WINNER OF WEEK 165, Blues Two-Tone
Biscayne by David Brewbaker
Artist
Information
David
Brewbaker, a songwriter, singer and guitarist, was born in Richmond,
Virginia, and spent many years as a working musician, performing as
a vocalist and guitarist in an eclectic mix of rock, blues, country
and jazz-fusion bands. In 1973, while living in New Mexico, he worked
with Norman Petty, record producer and publisher, who was instrumental
in Buddy Holly's career. Currently, Brewbaker writes and records in
his production studio in Portland, Maine. An eight-song EP is scheduled
for early summer release.
Brewbaker
was chosen as the featured independent artist in April this year by
BluesDeluxe out of Arlington, Texas after he enjoyed recognition on
syndicated internet radio shows and online Independent Artist sites,
such as ArtistLaunch.com and Garageband.com, where his songs consistently
rank high in the country and blues charts, and have received impressive
reviews. Garageband.com has called Brewbaker's songs "…as
good as any commercial country song that has made the top 40 charts."
ArtistLaunch
Hour, a weekly internationally syndicated broadcast radio show that
is heard on FM and AM stations in the U.S, U.K., Canada, New Zealand
and Sweden also has featured Brewbaker's songs. "David Brewbaker
is the real deal alright," said Paul Laginess of ArtistLaunch.com.
"Definitely a man who's been around the block a few times and those
experiences are right there in the tunes. Top quality stuff." Brewbaker
can also be heard on other ArtistLaunch affiliate stations: DebutAlternative,
Poor House Radio, Radio Free Blues; and on http://www.indiejournal.com/.
He can be contacted at www.davidbrewbaker.com.
An afternoon spent...
My plan
was to sit with David Brewbaker and ask him about all this work, all
this music, all the recordings, everything that had been tugging at
me since we met.
He knew
this tiny Vietnamese grocery with tables and the best Pho in town. We
struck down a side road. Brewbaker's songs are like that: the side road,
the back path, you've been there, but not this way, exactly. It was
good - simple, honest food, and hotter than Houston in the middle of
June, full of ox tails, beef ribs, tripe and something called "tendon
balls."
David Brewbaker
was born in Richmond, Virginia and began writing songs when he was thirteen.
He plays country, rock, folk, blues and jazz, and he told me a little
about it; not all good. Slip of the Tongue and You Had to Get Away are
songs about living in the wake of the wrong relationship and love that's
run into the ditch, and it's all material that ends up in a song. I
was a little worried that I'd be sucked into the vortex of pure heartache.
But as we ate, I saw the optimistic side, and where songs like God Only
Knows come from, or the fanciful Crazy Eddie and Two-Tone Biscayne.
We kept
at it, and I learned about Brewbaker's experiences in the studio with
Buddy Holly's producer Norman Petty, and studying with guitarists John
Scofield and Steve Kahn, about the club gigs, hours of studio time,
and how he's eaten in a lot of places. Not all good. We cleaned the
ribs until they looked like they'd been sitting in the Mohave for a
week, and then went for the noodles.
Experience
can take its toll, but for a songwriter it just serves to enlarge a
life. Brewbaker writes of the pastoral and the personal. His songs contain
the simplicity of daily life, but with all of its transcendence; it's
a big bowl, there's a lot lurking beneath the broth.
Brewbaker's
career is an infrastructure. He's composed a lot of songs, jingles,
sung them, and written music for industrial and documentary films. Now
he's writing stories with grooves that get under your skin and stay
there. He is faithful to country; his music is anchored at a steady
depth, hooked securely to the rocky bottom he draws from. It's always
a balanced fraction: classic and ageless, contemporary and vintage.
It's rhythmically motivating, lyrically frank and musically knotted.
You can hear the jazz, the Americana roots, and whether acoustic or
electric, you can always recognize the thread of his style.
Deconstruction
didn't seem appropriate just sitting there, eating Pho at a dingy counter.
We were just living between the ticks of the clock. I knew there was
more to this story, but that's where we had to leave it. Brewbaker lives
in Maine, and works in his project studio, and I suppose that's what
he wanted to get back to. We'd already had a belly full of runnin' 'round,
and some good times should be left unfinished. Besides, I got what I
came for. I picked up the tab, and we went our separate ways. He thanked
me and I thanked him too, for the meal, the talk, and the songs - and
I thanked him in advance for those yet to come.
