Today we’d like to introduce you to Brennan John.
Hi Brennan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Music started for me when I was five years old; my mom signed me up for classical piano lessons, and I did that for 12 years. There were a lot of years where it just felt like a chore, and there were times when I wanted to quit, but at first my mom wouldn’t let me, and then I started to realize that this was something that was actually important to me. Around middle school I started finding other aspects of piano that I enjoyed more than the classical music that had been all of my experience up to that point (which I still have a massive appreciation for, as it allowed me to do all these other things). I started to improvise, I started playing in the band at my youth group, and I did some composing too. About that time I picked up guitar, and the practical application of chord theory there got me playing more contemporary songs on the piano. I started writing songs in high school, not really thinking anything would come of it, and I kept it up, writing a song or two every couple months when the inspiration would strike, throughout high school and college. Once I got a car, whenever I was driving, country radio was on, and I was singing. If I missed a vocal run, I would turn the volume down and sing it a couple times slowly, and then keep going, and I think that kind of unconsciously prepared me to perform vocally. It was probably my sophomore year at Sam Houston State University when I realized that I wanted to be a musician, but nothing in the music department there really appealed to me; I wanted something more contemporary, so I just kept working on my own, playing in church bands, and writing my own songs. The summer before my senior year, I spent a month up in Dallas, where I was born, devoting all of my time to music. I went to a ton of open mics, made a lot of connections, practiced my instruments, wrote songs, studied music production, and started building my social media a little. It was an amazing and productive time. My senior year of college I wrote a thesis on folk music, and as a part of that project I created a four song EP, “Leaving Like That,” that released June 25 of this year. I learned so much through that process, and I’m even more excited now for the projects to come, when I settle down in Dallas after the summer.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Before I started to branch out into other applications of piano, I often just saw it as something that I had to do, and there were times when frustration came through that. I’ve also had to deal with the friction that can come through being in a band with people, but I think most of all my biggest obstacle is my ability to put things off instead of being as disciplined as I should be. The more that I can minimize that, I know the better I can be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I make folk adjacent music. I’m a pianist, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. I have the flexibility to play a ton of country and folk covers at a bar, and the next day go to a senior living home and play some Sam Cooke on the piano, and I don’t think that’s incredibly common. I’m most proud of my EP that just released and all the work that went into that, all the things that I learned and the perspective that I gained.
What are your plans for the future?
I hope to release a couple singles around this winter, but the main goal have in mind now is really establishing myself in the Dallas music scene and then releasing a debut album sometime next winter..
Pricing:
- I don’t wanna put pricing, but if you would like to put that I would love to play house parties and private events of all kinds, in addition to restaurants and bars, that would be super cool. I assume my contact information will be in it as well..
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @brennan_john_
- Email: brennanjohnmusic@gmail.com
