Ronnie Brandt

Ronnie Brandt Musician at LargeSomething keeps callin me, somethin keeps callin my nameRonnies first memory of hearing live music was when he was five years old in Plainfield, N.J. in the mid 1960s I was all of 7 years old and my dad let this doowop group practice in our living room because they had nowhere else to rehearse. I couldnt believe the sound these guys made, it was an incredibly powerful influence on me. (That group went on to become George Clinton & Parliament) In the early 70s his father owned a gift shop in Asbury Park New Jersey right in the middle of where all the music clubs were. You could walk down the side walk and look into some of those places and watch the bands play all afternoon, and thats pretty much what I did. My Older brother and his friends played music in our basement, they gave me a guitar and taught me some chords. Ronnie fast became interested in folk, country, rock and blues and learned tons of songs, he was mostly influenced by singer/songwriters such as Hank Williams, The Carter Family, Bob Dylan, Springsteen, John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, John Hiatt and so many more. He loved the music but it was the words and stories that got Ronnie hooked. By the time I was 13, I had read Woody Guthries Bound for Glory, Kerouacs On The Road, and had my own copy of Carl Sandburgs; American Song bag. I also discovered poets e.e. cummings and Lawrence Ferlingetti. I also discovered the library of congress recordings by John and Alan Lomax THAT stuff sent me reeling! As a junior in high school, Ronnie started writing words and music. By the time he graduated high school Ronnie was playing in clubs all over the east coast of America. Growing up on the NJ shore he became a favorite in clubs along the beach strip such as Mrs. Jays, The Fast Lane and the legendary Stone Pony. At 19 he left to go on the road with Freewheelin, a country rock band based out of Dallas Texas. Ronnie spent a few years on the road touring throughout the entire mid western United States, opening for national acts, playing concerts, night clubs, beer joints and honky tonks. After spending some time in California he returned home to the east coast, and worked as a solo doing festivals, live radio shows and colleges. He played mostly NJ, PA as well as Manhattan, and put together a string of rock & roll bands and also played solo acoustic with just a guitar, harmonica and his voice. Man, I guess I played every club and hole in the wall on the east coast, I wanted to record some of these songs on disc, Ive got so many tunes, hundreds of demos... through a friend of mine, my music was heard by the musicians who helped me record my first CD, including Grammy Nominee Eric Bazilian ( What if God was one of us) and Rob Hyman ( Time after Time)of the Philadelphia group The Hooters.. The result was a 12 song collection of songs By Grammy Nominated Producer Skip Drinkwater entitled " Rudys Thread" . 2 years later Ronnie released another CD Dig A Little Deeper. Both are released inthe USA and Europe ( Line Records) Ronnie’s new CD "Show Me Some Heart" is completed in June 2007 and can be purchased on his website www.ronniebrandt.com as a digital download, there are also unreleased songs available there that cannot be found anywhere else, He is also completing a childrens CD for his popular History through music program and a new collection of original material, " see www.educationsong.org "Continuing his desire to write and perform American music. Ronnie created a school program for elementary and middle school kids to educate them about our rich American history and landscape. Its a great way to give back to the community and help educate kids about our musical heritage by such songwriters as Woody Guthrie, The Carter Family, Hank Snow, Marty Robins, Johnny Cash and many more. The kids and teachers have fun and This Land is Your Land has become a favorite addition to many a schools assembly line up. So...here is an artist on the road forward, and as his own lyric suggests............. He has.... Miles behind him...and miles to go