My Dear Friends,
Here we are on the eve of the release of my 4th album, "13 Satellites", and I can't say I've ever been more excited about making music.
This year I celebrate my 10th anniversary in Los Angeles. 4 full-length albums, 3 digital singles, 3 kids, 3 homes, and one life threatening illness. And so I suppose it's no surprise I still haven't paid off my student loans. Such is life.
What would I love for you to know about me in 2011? Well, after everything that's happened in this City of Angels these past few years (my stage three cancer diagnosis and treatment, a 2nd chance, and oh - yeah, a DAUGHTER!), I'm learning to love the craft and joy of music again. I truly appreciate my friends, family and creative collaborations more than ever, and my music has never felt so playful - spirited - and dare I say, JOYFUL in it's creation. I think I'm learning to see the world - the music business - life - production - art - all with a childlike innocence again. And it feels good. To quote a new song of mine, this journey has truly come FULL CIRCLE ROUND.
Speaking of FULL CIRCLE ROUND, let's discuss the new record a bit shall we? "13 SATELLITES" was born as a cross-continental collaboration with my good friend and drummer extraordinaire Billy Hawn (he in Pennsylvania - me in Glendale, CA) during the spring of 2010 - and also features tracks flown in from Portland (Oregon), Manchester (New Hampshire) and the not-quite-as-far-away Burbank (California) where my longtime collaborator Jason Wormer mixed and mastered the record into a warm, deep groove. A true satellite project, for sure. :) It's also the first I recorded and arranged at home on my own rig, and is by far my most lush record yet. Think T-Bone Burnett meets the Beatles meets the Beach Boys meets.well, me of course and you're in the wheelhouse :)
What also makes "13 Satellites" different is how PLAYFUL it all is, a side of my musical personality I've only ever hinted at in the past – definitely feels like the start of a new chapter, both in life and in art. When this project began it's journey into the world my wife was pregnant - we were moving out of the home we shared for half a dozen years, and I was still driven by a wave of gratitude and inspiration from everything that had transpired over the previous three years (see above). This music became a joyful sanctuary for me - a celebration of all we had gone through as a family, and a childlike wonder at all that could still be.
Anyway, there's plenty more to read in my various online communities (Facebook, Twitter, etc), and I'm truly humbled if you would do so. But to summarize (for now), let me now quote the very first bio I ever put up on my first website some eight or nine years ago:
"Bottom line: I love writing, recording, and playing music and I look forward to sharing every bit of this journey with you. This is only the beginning, friends."
Full Circle Round indeed.
All my love. Seriously.
Brandon
