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REVIEW – Jeff Brinkman “Strange”
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REVIEW – Jeff Brinkman “Strange”
Before I publish this week – I’ve been sitting listening to the ne...REVIEW – Jeff Brinkman “Strange”
Before I publish this week – I’ve been sitting listening to the new album by Jeff Brinkman, Strange, as I work on this post. Of the over 300 releases I’ve tracked this past year this one makes an excellent case for being among the BEST OF 2012. Typically, when I audition an album I’m looking for that ONE song that “makes” the record – it starts with the performance and moves on from there. Three such songs and an album “has legs,” meaning it will probably stay in rotation for several months of the year, easily long enough to be a year end TOP 40 contender. When an album has MORE than three singles it’s a bonified hit, the kind that will usually receive both critical praise and sustained radio airplay…. and more often than not propel an artist/band to broader popularity and more featured show slots. This is a beautiful year end surprise. It easily establishes Jeff Brinkman and Mark Kranjcec as one of the best songwriting and co-producer teams I’ve ever heard regionally, and Jeff himself as one of the best of Colorado’s great male singer/songwriters of the past half century…. easily in the same class as Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd & the Monsters), Sean Kelly (the Samples), Isaac Slade (the Fray), or Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic). I would expect this record to be featured prominently on adult/acoustic rock oriented playlists at several stations around the state. The wonderful Miss Pattie aka Mrs Goat suggests he reminds her of Cat Stevens and Eddie Vedder … works for me. Also recommended for fans of Paul Simon and Dave Matthews.
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Jeff Brinkman Band: Boulder musician talks songwriting
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T he latest album from the Jeff Brinkman Band is out, and it's beautiful. It's also one of those rec...T he latest album from the Jeff Brinkman Band is out, and it's beautiful. It's also one of those records that packs an emotional punch, so we caught up with Brinkman to talk about making the recording with his songwriting partner, Mark Kranjcec.
You know, I'm not a particularly sentimental person, but this album changed that for at least 40 minutes. Do you find people getting emotional over your music often?
I have definitely had that. The people that have really been into it usually stay into it and usually become friends of ours. I would hope that the music has a pretty strong impact on people. I think we're getting better at touching a deeper chord with our songwriting.
Of course, a lot of the reactions people have are thanks to your songwriting. Tell me a little about writing the music for Strange.
I think the songwriting on this album -- Mark and I really tried to peel it back a few layers and try to be a little more transparent about what we're trying to say. The song "Island" is about growing a family, and "Kiss" is more about growing a relationship. "Look at You Now" is more about what it's like to fail at being a musician and keep going. There's a lot of, I guess, it's a little more naked. Actually releasing it, we felt pretty strongly about it and we've had really, really good responses, and a lot of good support locally. A lot of people around Colorado think we're doing something right. I feel like the first album, we were under a few layers kind of hiding a little bit, and this one was a little more, like I said, naked.
So how does that partnership with Mark work when you're making a record?
It's been awesome. When we first initially started it was, I'd bring something to the table and he'd add to it and vice versa. The majority of the stuff we come up with now, we'll sit down together. We've gotten to a place where working together is pretty intuitive. I'll have an idea and he'll finish the idea. It's a lot more of working together throughout the whole process and adding to each other's thoughts.
And that's a benefit of having a long working relationship with someone.
We're really fortunate with that. I feel like it's gonna be a strong album and I'm already thinking about the next one. ... By the time you've finished an album, hopefully you've grown more. We're already excited about the next album and excited about this one coming out. It's been a positive experience and we're finding more and more what kind of shape the music that we create should be.
Did you end up having a favorite song on the record? One you think really stands out?
I felt like the "Island" song was the most simple and deep and in the format that I would like to try and strive toward. I think that would probably be one of my favorites on the album. Lyrically, it felt like it had a picture and all the elements that I wanted to put into it. And also, it was one of the ones that happened in 45 minutes and we looked at and examined and thought, 'Let's keep it.'
Do you find that those gut-instinct songs are usually the most meaningful?
When those things happen, it's a good sign that the song's gonna do something or organically kind of build itself. The ones that you try to hammer, and re-hammer, and retool and change it -- those are the ones that end up being... They're still good, but they help you recognize when the others are going to work. We had a good amount of the true songs on the album and we put a lot of work into it.
You can hear the music live and pick up a copy of Stranger at the release party at West Flanders Brewing Co. on Dec. 6. You can also hear some of the songs in his performance at our in-office studio at secondstorygarage.com.
Read more: http://www.coloradodaily.com/music/ci_21891041/jeff-brinkman-band-boulder-musician-talks-songwriting#ixzz2BmTVLNR1
Coloradodaily.com
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Jeff Brinkman "To the Bones," (Devonshire Records) CD Review
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4 out of 5 stars
If Dave Matthews and Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows, made a vocal baby it’d be J...4 out of 5 stars
If Dave Matthews and Adam Duritz, of Counting Crows, made a vocal baby it’d be Jeff Brinkman. Don’t try to imagine how they would do that, just think of how it would sound.
Poppy but raw, professional but loose is how Jeff Brinkman’s debut To the Bones comes across. Recorded locally at Devonshire Studios with a whole host of Front Range staples at his side, like Mark Diamond, Christian Teele and Bryan Wagstaff, among others, the Iowa transplant to Colorado has been working on this release since 2008, and the time taken shows in a dialed-in production.
Soft and brooding in some parts and rocking and inspirational in others, To The Bones showcases a songwriter who carefully ponders each note and word, but never takes his songs so seriously that they lose their spunk.
— Brian F. Johnson
Brian Johnson - Marquee Mag (May 18, 2010)
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Iowa Transplant Jeff Brinkman Set to Release Debut Album "To the Bones" This Month
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Every once in a while there is a musician who emerges with a genuine and honest approach to their cr...Every once in a while there is a musician who emerges with a genuine and honest approach to their craft, and whose music accurately depicts that unadulterated simplicity. With his debut album To The Bone, Jeff Brinkman places himself in that category.
“My ability to sculpt a song is kind of limited by my ability to play guitar. I just don’t have that much knowledge of music theory, so basically I start with an idea and I just keep hammering it out until it evolves into something, and then it’s usually hard to control. And so I guess it ends up pretty original,” Brinkman modestly said in a recent interview with The Marquee.
At 32 and releasing his debut album this month, Brinkman is no stranger to music. Growing up in Iowa, his first exposure to the beauty of music was listening to his father play guitar in the waning hours of the night while falling asleep. When he turned seven his parents bought him his first guitar. By age 14, Brinkman was beginning to write his own songs with vocals accompanying his guitar, influenced by the Eagles and Creedence Clearwater Revival; the very bands his father used to play at night. But this self-taught guitarist didn’t merely play covers and copy his influences; he simply used their sound to construct what came naturally to him. “I was kind of home schooled with the guitar. I had the basic chords, then I had to kind of form my own style, so the songs that I wrote didn’t really sound a whole lot like the stuff I was listening to - except for maybe the Eagles - with the simple chord changes, and the vocal stylings that I carried a lot with me from listening to that early music,” said Brinkman.
Brinkman’s melodic guitar and soulful voice capture his authentic brand of music in a way that encapsulates his audiences with unobtrusive ease.
Brinkman set his sights on Colorado after visiting with a friend while in college, inadvertently finding the haven he was looking for to pursue his music. With the combination of the majestic mountains and eclectic music scene, Brinkman knew where he wanted to be. Leaving his life of playing music sporadically in Iowa, Brinkman set sail for Colorado with the idea that this is where his music would bloom.
“I moved out here with the guy I was playing cello with at the time, and we were looking for a more percussive, Rusted Root kind of vibe, and we thought we would find that more out here because that was the type of music we were going for at the moment. And Iowa, comparatively, the music scene just isn’t really there,” Brinkman said.
Seven years after moving here, Brinkman has left the on-again, off-again life of playing out locally to focus on his first recording. With the help of Reason2Rhyme’s Bryan Wagstaff and Mark Kranjcec as producers and musicians, Brinkman has created his first album, having toiled since October of 2008 to fine tune his vision.
The experience of his first recording process is one he will carry with him. “It was just so interesting being in the studio and doing everything so separately. Working with Mark and Bryan, they just kind of dismantled the songs and helped reshape them, and it was just so interesting to do everything piece by piece and that it just became so comfortable. And it was tough - it was handing over something that I had spent a long time on, but I got to the place where I thought I had taken them as far as they could go. And having three inputs on a song to make it the best it can be was a really good move - not exactly the easiest, but it really put the songs out on the table and let everyone take a crack at it, pulling out the best parts and sift out all the not-so-good stuff,” Brinkman said.
Playing acoustic guitar with emotional vocals overtop, Brinkman hopes with his debut release that his easygoing style of music will permeate the local scene and possibly beyond. “I kind of just want to let it go as far as it can go without having to push it or pull it too much, just see how it’s accepted,” he said. “My experience has been that each song is more of a thought that people can apply to their own story, so that in turn makes the song make sense to them.”
:: Jeff Brinkman ::
By Joe Kovack - Marquee Magazine (Sep 1, 2009)
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Brinkman Hits #27 on Colorado's Top 40 Charts
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September 6th, 2010
Jeff Brinkman recently hit #27 on the top 40 Colorado charts and #2 on the We...September 6th, 2010
Jeff Brinkman recently hit #27 on the top 40 Colorado charts and #2 on the Western Slope as reported by the Rocky Mountain Music Network.
Brinkman will be headlining a private, A-list red carpet event honoring Matt Damon and Magic Johnson at One Hope's vineyard in Malibu, CA the second weekend of November.
All interview requests should be directed to Devonshire Record's Public Relations Department: (p) 720-635-8026; (e) pr@devonshirerecords.com
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Q&A Jeff Brinkman's Got Serious Soul
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Boulder musician Jeff Brinkman is looking forward to packing his bags and heading to Malibu, Calif.,...Boulder musician Jeff Brinkman is looking forward to packing his bags and heading to Malibu, Calif., this weekend.
That's because the singer-songwriter and his band are performing a Saturday show for the inaugural Evening of Hope and Happiness. Celebs taking part in the benefit include actor Forest Whitaker and sports stars Evander Holyfield and Kobe Bryant.
Brinkman's music is also featured in Relix magazine's holiday CD sampler. The seasonal issue hits the stands Nov. 19.
The local performer's getting lots of lucky breaks, and his brand of acoustic indie-pop is reaching local and national audiences.
Q: Why did you want to be a musician and why did you move to Colorado?
A: When I was little, my dad played guitar at night before I went to sleep. I got a guitar for Christmas and decided that's what I wanted to do.
I had some bands in Iowa, but I decided to move to Boulder and put together a band. It's so beautiful here and it's a nice place to live.
Q: You're a singer-songwriter, but how would you define your music?
A: It's a singer-songwriter genre and there's a lot of content to the lyrics. It's really easy to connect to the songs. They're positive and uplifting.
There's some folk, pop and definitely some rock in my music. It's also a little bit like Rusted Root, because there's lots of percussion.
I have ballads, but I also have driving percussive and upbeat songs. There's a nice variety that covers a diverse gamut of music. People have compared the music to early Dave Matthews or Jack Johnson.
In fact, Jack Johnson's drummer Adam Topol played on my album.
Q: What's the message in your CD To the Bones?
A: I hope people will be able to take something from the songs and apply them to their own lives. The songs have a message that you're not alone, you can always start over -- and the best place to be is here.
Q: How did your band get involved with the Malibu benefit this weekend?
A: Tony Hsieh is CEO of Zappos and wrote the book "Delivering Happiness." He built his business on surrounding yourself with people of integrity and believing in something.
They did a Delivering Happiness tour in Boulder and we played the event. They recorded us, and now we're playing a big show in Vegas on Nov. 26, and the Hope and Happiness benefit in Malibu.
We're trying to do good things and it keeps coming back to us.
supersonic
