Bransen Ireland

Blue Springs, MO —


Bransen Ireland sits in his “second home,” the high-tech recording studio behind the Lone Jack home of his manager, Rod DeMoss.

If the Blue Springs High School graduate ever needs inspiration, all he has to do is take a few steps out the front door of MonsterTrax Pro Audio, and take a seat between DeMoss’ salt-water pool and lavish koi pond.

“If you can’t get inspired there,” Ireland said, grinning, “you can’t get inspired anywhere.”

This is a big week for Ireland, who headlined his first full-blown concert last Friday at Whiskey Tango in Grain Valley.

He and DeMoss just put the finishing touches on a four-song EP, and it looks like the CD will be ready for Ireland’s on-site merchandise stands later in the week.

The original songs on the CD are the semi-autobiographcial “The Hat,” “Don’t Go There,” Miss Small Town” and “Fly Around.”

Ireland, DeMoss, director Zack Bartow and cast, crew and friends spent all day Sunday at Mingle, a bar in Lee’s Summit, cutting a video (please see column on Page B1) for “Fly Around,” that will have everyone talking.

It’s an edgy story of a lonely man with a dark secret and passion for things that will get him in plenty of trouble.

The video is the polar opposite of what Ireland is experiencing in real life.

In seven weeks he will get married, and his music career is soaring.

“I saw Bransen doing an acoustic set at Whiskey Tango and couldn’t believe his presence with just an acoustic guitar – that, at the time, he couldn’t even play that well,” DeMoss said.

“Now, he’s got a tight band, a lot of original material and a support group that will do anything to get his career going in the right direction. It’s all pretty exciting.”

As he walks around MonsterTrax, Ireland strums the strings on a guitar that is hanging around his neck.

“He always has that guitar with him” said DeMoss’ wife, Joni, a member of the Ireland team.

“We see Bransen at our home or here in the studio, and he’s such a polite, great young man. And then, we see him on stage and he has such a great presence. It’s hard to believe we’re watching the same individual.”

An intensely private and sometimes shy young man, Ireland enjoys cutting loose in front of an appreciative audience.

There was a time in his life when he thought he could get that adrenaline rush from playing football. But the 2008 Blue Springs grad shattered his ankle, and his football dreams, his senior year.

At the urging of a friend at Ottawa (Kan.) University, he picked up a guitar and taught himself to play. He then began writing his own music, and now he is trying to make a career out of it.

Ireland and his family and support staff are just hoping the right music people hear his songs.

And that’s not a difficult task, as Ireland has performed at the Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City, and a variety of Eastern Jackson County venues.

Whiskey Tango is a good home base, but DeMoss knows he needs to expand his horizons.

That’s why Ireland is taking his show on the road to play a variety of county fairs throughout Missouri.

“It’s a tough business,” DeMoss said, “especially when you’re not in Nashville or down in Texas. We’re trying to make a go here in Missouri, and we know we have a long road, but we know that Bransen is worth it and that someday all this hard work is going to pay off.”



SEE HIM, BUY MUSIC ONLINE: See the video for “The Hat” on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/BransenIrelandMusic?feature=mhum). See his Facebook page
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bransen-Ireland-Music/174614132578935?ref=ts&sk=wall) or buy his songs on iTunes (search Bransen Ireland).

UPCOMING LIVE DATES: Aug. 2, Trenton County Fair; Aug. 5, Whiskey Tango with Lee Brice and Candy Coburn; Aug. 7, Whiskey Tango (First Annual Midwest Sturgis Stop For Military Appreciation Week); Aug. 10, Knuckleheads, Kansas City; Sept. 9, Grain Valley Fair Daze headliner; Sept. 16, Blue Springs Fall Fun Fest headliner; Sept. 24, Long Shots, Grain Valley (times of appearances have not been determined).
- Bill Althaus