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| Brian Holbrook
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 ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Brian was born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 21st, 1973. His family moved to the rural southeast section of the state soon after. Brian grew up there on the Arkansas border influenced by acoustic blues, bluegrass, folk, and traditional country. He was given his first guitar at the age of seven and was active in musical plays and productions throughout his childhood. In his teens he began to write his own songs.
Brian spent much of the time between 1991 and 1993 drifting between houses or homeless, but continuously writing songs and performing whenever he could throughout Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee. To better himself and give his life purpose Brian joined the U.S. Army in 1994 and left in 2001, spending most of that time as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Even during his Army years he continued to write and perform music. After studying computer programming and working as a network technician for several years Brian decided to abandon the computer field and get back in touch with his musical roots in 2005.
Brian is currently booking shows and playing in Washington and Oregon while finishing recording on his self-released debut, Hobo’s Café’, that will be released in early 2006.
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| Band Spotlight |
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| Reprinted from the June '06 issue of The Entertainer |
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The Entertainer recently had the chance to talk with singer/songwriter/musician, Brian Holbrook. The resulting question and answer session is provided for your reading enjoyment.
ENTERTAINER: When did you first become interested in music?
BRIAN: I’d been around music, performing music even, from the time I was about five years old. I got my first guitar when I was about eight years old, and spent a lot of time playing along to the radio or playing with my Dad or my uncle. Music was always a part of my life.
That said, I didn’t become very serious about it until my teens, when I began to write my own songs, and it wasn’t until 1991 (when I heard John Gorka and Nanci Griffith) that I knew that I wanted to play acoustic folk-style music.
ENTERTAINER: What all is encompassed in the style you play?
BRIAN: It is usually classified as “New Folk”, “Roots Music”, or “Americana”. I’m heavily influenced by acoustic Delta blues, Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and folk singer-songwriters. I sound a bit like Gillian Welch, John Gorka, David Gray, Ryan Adams, Damien Rice, and Richard Buckner. It’s acoustic, sparse, lyrically based, and literary—mostly it’s honest. No one has ever walked away from one of my shows thinking that I was just going through the motions.
ENTERTAINER: What are you currently working on?
BRIAN: I’m currently working on an animated short film that will be made available on the Internet in September. It has to do with September 11th and is just five stories from the day. No politics, no religion, just human stories. It’s really more of a long form music video with five songs that combine to tell a story. It’s been a real challenge storyboarding the artwork, writing the songs, and doing the more technical things required for Internet animation, but if I can pull it off then it is a project that I will be very proud of.
Of course I’m also promoting my just released album, A Thousand Miles Long, as well as working on booking shows here in the Pacific Northwest and writing songs for my second album.
ENTERTAINER: What has been your greatest memory as a musician?
BRIAN: My greatest memory? Wow, that’s a tall order. One of my most enduring memories happened in 1992 while playing a house party in my hometown of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. I was jamming with a keyboard player named Jim Montgomery and a guitarist named Noah Bell (both of whom are now with the Portland, Oregon band Big Island Shindig), when Jim and I began to trade licks on Amazing Grace. Everything went away and I could almost see the notes float around the room. Everything in the universe except Jim, me, and that song ceased to exist. It was almost spiritual.
My greatest memory as a songwriter happens every time I write something that affects me deeply and then I get the opportunity to perform that song for other people. For instance, I was playing my song Something Like A Star at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle this year. This particular song was inspired by a Robert Frost poem and makes heavy use of metaphor, and as I’m singing it I look out in the audience and I could see a guy in the front row hanging on every word with this surprised look on his face. He got it. He got the references, the metaphors, the sentiment, and he was excited and touched by it.
Moments like that are why I love being able to do this job.
ENTERTAINER: What does the future hold for your career?
BRIAN: I’d like to think that it holds opportunity. I’ll keep writing and playing here in the Pacific Northwest for as long as people will continue to pay me to do so. I have another album planned for the end of 2006. Certainly more touring, expanding into Montana, Idaho, all over Oregon, Washington, maybe Wyoming, Utah, Northern California and British Columbia. For a Southern boy I’m becoming increasingly hooked on this area.
ENTERTAINER: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
BRIAN: Only that I appreciate everyone from the Tri-Cities who has supported me and come out to my regular shows. If you haven’t dropped by a show yet, come on out, I’d love to have the chance to impress you.
ENTERTAINER: Thank you Brian for giving us this opportunity to get to know you and your music. The Entertainer wishes you the best in your musical endeavors!
To find out more about Brian Holbrook, be sure to visit The Entertainer website (www.theentertainernewspaper.com/music). Once there you will be able to listen to and download free songs by Brian, find out when his next shows will be as well as purchase his latest album. Thank you for supporting our local musicians! |
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