When Andy Brasher wrote his first song at age 10, vinyl albums and cassette tapes were making their transition to compact discs (CDs). Now, almost 30 years and five albums later, Brasher is releasing his newest single in an age of downloading and streaming.
Brasher finished recording his sixth album, Myna Bird, at the beginning of this year. But his latest single, Day of the Trial, which releases March 19, is a recreation of an original song from years ago.
“It was actually a song on my first album, so we reinvented it for the new album and made some subtle changes in the music,” Brasher said. “The original version was acoustic. Now we’ve given it the full band, full studio treatment, making it much more epic and big. I think that’s what the song has always wanted. It’s finally getting the treatment it needed — it’s always wanted to sound this way and it finally does.”
Brasher said he wrote and then recorded all ten tracks for the entire album in Nashville at Blackbird Studio. Owned and run by Martina McBride’s husband, John, Blackbird is one of the most notable recording studios in Nashville.
“A lot of the money I would make doing shows and traveling went back into the business to help it grow,” Brasher said. “Sometimes I’d make just enough for the lights and the heat, but now I could finally afford to record somewhere like that.”
A good portion of the recording had a lot to do with falling into the right opportunities, Brasher said. From discounted recording time for allowing students to sit in on rehearsals to working with guest engineers and Grammy-winning co-producers.
After two independent albums and three with former partner Dustin Bogue of Brasher Bogue, Brasher said he has been working toward recreating his vision of Andy Brasher as a musician.
“I’m really a creative writer. I put a lot of real-life emotion into fictional events,” Brasher said.
“I think of songs as living breathing creatures. You are there from their birth and they live with you over time, so you watch them grow. The song evolves and changes. It’s one of my favorite parts of the creative process.”
Brasher said he has been shopping the album through music labels in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. And, while he hopes to gain success for the entire album, he was ready “to release something for public consumption.”
“This music is not really for the casual listener,” Brasher said. “This is for the deeper listener — for people that want to spend more time with a song.”
With a pre-order date of March 10 and a release date of March 19, Day of the Trial will be available on all digital platforms. Brasher will also be performing in several showcase shows in Nashville leading up to the album release including 3rd and Lindsley March 13 and the Hard Rock Cafe March 20, both at 6 p.m. Although the showcases were designed as a way of gearing up for music labels and record executives, the events are also open to family and friends.
In the current age of streaming music, Brasher said he’s had to rethink his philosophy on streaming sites like Pandora and Spotify. He said he used to believe that an artist had to have tons and tons of streams to equate to the number of purchases.
“But people may stream your song over and over again, it’s sort of like turning on the water on your sink,” Brasher said. “Any more that’s how people are listening to music — so you definitely want to be in those places.”
For more information about Brasher’s new album or upcoming shows visit https://andybrasher.com/
