Imagine playing between 170-200 dates a year and then COVID-19 hits, stopping you in your tracks. Musicians from all genres don’t need to imagine this as it has happened to them, including modern Texas country artist Brandon Alan. He started off the year with the release of a very personal single “Love You The Same” and looked forward to what the new decade had to bring, and instead saw himself facing the unthinkable. But when confronted with challenges one needs to adapt, and adapt Brandon did, performing socially distant shows to an audience on their boats in and along the water on Lake LBJ.
We caught up with Brandon to talk about his adjustment to play music during the pandemic, his latest single that he wrote for his wife Amber, and what’s to come.
CN: For our readers who may not be familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
BA: I’ve been playing music since I was 11 basically. I had an original goal of wanting to be a busy session and touring musicians for different groups, and that dream changed as a I was a teenager starting to write music. From then on I wanted to push my own music project. I live smack dab in middle of Texas on Lake LBJ and enjoy water activities with my wife and 4 year old son. I play live numerous times per week, and since COVID 19 started, I’ve made the majority of my shows happen on a lake format and stream at least one show live per week. I’m a guitar enthusiast and currently have 16 of them.
CN: Which musicians, country or not, have influenced you both personally and as an artist?
BA: Stephen Stills, Chet Atkins, Steve Wariner, Joe Walsh, John Fogerty, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jerry Reed, Vince Gill and Mike Campbell.
CN: When did you realize that you wanted to pursue a career in music?
BA: Not long after I started…. I wanted to be a doctor first like my dad was, but then music as an actual profession sounded so great that’s all I ever said after that point.
CN: What was the first album you ever owned?
BA: Red Hot Chili Peppers – One Hot Minute was the first CD I ever bought with my own money. My first cassette tape was James Gang Rides Again Funk #49
CN: Like Nashville, New York and LA, the city of Austin is deeply rooted in music. You have stated that you looked upon living and playing in Austin as a “musical grad school.” What skills and life lessons did you learn throughout your experience on the music scene there?
BA: Basically the first thing you learn is that you have to treat your music as a true business not just an art. You must promote it, re invest in it etc. Things are taken from you, and you must persevere. Sometimes that’s money, sometimes that’s double bookings, sometimes it’s losing equipment to robberies, sometimes its losing money to go play a show. The best life lesson is music for me is answered in this question. Do I love music and want to impact the world with it so bad that nothing will stand in my way? My answer to that has been yes no matter how brutal various seasons of my career were.
CN: In 2013 you moved to Nashville, and 4 years later you returned to Texas with your wife to start a family. How would you compare the music industry and the songwriting communities of Nashville to that of Texas?
BA: Texas has wonderful world class songwriters that in my opinion, are not writing FOR publishing houses or record labels in many cases. Nashville seems more business-like in that manner, where the songs are many times written for specific purposes or specific artists to record them. I would note that this is a generalization and not true for everyone. Also, in Texas, the musicians are scattered all over the state so the different regions have some different sound and vibes musically. Nashville is very concentrated, which can be a benefit, but can also hide or overshadow amazing talent because it simply doesn’t get heard.
CN: With everything that’s going on in the world in regards to COVID-19, we hope everyone in your circle is safe and healthy. How are you holding up?
BA: I have been so fortunate to have been able to stay healthy, play live, and reach and interact with new folks all throughout this COVID period. We live over an hour outside of Austin where the cases were extremely low (less than 5 total for quite some time)
CN: The recent influx of COVID cases in Texas has caused venues that had begun opening up back to shutting their doors. While necessary, this is so frustrating to the venue owners, employees and the artists like yourself who announced last month a new touring schedule through July. Have these recent setbacks affected those dates?
BA: I have had a few dates moved, but because I chose to make my primary format this year playing live on Lake LBJ to boaters and residents living along the water (while streaming the shows), it hasn’t had a major effect on me.–Thankfully!
CN: You have also performed several socially distant shows overlooking Lake LBJ in Austin, with the last date on your schedule being July 4th. Will you be able to continue performing on the various desks overlooking the lake?
BA: Yes! absolutely. I am already booking through August with 2-3 per week on the water! It has taken off in a way I never could have imagined.
CN: In April and May you hosted the Texas-based Community Concert Series which, much like your events at Lake LBJ, were socially distant performances with the goal of helping raise money for the surrounding communities financially hurt by the pandemic.
BA: The folks who started this series had come to me because they had followed my Lake LBJ music series that I was doing weekly. The goal with the CCS was to have business owners send in short videos of how Covid had affected their businesses and the need and desire to get back to work asap–in some capacity or another. I hosted the show at a nice hotel patio over Lake Marble Falls and we had a handful of other guest musicians from the area all play a short set. It was a great way to give the community some sense of normalcy, while also reminding folks to support their local business owners however possible. Exposure for local business and raising funds for them was the main goal. A third party non-profit group was enlisted to distribute the funds fairly to the various businesses after the concert. It was REALLY cool to take that concept to a neighboring market and to watch the local radio (which we used to stream live via FM radio) and also TV news stations get behind their communities.
CN: Will you restart this series given the status of Texas’ reopening?
BA: I hope we do a few more this year. If the venues and businesses are all going to stay open, we may tweak the format a bit.
CN: As a storyteller, can you take us through your songwriting process?
I always start with little riffs on the guitar. From there I pull from life experiences, places I’ve lived, faith, and even sometimes fictional ideas that could be used in a story line to go with the music. I get my songs at least to the 80-85% mark of completion and then take them to the studio and figure out the rest there. I’ve written quite a few songs but am VERY picky about what I choose to record and put out on records.
CN: Has the pandemic situation provided or dampened inspiration in regards to writing?
I haven’t written all that much , but there was one song that I wrote that was positive and uplifting during this time period. I try to do that normally so I’m not sure the pandemic really played a role there or not. Luckily I’ve been playing live quite a bit either way!
CN: At the start of the year you released your single “Love You The Same” which is a very personal and intimate song. Can you share with us the backstory to the song?
BA: This song was written after we had our son Preston. My wife really struggled with post-partum depression for almost an entire year, before we truly understood what was going on. We got through it together and were stronger as a result. This song speaks of never giving up on each other and the perseverance through difficult times. The chorus of the song sums up the theme – “I’ll Always Love You The Same”
CN: While conversations are more common than in the past, unfortunately society still shuns the discussion of postpartum depression. How important was it to you to not only write this song as a cathartic exercise for you and your wife, but also to help those women and their families to understand how important their love and support is in getting through this serious condition, and to help raise awareness?
BA: It’s really important as a writer to get these thoughts and feelings on paper, and to mesh it with a melody that people can remember. Like anything else, sometimes you have to get creative about how to bring issues out into the open. For me, writing this song with underlying themes of perseverance and not giving up on each other was the best way to deliver that message. I always enjoy finding songs with backstories, even if it’s not totally obvious in the lyrics the first few times you hear a song. Leaving room for interpretation one of the coolest aspects about writing songs for the public. I truly hope this song is able to raise some awareness about postpartum depression.
CN: Upon its release “Love You The Same” became the most downloaded song on Texas Radio and it’s still moving up the Texas Regional charts. Given its personal nature, how does it feel to have such an instant impact with your fans and country radio with this song?
BA: I was thrilled! My goal is to write honest, heartfelt and positive material, so when you get that kind of response its very fulfilling!
CN: If you had the opportunity to collaborate with any one artist, who would it be?
BA: Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits.
CN: What was the first concert you ever attended?
BA: Steve Miller band!
CN: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be and why?
BA: Dedicated. I never give up on people, goals, or my musical craft.
CN: What’s next on the horizon for you?
BA: Get the touring back in action and release one or two more songs by the end of 2020!
For more information on Brandon Alan, visit his website at www.brandonalanmusic.net and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.