By Andy McFerren
Some time ago, I met up with Branson Anderson for my personal blog, Music Outlet Mall. Originally, we were going to do a sit-down interview, and then the idea for a sketch came to me in a fever dream. I reached out to Branson, asking if he wanted to do it. I told him I’d send him the interview questions after because I still wanted to be able to do a writeup for Provo Music Magazine. He agreed, and we filmed the sketch (which you can view here).
After filming, we went out to lunch and talked about anything and everything. If you ever want to get into a deep conversation about life, music, your favorite authors, and everything in between, I highly recommend sitting down with Branson. To sum it up in a few words, it was a refreshing delight to talk to him. Typically, I would take an artist’s interview responses and weave them into a narrative, but Branson’s answers were so thoughtful and articulate I felt I would be doing an injustice to not include them in their entirety. So, I hope you enjoy this Q&A with Branson Anderson as much as I enjoyed my time with him.
Q: When did you start playing music?
A: I started playing music in about third grade when I would meddle with my brother’s guitar. In fourth grade I got a four-string bass guitar for my birthday and played that until sixth grade when I got my own six string guitar.
Q: You play a very traditional country/blues/folk sound. What got you into this kind of music? What calls you to it? What do you like about it?
A: Country music was the first music I was exposed to growing up with my dad. The first artist I heard as a little guy would have been Hank Williams on a cassette tape in our old red Chevy pickup. Then from there it was Johnny Cash, Charley Pride, and Merle Haggard CDs in a 90’s Dually as I got older. Lots of listening to old music in pickup trucks. We listened to Elvis too which got me interested in rock ‘n’ roll.
My mom got me a Beatles album when I was in elementary school. My brother introduced me to Led Zeppelin and informed me about a contemporary band called The White Stripes. The White Stripes got me interested in the old blues guys from the 30’s and Bob Dylan. The more time went on and the more artists I discovered, the more I realized how connected all these artists were and the impact they had on modern music and on each other. It went all the way back to when music was just being recorded and the advent of the radio. It goes back even further than that really. Some of my favorite songs I play in my live performance are so old, no one knows where they came from.
I guess there’s a fascination for me in the juxtaposition old music has with simplicity and depth. The songs structurally and lyrically are very simple, yes, but the emotion in their performances and deliveries are so, so vastly deep and emotional, and I love that. I find there to be a certain rebelliousness in it and a grounding quality in its nature that lands me back on my feet. A lot of the time I’m so overwhelmed with what’s going on in life that I feel like I’m floating around aimlessly and constantly asking what the point of everything is. The feeling I get when I listen to a good blues performance or an old Carter Family song, or the feeling I get when I perform one to a receptive audience makes me feel a purpose. Or the purpose. Which isn’t something one can put in words, that purpose. If we could, there would be volumes written about it, and we would have the answers to life’s most difficult questions, but that’s not what God intended. He’s a prankster that way.
Q: There is a certain storytelling aspect to this genre of music. Personally, I think it’s a lost art. Who are your favorite storytellers in music?
A: Country music tells the best stories, in my opinion. I’m also biased so I make a bad critic, but no one is a better storyteller than Dylan. I agree that it is a lost art. Yes, a lot of songs tell you how a person is feeling about a certain situation, but that doesn’t tell a story with characters and mystery and suspense and morals. Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” is one of the best stories in song form that comes to my mind. I’m partial to songs and stories about the Old West. Probably the best person doing that now is Colter Wall. I think there’d be a lot of agreement on that.
Q: What music do you listen to that is most surprising based on the music you make?
A: It would surprise non-music lovers that I looooooove punk music and 90’s hip-hop. It would surprise music lovers less because they are in the same boat as me. They understand, whether consciously or not, the close links behind raw music. I love punk music in the same way I love folk music or old country music: “Three chords and the truth,” or even two chords or one! I’ve written one chord songs and some of them I’m very proud of. I’ve recorded and released a few. The point is, the delivery of genres is different, but the structure and attitude and emotion are the same. To listen to a bad or rough singer give an honest performance is more true to me, more primal and closely linked with a past that I feel very connected to. Hip-hop beats, bass lines, and flowing lyrics have that same primal quality. Rhythm is so innate in humans that we dance before we can walk or talk. This isn’t something I’ve read in some psychology book. I’ve witnessed it firsthand in real life. Turn on a loud song for a toddler just learning to stand and they will start grinning and bobbing their knees. These old songs in their rawest form teach us about the humanity that I believe we’re losing. Sadly, there’s just as many artists that are good at faking this “old-timey,” raw quality and a lot of people fall for it. You gotta keep your guard up for wolves in sheep’s clothing, but also sheep in shepherd’s clothing. They can be just as bad or worse.
Q: What are your biggest, non-musical influences?
A: Literature. I wanted to be an author before I wanted to be a musician. Harry Potter was huge when I was in elementary school, and JK Rowling was a celebrity because of how popular the book series was. I started really liking the idea of being a writer and wrote my own stories a lot. Then in high school I read The Great Gatsby which was my introduction to classic literature and the first time I realized how much it could move me. I started to read classics like crazy to better my vocabulary and writing style. My favorite writers are Cormac McCarthy and Steinbeck.
Also love movies like nobody’s business.
Q: You spend a lot of time on the road. What do you do to pass the time? What’s your favorite thing about being on the road and gigging a lot?
A: Yes, I do. Currently, I listen to audiobooks more than I listen to music. I listen to lectures on books I’ve read or biographies of movies I want to see. Or just a good story to take me out of life for a bit. My favorite thing about gigging is knowing that there’s a way to make my living without hating what I do. I struggled with that for a long time before I realized I could have been doing what I do now all along. I just hadn’t taken the step. My favorite part of it all is that I don’t go to bed and wake up in the morning with dread anymore. I can’t stand that feeling, and I’d had it all my life. From school to work, but now I know it doesn’t have to be that way. Doesn’t matter what people say or how anyone else feels about it. I know it’s my path and what I was meant for, and nothing is going to change that. Except for another pandemic.
Q: You’re probably one of the few musicians that has an old school approach to gigging all over the Mountain West. Are you playing the same venues/bars? When you’re not touring with other people, how do you book these gigs? What’s your favorite place to play?
A: I make note of the good ones and return there, if they’ll let me. Usually, I make a good impression, and they have me back. I’m always seeking new places further out though. Just trying to network as much as possible and get my music in front of as many people as I can in that organic way. If I tried anything else, it would take the romance out of it.
Lots of emails. Lots of reaching out to friends with recommendations. That kind of thing. My favorite places to play, I’ve found out, are mostly rural areas. I thought I needed to get out to places like LA and San Fran as much as I could, but I find it so depressing there, and I never liked visiting. Out in those old cowboy towns I’m among my people and they take such better care of me and pay so much better.
Q: What’s your practice routine for guitar? Anything in particular that you’re trying to improve right now?
A: I’m so stuck on the 1-4-5 Progression. I’m trying to learn more about music, so I can break out of that. Unfortunately, it’s the only thing that sounds good to me. I sit in front of the laptop and watch lessons and copy songs I like to learn about chord progressions. I learn licks and runs to get from chord to chord to keep my live performance more engaging, not just for the audience, but for myself. I’m getting lazy with practice though with how much else I have to do with music, sadly. With booking, promoting, performing, etc. I get burned out and don’t care to practice at times.
Q: You just released a single, “Colorado.” What is the genesis of the song?
A: My uncle made a reference to a John Wayne movie called Rio Bravo where Ricky Nelson plays a character named “Colorado.” I guess he thought I looked like him when I came in the door, and he stood there looking at me like a gunslinger about to draw and called me by that name. From there I built this western character in my head, a contemporary cowboy who rode a motorcycle and had adventures.
Q: You also released a music video in conjunction with the song. Do you think the music video more or less tells the same story as the song or how did the music video come to be?
A: The video gives a visual of the life of Colorado. I wanted to have a cinematic take on this character that was very romantic to me, living a life I wish I lived. An outcast character who doesn’t look for trouble, but trouble seems to come to him. A sort of cross of cowboy/knight errant/Robin Hood.
Q: Will there be an album or EP to follow this single release?
A: No EP or album in the works. After having released two albums and two EPs, I have come to notice that only one or two songs get played off those records and the rest of the songs get overlooked. Then I don’t release anything for two years or more because I’m still paying off the album. I decided releasing singles for now is my best option for staying relevant and keeping my followers engaged with what I’m doing. And that way I can focus on each song instead of renting studio time and trying to cram an album’s worth of recording into a few days’ sessions.
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And while we all lament that there is no album or EP coming from Branson in the future, be sure to follow him on Instagram and check out his track “Colorado” below!