everything I had to go through, all the parks I’ve lived in, all of Life’s trenches that I made it through and my Wife April who is battling Stage IV Met Bone Cancer.  I am always Crazy Grateful for every note I play…

 

What was the first LP/tape/CD you bought with your own money?

 

 

PBLA : Greatful Dead Europe 72

 

PBN : Oh man that would have to be either Sgt Peppers (The Special Edition LP with the album cover on the actuall Vinyl) or the Soundtrack to Tommy.

 

What has been your most memorable moment in your music career so far?

 

 

PBLA : Playing a concert with Larry Carlton was a highlight for sure.

 

PBN : Non performance that has to be hands down the very second I looked down at my phone to see that an album I produced, engineered, Mixed and Played Keys on for Blues Legend Bobby Rush in a small Studio we built here in Nashville was Nominated for a Grammy for Best Blues album!

 

Recording -Playing Hammond B3 on a session w/ Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford mere inches to my left and Nugent’s Derek St. Holmes mere inches to my right! 

Recording a Tune I wrote! w/ Mavis Staple, Shirley Brown and Ann Peebles!

 

Live -Brad Whitford and I playing a super special duet together as a tribute to the late Rock guitar legend Dick Wagner

 

How do you handle mistakes during a performance?

 

 

PBLA : What mistakes ?

 

PBN : I make em with every ounce of energy I can Muster up!

 

Is there a particular song or musical passage that never fails to move you emotionally?

 

 

PBLA : Anything Luther sings.

 

PBN : Eric Carmen’s All By Myself  It’s crazy how much that tune pulled me through some brutal times in the Homeless school I lived in.  And to this day it never fails to take me back to that same feeling I had when I first heard it.  

 

How would you describe your perfect day?

 

 

PBLA : Woke up, got otta bed, draged the comb across my head...

 

PBN : When I can find the right balance between making great at least one meaningful musical accomplishment and being the best husband and person I can be to my beloved April through her Cancer Journey  

 

 

Who were you, or would you be nervous to meet?

 

 

PBLA : J LO

 

PBN : Lou Gramm or Steven Tyler man…

 

What embarrassing songs might I find on your MP3 player?

 

 

PBLA : My jazz friend think the dead suck, so the dead catalog

 

PBN : My 8 hrs of an Oscillating Fan!!!

 

 

If you could perform with anyone in the world, either dead or alive, or broke up who would it be? Why?

 

 

PBLA : Would love to have played with the dead when Jerry was alive.

 

PBN : As much as I’m a fanatic about playing under a great vocalist I’d have to say hands down. Steve Perry, Steven Tyler

or Lou Gramm  

 

 

What does the next 6 months look like for you?

 

 

PBLA : Recording a new jazz cd, touring with Brothers Brown

 

PBN : Recording a new Waterboys album and some seriously great Tours with the Brothers Brown, The Waterboys and  

Mike Farris!

  

 

What can people expect to see at your live performances?

 

 

PBLA : Brothers Brown is hi energy soulful music that will have folks feeling like they’ve known our music for years and years

 

PBN : From me?  220 Voltage of dripping Soul!