Artist Information
Biography
Brian was that kid who started out on mom's pots and pans in the kitchen while listening to the radio. "Hearing music as a child excited me to no end. I felt I was already a part of the music and knew it was going to be my life." Born and raised in Sacramento, California Brian got his musical experience from playing drums with every kind of band possible. School marching band, jazz band, swing choir, his buddy's house playing Chuck Berry & Yardbirds songs, at that house where the hippies jam, in the garage around the corner playing Led Zeppelin & The Who. At 18 he joined the U.S. Air Force and became a special vehicle mechanic working on flight line firetrucks & crash equipment. While stationed at Kedena AFB in Okinawa, Japan, Brian suffered a traumatic amputation to his right hand while working on emergency equipment. He was medicaly discharged with full honors and a 60% disability. Brian went back to playing drums, having to learn a new approach now missing all the fingers on his right hand. "It made me really focus on my left hand and opened up the door to many unique percussion ideas." Brian began writing songs when a buddy who had brought this monstrous all-in-one recording device called the Tascam SX1 to his home because his friend could not figure out how to use it. "The instruction book looked like a fat dictionary!" After figuring out how to lay some basic tracks, Brian started flirting around with recording drum beats and ideas he had created over the years. "I had this one drum pattern that just made me want to get up and dance. So I plunked out a simple bass line on my keyboard and strumed an old acoustic nylon string guitar. The words seemed to write themselves as I listened to the music and, man, I was hooked! Writing songs opened up a new creative outlet. My goal is to get my music noticed by a label, artist or publisher looking for material."
Instrumentation
Brian Courtright - drums-vocals-percussion
My studio recording friends
Mollee Craven - steel drums Tom Kealey - bass Joe Snook - guitars Rick Turnage - guitars John Carlson - piano / keys Cynthia McKensey - high harmony vocals on "Get Away Isle" Randy Scoles - vocal tracks on "The Other Side" Garell Williams - rap vocal tracks on "The Other Side" Scott Rich - Conga tracks on "The Other Side" Randy Scoles - vocal tracks on "You" Lee Tuimanu'a - saxaphone solo track on "You" Rick Kellogg - vocals on "The Reasons Why" Chris Ivey - Pedal steel on "The Reasons Why" Dave Russell - vocal tracks on "Emergency"
Discography
None of my music has been published.
The Parrotheads is one of the bands I tour with.
They have a Jimmy Buffett tribute CD available at www.theparrotheads.com
Official Website
Video
Press
Setlist
Only written a few songs that I think are worth playing for others. Get Away Isle is a fun song anybody can enjoy. Flip over the CD and you get The Other Side!