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ABOUT

Darlin’ Brando—the pseudonym of singer, songwriter and drummer, Brandon Goldstein—melds the twang and two-step beats of honky tonk, the wry humor and storytelling of folksy troubadours like Kristofferson, Prine and Miller, and the melodic hooks and surprise twists and turns of golden-era rock ‘n roll to create an exciting and unpredictable brand of country music.

 

Though raised in Virginia, his music is a product of decades spent moving from city to city, coast to coast. From Los Angeles to Brooklyn to Bloomington, IN to Nashville Tennessee. And then back to LA. All while living and learning the kinds of hard lessons country songs are made of: heartbreak, divorce, substance abuse, the list goes on.

 

But while hardcore country fans will find plenty to love in his music, Darlin’ Brando has channeled his stresses and disappointments into songs that walk the line between classic and progressive; earnest and eye-rolling.

 

Alchemical Records describes “Don’t Make Me Move (Again),” the first single from his recent EP of the same title, as “the saga of a person who followed their lover from place to place“ and “a final desperate pitch to try and keep all the important pieces of his life tethered close to him rooted in the fear of letting go of something precious.“

 

Recorded with Malachi DeLorenzo (Langhorne Slim, Izaak Opatz) and Dylan Rodrigue in LA, and released in 2022, the songs on “Don’t Make Me Move” make art out of self-deprecation and the honest (often embarrassing) foibles of a Gen-X Everyman. Musically, the trio of producers dispensed with many traditional country motifs in favor of a more experimental sound representative of their eclectic record collections.

 

Darlin’ Brando’s debut album, “Also, Too..,” recorded a few years earlier in Nashville, treads similar terrain lyrically but in a more straight-up honky tonk style. Maximum Volume Music writes, “If there is a broad theme through these [songs], then it’s the marriage of old time sounds with lyrics that most—many, even—wouldn’t go near.” Brando wrote the songs “Therapy” and “Crumbling Marriages” in Nashville after his divorce and they are about exactly what you’d imagine.

 

The country music scene Brando immersed himself while playing drums for neo-traditional country artist, Tommy Ash, helped inspire the sound of “Also, Too…” To give the album edge, he brought in some of East Nashville’s top players—Storm Rhode (guitar), AJ Croce (piano), and Adam Kurtz (pedal steel).

 

Darlin Brando likes to push the envelope of what classic country purists are willing to accept while paying homage to the elements that make it timeless—weepy pedal steel, shuffles and clever lyrical hooks.

 

Whether leading his band with guitar in hand or from behind the drums, Darlin’ Brando’s live shows are a rocking, two-stepping good time. Stay tuned for more recordings and live performances near you.

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