Earlier this year, Atlanta singer-songwriter Big Brutus released his debut album Tiny Box, an airy spring melancholy of an album that explored the emotional ups and downs of a relationship and the complications that arise from this. While Sean Bryant, aka Big Brutus, carried on throughout the spring and summer as the guitarist in his other band, post punks Slang (who you NEED to know), playing minimal shows as Big Brutus, Sean showed strikingly mature songwriting and production work to bring his songs alive on his solo debut. It’s clear that this young singer songwriter is on the rise, a talent meant to be heard.
Despite the busy schedule with Slang and the Big Brutus debut, Sean Bryant has plenty more to say. He’s already been back at it, with a new album, The Odd Willow, expected towards the end of 2016 (Date to be announced). Today, we are excited to premiere a live video of “Bury Bone”, an acoustic version of the first single off the upcoming record.
This video is part of a series of live acoustic videos recorded by The Wander Project. On “Bury Bone”, Big Brutus shows more of an edge than on the debut, despite being acoustic, perhaps a peak into the more rock ‘n’ roll side of Big Brutus on the singer-songwriter’s upcoming new album. Recorded in Grant Park with Sean sitting with his guitar under a tree, the video pans around up close as he laments over the chorus: “Laughing with your big bone, then you’ll call to the unknown, well bury bury, deep dark down, dig up dig up, now”, before ending the song with a little freak out that pulls together the emotion of the song.
In addition to the video, Sean Bryant gives a fascinating look into himself and Big Brutus by taking over this week’s Monomania playlist. From Sean:
“I have always been a pretty visually stimulated person. Although I consider myself a musician in every sense of the word, I know deep down that I attach so strongly to the colors of the music because of something firing off in my brain, taking me back to somewhere I’ve been, somewhere I’ll never be again, etc. I thought I would approach this list the same way, with a moment in time. Here for eternity and gone in an instant.”
Aero Flynn – “Crisp”
“I am in Wisconsin, standing on a small hill. To my left is a stage with the warm hum of amps pulsing. To my right is the mouth of a river and it is open and pouring it’s contents to true south. A poet on stage asks everyone to settle their racing minds for a minute, and to feel each of the 50,000 people’s hearts beating. To listen to the river behind them. It is summer but the music speaks of a cold, and as the whispers lead into silence, the river starts to emerge from anonymity and takes it’s place among the dying voices. This moment will not last. Each human heart pumps an average of five quarts a minute, and with 50,000 quiet souls unmoving, the silence of both the blood and the river soon mesh and become at once humbling and overwhelming. I feel empathy for the people around me, in awe of our shared secrets. What countless lives we may never know, constantly surrounded.”
The Beach Boys – “Surfs Up”
“I am in a van with my manager and friend Ari, as the members of the band Man Up, Yancey rest in the back. It is 4 A.M, and we are returning from Savannah after a small weekend tour. I see headlights and taillights melt into solid lines that extend in opposing directions. I wipe the sleep from my eyes, and focus on the road in front of me. Harmonies slip in and out of an extended memory filling my head; one of an old lover. We are on a beach, and I am crawling towards her with my hands outstretched in my best model poses. She laughs and places her camera to her eye. A flash, and I readjust to account for sliding towards an endless array of yellow lines. It is 4:01 A.M, and Yancey begins to gently snore.”
Fionn Regan – “Hunter’s Map”
“My yellow lab and I are walking down a quiet neighborhood road. He pauses momentarily, and then falls over, unable to walk. He is having a seizure. Soon a gentle rain starts to fall. I am afraid, and hold him in my arms as his fur becomes matted and his eyes take on a hazy, translucent quality. He doesn’t look at me so much as through me, and forgets my face. Minutes stretch themselves into lifetimes and the road starts to mimic the sky in it’s reflection. I pick him up, and shift his heavy torso into a position more accommodating for the physique of someone used to holding a hollowed out, resonating piece of wood. Soon I fail, and we fall into the grass. The seizure leaves him, and he looks at me with shame because he believes he has done something wrong. I hold him close to me, and try to reassure him. After some time to regain his strength, we walk home. I dry his fur and put this album on. We sit by a fire as the evening dies.”
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World”
“Grandma and Grandpa collect me from my home soon after my father remarries, and we fly to Hawaii to go see my family and the land where they are from. I swim in the waters off the coast and drink freshly squeezed Guava juice and eat tofu with my great grandmother. I see her strong hands and tough heart, and I feel loved. I stand near a volcano, and am dwarfed by its power and awe. My grandfather tells me the story of a tsunami hitting the town of Hilo, and killing 61 despite the sirens warning. Death wears sunglasses and a tropical shirt, and smiles as I get pulled under by a large wave. I do not drown, but also I do not understand. I am ten and have already seen much, but my story only pauses here in this sand. Death locks eyes with me as I pull myself to shore, and at this moment, we both fear and understand. A man named Israel lays in a coffin made of Koa wood in Honolulu, and the Hawaiian flag is lowered to half staff. In each verse of his song, there is no beauty without the pain in his voice. No love without the torment of his heart. A paradise surrounded by an endless ocean of uncertainty.”
The Louvin Brothers – “Satan Is Real”
“I stand on a stage in Dallas, and I am surrounded by my friends Grant, Hayes, and Ryan. We have practiced harmonies all morning on our drive, and as the first downbeat approaches, we ready ourselves. Hayes starts, and Ryan exclaims “everyday!” at the end of each few bars, and then we all grin as Hayes steps back, and Grant steps forward, assuming the role of narrator. He tells of his trials and tribulations, and though I know it is just a song, the emotion in Grants words are real, and haunting. The music swells and bursts, falling apart just enough for everyone in attendance to know just how professional we all are when we pull it back together. We sing with a wink and a smile in our semi-drunken revelry, and the lights from the house pulse and sway. I feel something sacred connect us, and for a moment in time, we are one and free.” /- Sean Bryant, aka Big Brutus
All tracks on Spotify added to our “Monomania” playlist (kept fresh with 30 songs at a time) for your on the go playlist needs:
