Guitars & Grievances: Pre-Order Now!

I can't express how excited I am that we are nearly to the release of my new album. These songs mean so much to me because they were inspired by you, the fans and the stories of people of this country. While on tour last summer, I was captivated by your stories, your hardship, and above all your compassion. In many ways, this album is a tribute to you.

Being on the road with just my guitar and loop pedal made me decide to record this album just like that. All the songs were recorded with just my trusty 6 string, and my voice. Think of the album as a live show recorded to perfection. I think there is great power in simple story telling, in a guitar and a voice.

You can pre-order your copy of Guitars & Grievances now right HERE

You will instantly get the first two tracks, including the first single and title track, Guitars & Grievances.
On the day of the digital release, December 20th (Just in time for Christmas) you will receive and email to download the whole album in any format you desire.

Thank you so much for your support and inspiration!

Brandon

Story behind the Album: Guitars & Grievances

Very excited to be in the final stages of mixing and promotion for my new album, Guitars & Grievances.

Inspired by stories and experience from the road, Guitars & Grievances reflects the hardships, grievances, and spirit of the American people. In this time of great upheaval and change, I was drawn to the poets and storytellers of the 60's and 70's and how they became a voice for a generation fighting against the status quo. This influence combined with my experience traveling across the country with just my guitar and voice led me to create a very distinct sound for this album. A protest album, Guitars & Grievances also reflects the incredible level of community and compassion that I found while sharing music from coast to coast.



All the sounds on this album were created with either my guitar or voice and is a very lyrical album. At this point, the release date is set for early December, 2011! More details soon!

In The Studio

ORD --> LGA

4th of July

Kenosha Wisconsin fireworks. We were entertained before hand by an entire family brawl, cops and all! Happy Birthday America!

Sunset

My dad's farm in Illinois.

Lincoln Park Zoo!

Ahhh!!

Brandon Anderson - This One's For You

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6rY1Q3Gu_4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my iPhone

Chicago

Well we reached the final night of the tour in my hometown area. Elbo Room was a great venue and Stephen Leonard joining us was a great finale to the whole tour. Lots of friends and family came out so it was a very warm homecoming.

Des Moines

Super fun night in Des Moines! Drag queen interludes. What more can I say?

Also an amazing host who cooked us an incredible meal. We love you Iowa!

Manhattan, Kansas

I'll admit, I didn't know what to expect from a small town in Kansas. Manhattan is on a college campus next to a military base and we played on the main drinking drag.

I must say that what I found was an incredible venue with an amazing and attentive crowd. My set went very well and I had one of those amazing moments as a performer where the music takes over and you just ride it.

After the show, we went out and found the nightlife to be a total blast. There was a surprisingly diverse and live music driven crowd and we danced the night away.

We woke up to a beautiful rolling landscape and all agreed that the little apple is a really awesome place. Onward to Des Moines!

Driving Across Kansas

Denver

Great space in Denver! AND a grand piano!!

Salt Lake City

Had an amazing show in Salt Lake! Got to see family and add a great group to my music family. The space we played in was beautiful and our host Tom was incredible. The show went great and everyone was awesome.

On to Denver!

Boise

We had a great time in Boise! After a long drive down through the mountains we arrived and played one of our best shows yet. The crowd was great and responsive and it really felt like we were hitting our stride even with being exhausted.

After the show we were hosted by the amazing Gary (who is a very talented poet who read from his new book, "Where I Come From but No Longer Exist," during our show) and Colin and hit the hay after a quick dinner. Salt Lake tonight!

Rolling through Washington

Night Falls on our Venue

Spokane

Last night, we got to play at this incredible gazebo in a beautiful park in Spokane. Outdoor venues are always fun, especially when they have giant pine trees watching over you.

We had a great crowd and Jeremiah rev'd them up by incentivizing the donation process. If we reached $150, he would run through the splash pads in the park with his speedo... Let's just say we made it. We needed the gas money for sure.

Afterwards we hit up Karaoke! It was a great night! Onwards to Boise!

Washington Wind Farm

Seattle

Had an amazing night in Seattle! We played in an incredible hundred year old house with a widows watch overlooking downtown. The crowd was amazing and I got to try out some new songs. I'm very sad to leave Seattle so soon (and the ocean), but it's off to Spokane!

Olympic Airshow

Stopped for lunch outside Olympia Washington and stumbles upon an air show.

Transformative Portland

I had the best time in Portland. Every time I'm in this city I feel healed and transformed. We had the most amazing hosts in Sally, Opal, and Sam, who opened up there home in a way that opened up my heart. The crowd was the most inspiring group of people I have had the pleasure of sharing music with in a long time. I felt like I was home and even wrote a song this morning. I love you Portland, and the amazing people that live in it.

Special thanks to my besties family who came out to see me. Love you guys!

Fort Astoria

No Entry!

Ma Barley

Astoria, OR

Last night was a great show at a really cool venue in downtown Astoria. After we played, the incredible Ma Barley took the stage and we danced all night. Great first night of the tour!

Beauty

MT Shasta

Looming large and beautiful.

Space shower at the Motel 6

Utah Sunset

Can't beat the Utah sunset I saw last night as a thunderstorm came rolling over the mountains.

SLC --> OAK

Sitting in the Salt Lake airport awaiting my flight to Oakland to catch up with my friend Jeremiah Clark and the Sad Song Tour. Very excited!

To the Sky!

Climbed at Maple Canyon in Utah today. One of my favorite places in the world and definitely some of the best climbing.

Double Rainbow!!

What does it mean!

More Scary Roadside Shops

I think he's supposed to be a fur trapper...

Roadside Stop

Definitely the scariest thing I have seen at a roadside pit stop.

Poolside

A little respite from the road.

Into the Desert

After staying in New Mexico, today was the drive into Arizona and the southwest desert. A dry, but beautiful landscape often symbolic of transition and self discovery that makes me wonder what I will find.

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Including their tourist traps!
You get a free 72oz steak! ... If you can eat it and a full set of sides in under an hour.

Oooooo-klahoma!

The Long Drive

So I have been driving from Madison to Amarillo, Texas. Drove through the night and watched the sun rise on the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri. As the fog burned off and the rolling hills leveled into the plains of Oklahoma, I was stuck by how quickly the landscape changes and how the sun rising changes your perspective.

Around 9am, I passed Joplin, and was completely stunned by the devastation.

A long drive, but a great opportunity for perspective.

Sent from my iPhone

Up up and Away

Crazy thunderhead we passed just outside of NYC. I think that's where they make lightning bolts.

And it begins!

LGA --> ORD

Story behind the Song: Of The Free

After the passage of Proposition 8 in California I was angry. Very Angry.

When they repealed gay marriage in Maine my anger was washed away and all I was left with was hurt. I remember crying myself to sleep that night thinking that equality was hopeless. We could pass laws, but as long as people held hatred in their hearts no change would last. I woke up the next morning with a strange calm. I took my songbook with me as I boarded the subway to go to another day of work at a soul crushing day job.

As I sat on the train I just began to write how I felt and it came flowing out from a place of resigned honesty. There was no anger left, and the song came out uninterrupted. By the time I reached my stop, I had written the complete lyric in its song form. I have never written a song like that in my life.

After work, I rushed to a small practice room at NYU and the music flowed out as easily as the words had and in less than a half an hour the song was written. I knew right away that the song was special because of the way it came out intact and also the way it felt to play.

After sharing it with some friends, I decided to play it at an the open mic at Caffe Vivaldi, where I try out a lot of my songs. The room was packed that night and I was a bit nervous to play such a political and personal song. While the song is definitely political, it also is the most personal song I have ever written. As I played, I became very emotional and I realized that performing this song was definitely going to open up very raw parts of myself every time.

When I finished, the room erupted into applause like I have never received. People began to stand and I saw tears in peoples' eyes. I have never seen that kind of response at an open mic before. After I got off stage, people came up to me and told me how much it meant to hear someone say those things. I had a straight man come up to me and tell me that he had never thought of the issue that way and said it had totally changed his view on it. That is the kind of response a writer always dreams of.

I kept playing the song to huge responses and my producer, Mark Marshall told me we had to pause recording my album and record the track immediately. We did, and we were able to recruit the amazing talent of Michael Leonhart (Grammy Award winning horn player) to put the horns on the album. The recording process was emotional and amazing and just continued my feeling that this song was different than anything I had ever written.

I am very excited to share this with you all, and I truly hope it can reach people and make them see this very personal issue in a new way.

Love.





Buy your copy here.

Peer Motivation: Rachel Epp

When I first started playing out in NYC, I frequented the open mic at Caffe Vivaldi in the West Village. I remember being awed by the talent that congregated in this beautiful venue and being incredibly nervous to actually play for the first time. I happened to sit at a table across from two lovely ladies who I was about to see play. One was the incredible Mary Jennings (more on this artist later), and the other was Rachel Epp. Both of them floored me when they played, which made it all the more rewarding when they commented positively on my songs and began to welcome me into their circle of friends. That feeling of welcome really helped me find the confidence to keep putting myself out there.

I remember that Rachel played her song "Beautiful Like This." This is one of those songs that you hear for the first time and it changes your life. I was stunned by the beautiful melody and lyrics but more so by the deep emotional connection and flawlessness of the voice that delivered them. There is a purity when Rachel sings that lets the listener right in to the heart of the song. I remember thinking that the song may be one of the best songs I had ever heard. To this day, it is still one of my favorite songs.

Our friendship grew, as did my appreciation for her as an artist. I began to attend singer/songwriter sessions at Mary's apartment with Rachel and others from the Vivaldi open mic, and I really felt like I had found a supportive artist community in New York. I also had found a wealth of inspiration from these fellow artists.

Rachel has just released her new EP "Rosary," which can be found on iTunes. From start to finish, this album is inspired. With her flawless voice that spins melodies as smooth as silk, and the breathtaking arrangements of her brilliant writing, "Rosary" manages to transcend genre and create its own space in the musical continuum.




From the first note of "Ghost in the Graveyard," Rachel hooks in the listener to a tale of youth and the first tinges of reality that bring about the loss of innocence. Set to the backdrop of the popular children's game, the carelessness of being a child is juxtaposed with the first inclings of love and loss. This focus sets up the theme of the songs to follow. In essence, the EP is an examination of a woman's journey to adulthood through the lens of love and loss.

"East of the River," picks up the thread by examining the feeling of being isolated in the city and the realization that the distance that separates people is not only geographic. The guitar work and production on this song is extra sweet and reinforces the longing that permeates this track.

"Virginia" is one of those epic songs that somehow captures a whole moment in time and extrapolates the meaning of life out of it. I was seriously addicted to this song for a few months, listening to it on repeat to try and glean another facet of this incredible song. At its heart, "Virginia" is about going home and realizing that it can never be the same as it was before you left. This is reinforced by the fact that she is returning home to say goodbye to a dying relative, which solidifies the fact that there is no going back. Only the slow progression of time is left and the memories of the way that it used to be. This song will grab your heart and leave you with nostalgia for your own lost memories.

"Beautiful Like This" is one of my favorite songs of all time. This simple yet emotionally deep song about leaving and knowing that there is no going back once the moment it passed is universal and a perfect song to follow and reinforce "Virginia."

"Are you taking a picture? Are you taking this all in? Cause it could be the last time that it looks like this."

If only we could always be as present in our lives as this song is. The way she paints the moment is in a way the picture that she sings about, which forever captures it in this beautiful imagery.

Transcendent. Emotional. Beautiful.

"Wasted" rounds up the album as a seemingly more wise and weathered woman deals with an emotionally unavailable man and tries desperately to reach him. In the end, she is now seeking a partner who can match her presence and experience.

"Rosary" is an amazing debut for this gifted artist and amazing woman. In life, she oozes a calm strength and beauty the is contagious and her music is just an extension of this. From the writing, to the production, to the incredible performances, "Rosary" is sure to leave a lasting impression on any listener and help them discover their own inner beauty.

Buy it here
Find her here