Severin Browne

Severin Browne has been playing in the Southern California area for many years. After standing in line to play the Troubadour hoot in the seventies, he was taken to lunch by an ASCAP rep and given lots of names and numbers of publishers to contact. So Severin visited some of these publishers with guitar in hand. The first one offered him a deal, but Severin was advised to turn it down. The second one, Motown's Jobete Music, had a surprise visit by Berry Gordy who casually walked in while Severin was playing. After asking Severin to play a few more songs, he offered him a staff songwriting deal on the spot. Severin waited a few weeks until after his 21st birthday to sign the deal, but stayed there for four years. Six months after he signed the publishing deal, he also signed on with Motown Records as an artist and made 2 LPs over the next few years.On leaving Motown, Severin swore that he was quitting the music business. After a couple years, though, he was back to writing and playing again both solo and in bands. But it was still quite a few years before making his next album. His friend and collaborator Yoshio Maki was slowly wining and dining Severin (with sake and sushi) back into the studio. The album they made was released on the Moo Records label in 1996 and titled "From the Edge of the World." Some of the songs from this CD were used in the indie film "Plan B" starring Jon Cryer.Then Severin found himself recording a few years later with Ed Tree, a producer friend with great guitar chops. Over the next year or so they made the CD "This Twisted Road" and Severin released it under the name of his publishing company, Sub-Dude Music. (The name "Sub-Dude Music" was chosen as the third possibility on the BMI Publishing Company form, and Severin never thought that it would actually be used. He sends his apologies to "The Subdudes", a very cool band...)So back to Severin... He plays regularly in the Los Angeles area now, and can even be seen on the internet on the first Friday of every month. Tune in to the "First Friday Show" at www.kulakswoodshed.com and see Severin and his partner James Coberly Smith and the band (Gary Popenoe on harmonica, Alex Del Zoppo on piano and keys, Mike Bisch on bass, Jeff Kossack on percussion, David Stone on drums, and Aaron Wolfson on electric guitar). Severin books an opening act to play at 8pm, leaving the band to play at 9. Severin and James have been talking about doing an album project together, possibly using the First Friday Band, but we won't know for sure until it happens.Severin also teaches guitar for a day job. He teaches a couple days each week at Old Town Music in Pasadena's Old Town district, and the rest of the time at his home studio in nearby Highland Park. If you would like to learn guitar and live in the area, you can contact him here and he'll work out a schedule with you.