Welcome to The Brianna Rae Band’s Blog!
Just over six years ago, my dad and I were in the process of repairing our relationship. I was 26, and I was just rounding the corner between, “I know everything,” and, “maybe my parents weren’t wrong all the time.” He was a career musician, complete with all of the good, bad, and ugly that comes along with the lifestyle. From a child’s perspective, I watched my dad live it. His life was all about “gigging.” Late nights were part of the average routine. It wasn’t uncommon to spend the weekend at festivals and outdoor shows as a child in the 90’s. With that preface, it probably didn’t shock him when I approached him at his computer desk in my parents’ home in Houston, Minnesota sometime during the summer of 2018. The first thing he asked me is if I was sure, and if I was, if I was committed. Full transparency: I couldn’t even play the guitar when we started, let alone make it through an average of 4 hours for a show. I vividly remember telling him that I would deeply regret never trying if I didn’t do this. He agreed to help me assemble a band, and the rest is history.
I have a special place in my heart for each of the six other members that were the original iteration of The Brianna Rae Band. Shawn Martin on bass, Shelby Martin on keys (mom and dad), Will Powers on rhythm guitar, Jim Lanzel on lead guitar, Dave Burch on utility, and myself on lead vocals. What we had at that time in the band’s life was magical, and thinking back on the absolute sense of optimism and excitement that surrounded the beginning of a new venture. For two solid years, we worked that lineup, played our tails off, and worked really hard to become the best version of whatever it was that we were trying to do at the time.
Over the last six years, this band has grown, evolved, learned, worked hard, been disappointed, been absolutely thrilled, made some of the best friends, had some of the best experiences, and solidified why music is so important in each of our lives..
I wanted to start this blog to talk about the experience in a more relaxed, personal, and in-depth way.
What Purpose Will This Blog Serve?
If you’ve been with us from the beginning, you’ve seen our development first-hand. If you’ve joined us along the way, you wouldn’t believe how grateful we are that you’re here with us.
Our social media presence isn’t going anywhere. We’ll still be posting photos, videos, and general information about the band’s activities. However, if you want a more in-depth recount of what this ride has been like, this is where I’ll be talking about it.
As I write this, we’re about four days away from start of the Summer of 2024 schedule. While I am very excited for it, I also anticipate that most of us will be busy balancing day-to-day life, full-time jobs, families and friends, and a loaded music schedule. I’ll do my best to give you updates throughout the summer, but I would imagine that we’ll all be ready for some quality rest around September.
If you want in-depth updates on that band and our activities, look no further.
On this blog page, I plan to do a lot of reminiscing. There might be entire posts dedicated to how the band started, the members at the time, and some of the experiences and challenges that we grew out of. I might get sappy about how hard the people that have stepped into our environment have worked, and how much I appreciate all of them for everything they do to keep this dream alive. In the future, I may talk about some of the existing original songs, their backstories, and our plans for more of our own songs. Maybe we’ll get spicy and throw our hat in the ring about how we REALLY feel about the cover songs vs. orignal songs debate (Spoiler alert: we like both). There are a whole lot of maybes in here, but hey, there is something about the unknown that has always been appealing to me.
Whatever this space ultimately morphs into, this is your place to come see what we’re up to. If you’re looking for more than a few photos here and there, I’ll do my best to give you an insider’s point of view about how life really is when you’re in a band. I encourage you to leave comments or send us messages. Ask questions, be curious, and we’ll talk to you soon!
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