"If John Hiatt, Shawn Mullins, and Jeff Buckley morphed their voices together, it would sound something like Brian Sharpe."
Illinois Entertainer
"Sharpe is a true storyteller. He sings and you’re compelled to listen"
BuddyHollywood.com
"Brian Sharpe is one of those singer-songwriters who given the right time and place in the universe would and could easily be discussed in the same breath as Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Cockburn..."
The Consensus Music Reviews
"Sharpe crafts the kinds of songs that make you stop and listen...Do yourself a favor and let [him] bend your ear for a while, you'll be better for it."
Greg Rolnick - Former music contributor to CNN.com
Brian Sharpe was born in Santa Barbara, California, raised in Germany and grew up in Chicago, Illinois after moving there to go to college. While studying acting at the prestigious Theatre School at DePaul University, Sharpe began being cast in roles that required his skills as a singer, composer and guitarist; skills he had developed while playing his first original songs at open mic nights in coffee houses and bars and in a back yard cover band (that played everything from Billy Joel, Elton John and The Eagles to Van Halen, Madonna and Journey) in the suburbs of Sacramento, California where he attended high school. This carried over into his professional career and after numerous gigs around the Midwest as actor/composer/musical-director including appearing in and writing music for Shakespearean plays and the award-winning indie film, The Rest of Your Life, Sharpe has finally released his first full-length album, The Usual Stories & Usual Lies.
Sharpe's sound is a blend of many influences. His tough and throaty voice feels weathered and wise beyond his twenty-something years and is a result of growing up listening to tapes and CD's by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Marc Cohn, Dire Straits and Steve Earle. His inventive and expressive guitar playing has a percussive edge to it that sounds bigger and badder then a 6-string acoustic guitar ever looks like it should sound and came about in college after he discovered and immersed himself in the techniques of Peter Mulvey, Mark Knopfler, Willy Porter and Bruce Cockburn. His songs are at once both muscular and fragile and feel like a wisp of smoke inside a glass of whiskey at 3 am in the dead of winter. Supported by intelligent, witty and sometimes heartbreaking lyrics, Sharpe's music has drawn comparisons to Pete Yorn, Jeff Buckley, Bob Schneider, Rhett Miller and John Mayer.