Brandon Owen Reid

Brandon Reid is from Fairbanks, from the great interior of Alaska. According to the folks at the local paper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Reid has “a tattoo of a star in the middle of his right hand. When he curls his fingers and makes his hand the shape of Alaska, he can clearly show off his hometown.” I love his devotion and sense of place. Why, though, should flyfisherfolk care about this city that is so close to the Arctic Circle?

Well . . . how about this . . . Fairbanks owes its very founding to a fly fishing river. About 110 years ago, a steamboat carrying Captain E.T. Barnette, who was looking to set up a trading post somewhere else, ran aground at a shallow place on the Chena River. Two gold prospectors saw smoke from the steamboat’s engine, clearly saw an opportunity, hustled over and met Barnette when he disembarked at the site of the grounding. The two men – then and there – convinced Barnette to change his plans and establish his trading post at that site, instead. He did. That was 1901 and that was the founding of Fairbanks. - REEL GREASE

FAIRBANKS - It’s always a little overwhelming to look back on a year of arts and entertainment in Fairbanks. There’s so much — so much of it great — that it’s hard to narrow down to the best. However, each year there’s always that one that seems to stand out among the rest, only waiting to get topped by something bigger and better in 2012.

Best local album
Brandon Reid, ‘Stuck in the City’

Fairbanks is a small place, but as a whole, sometimes Alaska seems even smaller. When talking about “local” music, I consider it broad. Local, to me, includes Anchorage songstress Marian Call and even Portland, Ore.-based but Wasilla-bred rockers Portugal. The Man. It’s fair to say that any Alaska connection is a local connection.

In going through those records, the one that always comes back to me is Brandon Reid’s “Stuck in the City.” Reid was raised in Fairbanks but has toured across the world while calling Interior Alaska home.

Reid held a special album release party for Fairbanksans in September. The community had a chance to grab the record before it was released on BandCamp or any other digital sharing device. It was a treat. A mixture of Reid’s church hymnal roots (he first played guitar for his grandma’s church) and stomp-folk rock ’n’ roll style, the album opens with attention-grabbing songs such as “Dead Bones” and the ultra-catchy “Wandering Man.” It then delves into the more serious, relationship-reminiscing of “If I Fell” and “Love Me Yesterday.” It’s a raw and honest account of Reid’s evolution as a musician and a man.

Reid is now touring the U.S., hoping to make a go of things. If this album is a mark of things to come, then I can’t wait for more.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Humor heartbreak highlight Fairbanks arts entertainment in 2011
- Suzanna Caldwell

randon Reid, Erin Cole-Baker @ Buffalo Gap Saloon, May 5, 2011, by s.baker

I can’t say enough good things about Brandon Reid‘s music. I first heared him through the walls of Little Edie’s Five and Dime and had to step outside to get a better listen. I was struck by his crackling voice, so strong, sincere and sweet, and his lyrics went straight to my heart. I got a preview of Brandon’s first album, to be released later this year and I’d say barely a day goes by that I don’t wish I had it already.
Tonight, listen to Brandon Reid with Erin Cole-Baker at the Buffalo Gap Saloon, sometimes a travelin man only comes through town once. - S.Baker

This video is part of the KSUA Take Out series, started in the summer of 2011 up at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The student run radio station, KSUA, invites local and visiting artists of Fairbanks, Alaska to come up and perform a couple tunes in the studio, while being interviewed. Additionally they take the artist(s) out to a location around the UAF campus to perform a song or two.

Brandon Reid is a long-standing musician within the Fairbanks, Alaska music scene. He has performed and toured around the lower 48 with the local punk outfit, The Scurvies, for a number of years in addition to his involvement with Daniel Firmin as Fang Spray, or simply an acoustic duo.

For the last couple years, Reid has been traveling around the world, performing and recording his solo act. Most notably he has performed in Australia in addition to extensive touring in the continental United States.

Reid's first full-length cd, Stuck in the City, should be released in the next few weeks: October, 2011. The performed song, Strong Man, is found on the album.

myspace.com/?musicbrandonreid - Caleb Kuntz

I was just getting settled for the evening. Joe got home from work, we were making plans for dinner and I had already put on my comfy black yoga pants — the ones that Joe loathes but that I insist on wearing due to their comfort. Then the phone rang. Joe chatted with his good friend Chris for a while and I overheard him say, “I’ll ask her.” Uh oh. Now what? “Rebecca, would you mind taking a photo of some artwork for Brandon’s CD? But it has to be done…uh…tonight” Joe said. “What??? But I’m in my comfy pants!” We went back and forth and finally worked out a deal that included Chris bringing me the artwork AND dinner. And then the deal wound up becoming an impromptu photoshoot with Brandon himself…
Now Brandon is a character. A tad intimidating, a tad loud, a tad extreme, but he has a great heart and you would be hard pressed to find a nicer guy. And his music? Phenomenal. Seriously. I’m not just saying that because I know him. This guy can sing, write and play a guitar and banjo in a way that makes me so jealous. His sound is very Folk/Bluegrass. Kind of like The Avett Brothers meets The Decemberists (which is funny because I said that before I knew the drummer from The Decemberists did all the percussion on Brandon’s CD) — but don’t take my word for it, head out to The Blue Loon this Saturday evening at 9pm for his CD release…
So here are a few of my favorites from the shortest photoshoot I’ve ever done (these were taken in about 15 minutes right across the street from my house). I originally was going to have Brandon near some cool trees, but then he told me the title of his cd was “Stuck in the City” so we changed the plan and used this sidewalk and fence for our inspiration… - Rebecca Kurber

Brandon Reid
Stuck in the City

Kung Fu Bakery

There are some singer songwriters who write songs about being cassanovas and dandies, and they brag they haven’t worked a day in their life and you believe them. But when Brandon sings about working hard- it sounds so genuine and world weary you trust that this voice has traveled some roads and lifted some heavy things. Brandon sings with a tenderness, an authentic honesty. There is a timelessness and an integrity so I trust that when he sings of breaking his back it has come from a genuine experience.
On this, his first album, he has some fantastic musicians helping out, and some beautiful female vocals from. He demonstrates control in the vibrato of his voice, that ads that extra touch of sympathy to his poetic observations. The last track demonstrates this as he stomps his foot on a wooden floor. This track has an interesting choice in equalization that makes the track sound like it came from a radio 80 years ago.

Somehow in his lyrics regarding relationships with women he strikes the nail on the head with lines like “golden girls can’t fall in love with anyone.” Another tear jerker is the line, “I know that many men have tried at winning you, I’ve got nothing to prove but I would lie that down and raise the stakes, cuz I ain’t got no place without you.” In his lyrics about love he sings about a man deciding he is ready to commit, and feelings of fear over being rejected. He will break your heart with lines like “take your hand in mine, (let’s) go as fast as we want it to.”

A surprisingly sweet moment comes when he voices that something important to him in a wife; one who “wouldn’t correct me whenever I had an idea in my head.” I suppose we all want that, but do we have the balls to ask for it? He sings of his unborn children, and his love for them and his plan to “teach them to work hard so the land wouldn’t starve them.” It reminds me of Jeffrey lewis’ “Back when I was Four” as he muses about his unwritten future. Other times, Brandon reminds me of David Dondero or Bright Eyes.
Many of these songs are about God, the devil and a wandering soul trying to make sense of it all. On first listen, you might confuse it for a gospel album.
I talked to him about why he writes songs about god. He said ” I did feel awkward about it once. I was afraid that people would judge me, but as those songs came out I saw they just couldn’t be any other way.”

The story of how he recorded this album is basically a musicians dream come true. He played a show in Portland, Oregon and a producer approached him and said “I like your songs, I’d like to record your album.” Maybe this has happened to a lot of people and its often crack pots or creepy guys hitting on girls at open mics, but this time he was legit and his studio regularly records successful touring bands including Tegan and Sarah.
Kelli Schaefer’s vocals are a delightful frosting on the cake. Supposedly, after she played a show, Brandon approached her and told her “I like your voice- please sing on my record,” and she did!
Thats how we all wish it would go! But that kind of luck doesn’t happen to even 1 % of musicians.

He has toured in Australia and the states. This is his first album and it is fantastic. Listen, share it with your friends, your mom, your pastor, and everyone.

Facebook.com/Brandonreidmusic - Isaac Paris

FAIRBANKS - Local musician Brandon Reid is leaving town. But before he goes, he wants to make sure his hometown gets the first listen, and the first chance to buy, his first full-length album.

“Stuck in the City,” first released as an EP last year, has been extended and completely rerecorded as an LP. Recorded at Portland, Ore.’s famous Kung Fu Bakery (other artists who’ve recorded there include Pink Martini, Teagan and Sara and The Shins), Reid worked with The Decemberists drummer John Moen to create an album with impressive depth that stays true to Reid’s Alaska experiences and life.

The album will have a limited release Saturday at The Blue Loon. Reid will be joined by Luke Bechel, lead singer of the Fairbanks-based band Sweating Honey. It’s Reid’s way of paying homage to his community.

“I wanted to do something special in Fairbanks,” Reid said. “I’ll (wide) release it soon, with the biggest bang we can get. But I wanted family to get it first.”

Grab it while you can. The album is an impressive outing, a mixture of Reid’s church hymnal roots (he first played guitar for his grandma’s church) and stomp-folk rock ’n’ roll style. The album opens with attention-grabbing songs such as “Dead Bones” and the ultra-catchy “Wandering Man.” It then delves into the more serious, relationship-reminiscing of “If I Fell” and “Love Me Yesterday,” both backed by Portland-based singer Kelli Schaefer. Schaefer adds an extra layer of softness, depth and musical back-and-forth that is painfully romantic.

There’s a definite sense that Reid has grown over the course of the album. Songs like “Weary Son” and “Dear Lord” not only invoke a strong gospel feel but also a sense that Reid is having a reckoning. A reckoning with what is unclear, but it can’t be denied that it’s impressive as he moans “Dear Lord,” over and over again in the song of the same name.

“(The album) is a mixture of being a traveler and wanting to settle down,” Reid said. “About building a life in one place but being drawn to the road.”

For now, the road is where Reid is headed. He said he plans to play 200 shows before he returns to Fairbanks. He has gigs lined up in Denver and Portland, then hopes to head to Nashville. He’s not sure how long it will take him to play all 200, but he knows it will happen.

“The past six years have been a staircase to get to this point,” he said. “There have been a lot of changes, but it’s exciting to see what happens from here. It’s never been as serious as it is now.”


Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Brandon Reid says goodbye for now with CD release party - Latitude 65

"Brandon Reid is returning to home turf after months of banging out
tunes for Australian audiences. He is a man that only ever stops to write, practice and perform. His stomps reflect the steps he's taken in ascending his music from the street to the stage. They also signify the imprint left on those who
listen. His journeys are collected in songs that swing back and forth
in your head as if they've always been there, creating nostalgia for
people you've never met, for places you've never been.

His EP, Stuck in the City is a taste of all the lives he's lived, the
roots of his repertoire. From grandma's gospel singer to punk rock
and roller to folk musician, raw and real; you can hear whispers of it
all on here. The songs are souvenirs of his experience; listening to
them gives a hint of Brandon Reid's world.

He's been writing the path ahead with new songs. They grow with him
on the road and you're invited to be part of the story."

Kathryn Hind-Reverb Magazine - Reverb Magazine