Published in Canadian Musician , August '97
PAUL BRANDT -- THE STORM CONTINUES
BY NICK KREWEN
You know how they say cream always rises to the top? Well, no one is more frothy at the moment than PAUL BRANDT!
Only 25, he has the world in the palm of his hands -- even though he'd probably be the last to admit it. Blessed with a subterranean baritone that can smoothly slide up a couple of octaves to Tenortown; a Midas touch for writing instant country classics; and an endearing personality that's as polite and engaging as they come, the Calgary born, bred and based singer and songwriter is Canada's latest country music sensation to cast aside the barricades of Fort Nashville and win the acceptance of their normally stoic music industry.
In the whirlwind year and a half since the launch of his debut album Calm Before The Storm, Brandt has firmly entrenched himself in the hearts of Canadian country music lovers with the romantically smitten toe-tapper as "My Heart Has A History;" "I Do," the wedding anthem destined to launch thousands of relationships; and the forlorn "Calm Before The Storm." Two hundred thousand copies later, Calm Before The Storm has already earned the former nurse a Canadian Country Music Award for SOCAN Song Of The Year ("Heart"), a Juno Award for Country Male Vocalist Of The Year, and a sweep at this year's Big Country Awards.
History is likely to repeat itself at the CCMA Awards ceremony at Hamilton Place this September 8, as Brandt's seven nominations -- including the prestigious CMT Maple Leaf Fans' Choice Entertainer Of The Year honors, decided by the people who matter most -- place the broom firmly in his hands. Like SHANIA TWAIN and TERRI CLARK before him, Paul Brandt is a legitimate star for whom staying power seems a likely legacy; a first-rate ambassador plowing his own future on the field of dreams.
South of the border, Brandt is also a Cinderfella story in the making. Calm Before The Storm is gold, which in United States human currency translates into over 500,000 bewitched country fans touched by his unabashed romanticism and sensitive melodic prose.
Completing this first chapter of the fairytale is Brandt's own personal happiness. The former PAUL BELOBERSYCKY married the former ELIZABETH PETERSON earlier this year in the very church where they were hit by Cupid's arrows during Christmas '95. Separated for a good portion of their courtship by Brandt's rigorous road-and-recording schedule, the happy couple are now bunking together in tour buses and singing on stage every night as they divide their time between Nashville and Calgary.
Later this month, Brandt launches his sophomore album Outside The Frame, on Warner Reprise Nashville. It's a fine fun-loving follow-up to Calm Before The Storm, with Brandt wisely avoiding the pitfalls of repeating the formula that first brought him success.
From the lighthearted rapture of "Chain Reaction" and the entertaining wordplay of "A Little In Love," through the tender inside of the title track, Outside The Frame is the confident, cultivated second statement that many a Music City rookie wish they would have made before Xeroxing their career into oblivion.
For those of you waiting for the Paul Brandt chariot to turn into a pumpkin, don't hold your breath. It ain't gonna happen.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Paul Brandt's career is its evolution. A true CCMA overnight success story, Brandt's rags-to-riches winfall happened with very little prompting and not much sacrifice. Prior to signing with Reprise in 1994, Brandt had no band, no touring experience and had basically limited himself to entering contests, including The Bud Country Talent Search that eventually brought him to the attention of Warner Music Canada A&R chief KIM COOKE and vice-president of marketing and promotion RANDY STARK at Hamilton's Tivoli Theatre. He was earning his paycheque as a pediatric nurse at the Alberta Children's Hospital when the life-changing call came from PAIGE LEVY, A&R director of Warner Reprise Nashville.
"That contest really kind of sparked everything for me," Brandt agrees. "It proved to be the catalyst that got me into the business. I had never really thought about the music business or becoming an entertainer. But it found me. I really wasn't searching for it at all."
So come and read the tale of a man named Paul, whose sudden fame and rapid-fire success has surprised 'em all: Paul Brandt in his own words, exclusively for Canadian Musician.
PAUL BRANDT: THE BEGINNING
"When I was growing up, we didn't listen to music on the radio. We didn't even have a TV until I was 13. My parents listened to SANDI PATTI and THE GAITHERS, LARNELLE HARRIS and others, as well as the traditional gospel standards that everyone remembers from their childhood church repertoire -- "Rock Of Ages" and "Amazing Grace."
"I loved singing around the house, and my mother really encouraged me to get up and sing in front of people. I hated it. I remember that when I picked up the guitar the first time and started playing it, every time someone would come over to our place, she would ask me to play something and sing for people. I would just crawl down to my room and not want to come out. I just hated being in front of people."
"I first picked up guitar when I joined general music class in the ninth grade at Crescent City Heights in Calgary. We had these terrible old classical guitars. They were beat up, and I think the strings were about an inch away from the fret. It was just agony to try and chord anything. The teacher would show us a chord progression, and for half an hour we'd just strum through this progression. Then he'd start teaching songs like "Down In The Valley," "Beautiful Brown Eyes," and "Streets Of Laredo" -- all these old country standards.
"I brought a guitar home one day to practice. I sat in the kitchen and Mom comes in and gets this look in her eye. That was the moment it was all over: I was getting lessons, and that's all there was to it. I went through a number of different instructors. I hated it. It was classical music.
"One fella would show me how something was played. Once I heard it and saw it, I would pick it up. I don't know if that's cheating, but that's how I've picked up a lot of my guitar playing. I've always enjoyed watching others play. I'm nowhere near what I'd call a guitarist. I have my own style, but I'm not sure it's anything anyone would want to copy. But I really enjoy playing, and it's constantly a battle to try to find something new to challenge myself and become a better player."
PAUL BRANDT: THE SONGWRITER
"I started writing when I was 14, and the music that came out started sounding more country than anything else. I really enjoyed seeing the response I could get when I'd write a song and see people smile. Slowly but surely, I started to get over the shyness, joined the choir in high school and started enjoying vocal jazz."
For Brandt, songwriting has always been more prose than con.
"I've always really enjoyed poetry. English has been a big love of mine right from the first moment I walked into an English class. There's something about being able to relate stories and poems and feelings in a confined piece of time. That's really what songwriting is about for me. It's like writing a play: you've got three minutes to accomplish everything.
"I remember the first poems I wrote to the music that I was beginning to learn on guitar. I started off with love songs. One of the first was an overly dramatic love ballad that I wrote for music class. I got a pretty good grade on it, so that encouraged me to keep going. I was breaking up with a girlfriend in high school, and we were sitting in the car at the time. I looked in the rear view mirror and that sign "Objects In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear" inspired me to write a song around it."
Brandt points to his gospel music upbringing as a direct influence in his writing style.
"The soulfulness and the heart of that music definitely influenced my country music sound. I believe that it comes through the music that I write, and it really influenced the way I looked at it -- both in the passion and the formula.
"Some of those songs are so structured, and that's reflected in some of my earlier stuff. There was a real pattern to the way I was writing songs. But that's changed since I've been thrown into the Nashville music scene."
Brandt credits producer JOSH LEO -- whose other Canadian credit includes PRAIRIE OYSTER's Only One Moon -- with expanding his compositional vocabulary.
"He approaches music from such a separate way. He's a guitar player and really sticks to melody lines. He will write an entire song melodically, then throw the idea to a friend of his -- me or one of his other writers -- and work on the lyrics completely separately. So that has introduced me to a completely different way of looking at songs. But it was gospel that influenced me at the start."
Brandt's songwriting habits vary, especially with the time constrictions of a busy career and a new marriage.
"Writing has been really difficult for me lately, just because of time," he admits. "I haven't had time to sit down and get into the mindset. But I think to be a good songwriter, you just have to be a really good observer of life. You have to be able to sense what's going on around you, then either embellish it or deduct from it to make it believable, and do it in a way that people can connect at a heart level.
"People respond to country music because it deals with everyday issues: life and death and love and hate. For me, a song idea sometimes starts with a melody that gets stuck in my head while I'm singing in the shower and won't go away. If I can't remember it by the end of the day, then it probably wasn't worth remembering.
"Lyrically, it's a catchphrase. I'll write it down and come back to it later. Sometimes it happens at three o' clock in the morning, which can be a pain. But it's really exciting and rewarding for me to see that final product.
"Some of it is autobiographical, but it's fun to have a fantasy life through your songwriting as well, as long as you're entertaining."
PAUL BRANDT: THE FIRST MILESTONES
Stage fright and shyness are two of the more debilatating obstacles a performer has to deal with. Brandt broke the fear barrier during a very public ordeal -- his high school graduation.
"We were at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary, because it was a pretty big graduating class of 3000 people. I had been chosen to sing "Amazing Grace" acapella. I was wearing the dorky blue gown, and they called my name and I walked onto this huge stage. The microphone was on the opposite side, and the crowd was silent. My back was tightening up with every step across that stage, and my mouth was as dry as cotton. I took a deep breath and started singing.
"After I got over the spotlight shining in my eyes, I looked down and saw someone wiping a tear away. I didn't realize I had the ability to make people feel through my singing, and when I saw that, my terror and fright suddenly disappeared. I felt that I was home.
"I really think that's the moment I got the performing bug. Every time I see someone in the audience react that way, I'm really excited. It's definitely self-perpetuating. You want to get up there the next day and the next day and keep doing it."
Brandt said he had a sense of déjà vu when he opened last year's CCMA Awards telecast with his rendition of "My Heart Has A History."
"I was quite nervous that day," he recalls. "I still get butterflies, but it's more of an excited feeling now. But it was exciting to be able to open the show and represent Canada in that way as well as Calgary, to be recognized by my peers and fans.
"I remember performing that song "Objects In A Mirror" in a talent contest the first time I was at the Calgary Exhibition's Talent Showdown, and I placed in the top ten. I had never been in a band before, but I played with the contest band and got a chance to be on TV. It's hilarious. I still have the tape. I didn't have any clue as to who I was or where I was going musically. While it looked awkward, it's neat to look back and see there were certain things I was doing at that time that have stuck with me through the years."
"One of the prizes in winning the Bud Country Talent Search was the opportunity to record a song at a professional studio, and the song would be included on a compilation CD with a bunch of MCA recording audiences. So the first time I ever saw my song was on a CD with TRISHA YEARWOOD and GEORGE JONES. There were all these huge names, and at the bottom: Paul Brandt -- contest winner.
"I recorded the original version of "Calm Before The Storm," and they started playing it locally in Calgary, then right across Canada. I was driving home on the Trans-Canada highway when I heard it start up on the radio. I got so excited I started driving faster and zipped home, so I could listen to the rest of it! It was a neat feeling to realize that there were potentially millions of people hearing that song."
There was another bonus from all the airplay: Paul Brandt's first SOCAN cheque.
"I think I ended up making about $500 from "Calm Before The Storm" from the airplay I got the first time, which wasn't too bad. It's always been amazing to me that you can work hard writing a song, but when it's done, it's done. You put it to bed, and then it starts getting played on the radio and you make that mailbox money. It's really cool that a copyright gives you a chance to make money while you sleep."
PAUL BRANDT: ON COPYRIGHT
"The money you make as a songwriter can be very substantial and rewarding," says Brandt. "There are some serious issues going on with copyright law in regards to the Internet, and one where restaurants are lobbying to use music in their establishments for free. It infuriates me that there are business people who are gaining an advantage by using something that I have created, making money off it, and then bringing in the argument that music is free and it should be for everybody.
"I would never expect to walk into a restaurant and get a free meal. People don't seem to realize that the music business is a business. As much as fame, fortune and glamour are components, when you're starting off as a musician there's a lot of investment.
"You pay for a band. You pay for a bus. You pay for equipment. Much of the time when you're getting things started and making a name for yourself, you're playing for free and living on a lot of Kraft Dinner. Those days are fortunately starting to disappear for me. I feel very fortunate for the chance to do what I do. But in the United States or in Canada, I don't think anyone should have something taken away that they created and used for someone else's benefit. I don't think it's right, and I feel it's a very important issue. It's only fair that songwriters be compensated for their work."
PAUL BRANDT: THE ENTERTAINER
Ladies and gentlemen, The Paul Brandt band. Drum roll, please!
"We've got STEVE ROSEN, our keyboard player and our band leader. The first time I saw him play I was at a DWIGHT YOAKAM concert and SUZY BOGGUSS opened for him at the Saddledome. There was this dark-haired young man up there bashing at the keyboards, and I'd never thought anything else of it until I bumped into him in Nashville one day and it was like, `Hey, aren't you that guy?' We've become really close friends.
"CHRIS MOORE is our utility man. He plays acoustic and mandolin and electric guitar and just about anything I'll ask him to play. We've got JEFF WAMBLE on the steel guitar and slide guitar. CHUCK FIELDS is a real gifted drummer, and he's complemented by JAY LOWDER on bass and BRIAN FRANKLIN on the lead guitar. Brian's played with ALAN JACKSON, and you might recognize his name because his brother is PAUL FRANKLIN, one of the best steel players in the world.
"We use Shure microphones and wireless units right now, and I have a couple of Epiphone electric guitars. One of them is the Riviera model and the other is the Casino model and they 're just so much fun to play. They're the last guitar styles THE BEATLES used on their last tour, and I'm a huge Beatles fan. So is Josh Leo, by the way, and you've probably noticed that on these last couple of albums, because we steal quite a few Beatles ideas and put them into our stuff. But I get to pretend I'm a Beatle with the Epiphone.
"For acoustic guitars we used Takamine guitars. They're built like battleships. These things are great for the road, and they're electronic sound is awesome. They're real comfortable to play. The ones I play have a thinner neck so I can wrap my awkward fingers around them. They look good, sound good and perform well."
"For recording, I've got a Roland VS880 right now, and it's a great little home studio. I'm still trying to figure how everything works. I haven't had a chance to sit down and tinker, but I've done some of my demos here at home, and it's a great songwriting tool."
PAUL BRANDT: OUTSIDE THE FRAME
"Looking back at Calm Before The Storm, it's almost like looking at an old photo album. You see the plaid shirt and the butterfly collar, and you think that might not have been a good idea but the pants were really cool. You take the old themes and try to improve on them a bit, which is what I think we did on this album. I played a little bit of electric on the song "Yeah!," co-written with my keyboard player and band leader Steve Rosen at a wedding reception. Steve's a great songwriter who co-wrote "She Thinks His Name is John" for REBA McENTIRE.
"I think Outside The Frame takes a few steps forward. As an artist, you try to use the new tools you learn to allow you to express yourself better. On the next album, you'll be able to see just a little bit more of Paul Brandt, because I'll have accumulated even more tools. That's what the creative process is all about."
Produced by Josh Leo, engineered by STEVE MERCANTONIO with overdubs engineered by BEN FOWLER, Outside The Frame was recorded at Nashville's Emerald Studios, the same location that begat Calm Before The Storm. Brandt wrote seven of the ten songs on Outside The Frame, but one of the most personal is "We Are The One."
"I wrote it one night when I was feeling very lonely and missing Liz. It just talks about two people who really were meant to be together right from the beginning of time. That's really the way I feel about Liz, my best friend. It's a real head-over-heels passionate love song I've dedicated to her in the liner notes: "This album is dedicated to my Lizzie for your love and support. We Are The One." It kind of sums up our relationship. The two of us have come together and become one person. KATHY MATTEA was gracious enough to come in and sing background vocals."
Brandt co-wrote "Chain Reaction," "A Little In Love" and "Dry Eye" with producer Josh Leo and songwriter RICK BOWLES.
"Rick always shows up with a litre of Sun Drop, a Mountain Dew type of drink full of caffeine. By the end of the day he's bouncing off the walls, but we always have a great time. "Chain Reaction" is a fun, uptempo song based around this really cool Josh Leo guitar lick. "A Little In Love" was pitched to three or four other artists, but no one snagged it. As soon as I heard it, I wanted to cut it. "Dry Eye" is about a guy who can't stop crying over a lost relationship. I had this girlfriend while when I was in high school that was a long distance relationship. We had written for almost a year, and finally I got a chance to go and visit with her. Things were going great for a while, and then all of a sudden it was over, and I was left with this box full of letters. Josh got this twinkle in his eye, intrigued by this box of letters. So the song starts off, "Pull down the old cardboard box from the attic. The one with the letters from you." and then it goes on to say, "Put on those old records, the ones that we fell in love to." The guy in the song is absorbing himself in this memory.
Brandt co-wrote "One" with his "I Meant To Do That" collaborators LYNN GILLESPIE CHATER and KERRY CHATER, and "Start Forever Over Again" with the legendary MAX D. BARNES, but one of the most unusual compositional birthplaces was the wedding reception for the song "Yeah!"
"I wrote this one with Steve Rosen. He came up with this really cool little guitar riff -- it's almost a James Bond/Secret Agent Man riff. I had been listening to radio down here in Nashville, and one of the people this morning team imitates is GEORGE JONES. They always have him coming on and saying, "Yeah!" So I picked it up and started saying it to the point where the band guys were getting sick of it. Finally Steve said, "We should really write a song called "Yeah!"
"We wrote the chorus out at his parents' place for their wedding reception in Eugene, Oregon, and he called me up at home a couple weeks later, and said, `I've got the tune for the rest or the song.' He hummed it to me over the phone and said, .` I'm here by myself at my place. Be here in 20 minutes and I want you to have the song done.' So I came over, and I had the song done. He was kidding, but I finished it."
PAUL BRANDT: SURVIVAL TIPS
"When you hit a convenience store, get something good to eat because you probably won't see another on one for a long time," he laughs.
"I think the main thing to do is keep your chin up and do it because it's what you love doing. People have asked me about what it takes to be a musician. I really don't have any answers. I did it because I loved it. I didn't do it because I wanted to make millions of dollars or be in the spotlight. The rest of it took care of itself. I think that's a real important thing to remember."
PAUL BRANDT: A PERSPECTIVE
"There's been all this talk of the "Canadian Invasion." I just hope that when they look back at the record books of country music, the name Paul Brandt is one that stands out, and that people remember some of the music."
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DISCOGRAPHY
1995 -- Introducing Paul Brandt -- Reprise (promo only EP)
1996 -- Calm Before The Storm
1997 -- Outside The Frame
1998 -- Have Yourself A Little Christmas
1999 -- That's The Truth
AWARDS
1996 -- Canadian Country Music Award, SOCAN Song Of The Year -- "My Heart Has A History " (with Mark D. Sanders)
1997 -- Canadian Country Music Award, SOCAN Song Of The Year -- "I Do"
1997 -- Canadian Country Music Award, Single Of The Year -- "I Do"
1997 -- Canadian Country Music Award, Male Vocalist
1997 -- Canadian Country Music Award, Video Of The Year -- "I Do"
1998 -- Canadian Country Music Award, C.F. Martin Humanitarian Award
1998 -- Canadian Country Music Award, Male Vocalist
1998 -- Juno, Male Vocalist Of The Year
1998 -- Juno, Country Male Vocalist Of The Year
THANKS: Steve Waxman, Jeff Mackay, Jim Norris
©1997, 1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink