Brent James & The Vintage Youth

Brent James & The Vintage Youth

“He grips the mic like a last call vodka, amazing stage presence”. -Time Out NY

“Strong writing and solid hooks” –Huey Lewis

“I love this record! Not a bad song on it.”-Cane Peterson Sirius/XM DJ

“Currently the most requested song on Y102. Song is a hit!” –Brian Goodnow –DJ

“Wow! You got it”. Kathy Rodriguez after Brent’s appearance on CBS Early Show

“Detroit’s gotta see this kid” –Ted Nugent

3/14/11- 1st Place in BMI/Florida Music Festival Song Challenge

6/5/11- Plays festival circuit w/ STP, O.A.R. The Roots, Kid Rock & More

7/4/11 – Signs Publishing deal with Primary Wave/BMG Chrysalis

7/6/12- Tours alongside Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, Candlebox & More

7/7/12 “Moment Of Silence” is serviced to reporting stations in U.S. and hits #51 on Billboard Chart and coast to coast tours follow

9/22/12 – Appears at the 2012 Annual Farm Aid Festival

4/8/14 –Needle To The Groove EP released & summer dates with ZZ Top

10/10/14 –In The Way I Bleed EP Released and tour to follow

BJVY is proudly endorsed by:
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-Full List of official Radio adds in U.S. available upon request

RADIO: Charlie Foster: Charlie@RockRidgeMusic.com
PUBLISHING: Andrew Gould Andrew.Gould@BMGChrysalis.com - ME MYSELF & I

Brent Grunow — performing as Brent James — is feeling some Detroit love.
The Frankenmuth native who started his journey as a teen with Ocean Sol — remember their big showcase at Birch Run's Cinema Hollywood? — closed a tour days ago with Motor City Madman Ted Nugent. And before that, he hit the road with Alice Cooper, another Detroit native.

"I grew up listening to these guys," said Grunow, who's bringing it home this week, performing Friday with Burnaround at the 702 Club in Midland and with Saving Abel on Saturday at the Labadie Pig Gig in Bay City.

"I'm learning a lot, I really am, on the road with them. And it feels good to get respect from people I really respect. I listen to Ted and the guitar riffs take me right back to some of my first musical memories, when my brother would play 'Fred Bear.' Now I'm watching this every night onstage."

But the tenacity that has brought him this far hasn't fallen by the wayside. Calling from Spokane, Wash., Grunow talked about playing a private party for his friend Big Kenny from Big and Rich, who with Gretchen Wilson opened the Deadwood Mountain Grand Casino and Resort in South Dakota.

A few days later, he would make a quick run to meet up with "the Nashville cats," as he put it, to do some more recording with Kenn
"We recorded 25 songs and 12 will go on the record," Grunow said. Grammy Award-winning producer Skidd Mills brought him to Nashville in the first place, after hearing a few of his demos in 2009, and brought a tighter sound to the project.

For the full experience, catch the first single, "Moment of Silence," on YouTube — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YJs6q57A1o — a musical tour of Grunow's life at the moment.

And when Brent James & the ContraBand's new album comes out on the Skiddco Music label, don't bother looking for the CD. It's a single-driven industry today, he said, and with online downloads making it so easy, "Moment of Silence" making some big noise. Hopefully, Grunow said, the hard-core fans will want the whole album, and he's making one that will reward their attention.

"You just have to try to make it all as amazing as possible," he said. "A lot of people are doing the same thing we are, passing on the distribution deal and going digital. I went into a Meijer store a few weeks ago and the CD department was a quarter of what it was six months before. The CD is so not happening anymore.

"But we're going to press it on vinyl; that's coming back.

In the meantime, "we're in the van, seeing the country and doing our live show, our straight-up rock and roll. This is the longest we've been out and we love it."

And the crowd's loving it, too, he said.

"It feels amazing; it really does. I'm like 'Let's go! Let's go!' We're moving forward, and it's really exciting. It's like your soul opens up, on the highway during the day and playing to packed houses every night.

"I know it sounds so cheesy, but seeing America like this is just the cherry on top of everything else."

It's a satisfying progression, he added, from all that's come before. After Ocean Sol, Grunow moved to New York City where he played the clubs with MyTVs; toured with The Flask, a band created by former Kid Rock guitarist Kenny Olson and got some national attention with Brent James and the Bandits.

He performed on CBS' "Early Show" — Grunow didn't win the national "Living Room ... Live" song competition, voted in by the public, but the "Early Show" people liked his "Heaven Down" so much, they invited him to come and sing it on air anyway.

And while in New York, he appeared as an extra in several television series and movies, most notably a love interest in the series, "Lipstick Jungle," and a diner in the film "Sex and the City."

So what's the difference this time around?

"We have a booking agent on board and that seems to bring us credibility," he said. "It's been the catalyst for the big tours and making connections.

"We - mlive.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (August 31, 2011) – The Tennessee State Fair is proud to announce Brent James is joining its free concert series.

This up-and-coming, rock-and-roll foursome will take the stage on Thursday, September 15 at 7 p.m. to open for the Georgia Satellites. The group’s members Brent James, Jason Kott, Matthew Hayes, and Mike Puwal have a unique blend of alternative sound and classic rock, which has been recognized by many talents such as Ted Nugent.

“He’s a rocking young kid,” Nugent said of James. “Our manager spotted him and since I don’t get around to see other acts much between tours, I took his word for it when he said we should get Brent on the tour. He was right. Brent is a great performer and he really impressed me with the Detroit thing he has going on. You can feel that energy, the drive you saw in Mitch Ryder, the MC5 Grand Funk Railroad and the Romantics.”

For more information on Brent James & The Contraband, please visit www.brentjamesmusic.com. To see the complete lineup for the Tennessee State Fair Free Concert Series and other music at this year’s fair, please visit www.tnstatefair.org/music. - Tn State Fair

BRENT JAMES is a singer/songwriter whose dream of becoming a professional singer one day started at a very young age and after he moved to New York City, things went very quickly, because his demo landed on the desk of Grammy Award Winning Producer SKIDD MILLS. The click was immediately there and so it was only a matter of time before the recording process of Brent’s debut CD ‘Moment of silence’ took place at the Sound Kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee. The result is a very strong and impressive album that sounds as American as possible. Traditional singer/songwriter Americana rootsy pop/rock is combined with New Country, Southern Rock, Heartland Rock, AOR and typical Modern day American Radiorock, ending up sounding very melodic and catchy, radio-ready and appealing to anyone, especially to all the Working Class Men out there! The 12 songs are quite diverse and are a pleasure to listen to and let’s say if you take a bit of DAUGHTRY and BO BICE, fill it up with BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and TOM PETTY, sneak some LYNYRD SKYNYRD right through here and there and finish it all off in a very tight and radio-ready production, then you have this hit-record by BRENT JAMES. This really could have been a major American label release, but it really has been out via the small label SKIDDCO RECORDS. Brent’s vocals are really great and a pleasure to listen to, very much in the classic American accent direction of VAN ZANT and DAUGHTRY and some of the AORish songs on the album even recall MITCH MALLOY sometimes. Almost every song has a deadly catchy chorus and if we have a quick walk through the album’s tracklisting, it all starts with the fantastic “Moment of Silence” (semi-rocker/ballad with AOR/Melodic Rockish chorus, very catchy strong radio-ready a la DAUGHTRY), which is followed by “Furious” (midtempo, with TOM PETTY riff) and the ballad “My Mona Lisa”. “Young Love” is a singer-songwriter inspired semi-southern rocker, a little acoustic tingled and slowing things down, before rocking it all up again during “Let It Rain” (Classic American Rocker, with the guitar riff and the catchy chorus, very much like DAUGHTRY again) and the superb “Cloud of Dust”, another semi-melodic rocker, very much like the first cut on the album, perhaps this is the album’s absolute highlight!).

We’re halfway then with ”Sick and Tired” (midtempo ballad, southern style, like the most recent record of LYNYRD SKYNYRD, with JOHNNY VAN ZANT on vocals). Next track “Diggin' Up the Past” is a really great haunting AORish ballad and “Love Is an Opera” is a nice midtempo pop/rocker, while “Little Bit High” has another midtempo TOM PETTY kinda guitar riff, with the song itself being a countryish rocker in the classic Nashville style, even reminding one of THE TRAVELLING WILLBURY’s, so it is catchy and American all the way! This last mentioned song could actually be a major single! The final two songs are “Me After You” (Classic AORish ballad a la DAUGHTRY) and “Shine Shine Shine (uptempo shuffle rocker mixed with Southern flavored Country rock, like ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION and DOC HOLIDAY). This is really high quality stuff here and Brent’s debut record could easily become huge! AOR, Americana, PopRock/Radiorock, Southern Rock, New Country, Heartland Rock, Singer/Songwriter and about any other typical American Pop/Rock tradition is united here on 1 record. Although it captures the typical modern day American polished rocksound a la DAUGHTRY, BO BICE… there’s actually a lot more to discover here. Check it out at: http://www.BrentJamesMusic.com - Angelfire

Michigan native Brent James formed about 2 years ago after a chance meeting with Grammy Award Winning producer Skidd Mills. "Some of my raw acoustic demo's were passed onto him by our manager and he called me. I was blown away because I knew & loved Skidd's work". Brent signed to SkiddCo Music & immediately began work on their debut full length at the Sound Kitchen in Nashville Tennessee. "Recording this record was a dream come true. We'd record for a couple weeks, take some time off to tour and then head back into the studio", says James. In a day and age where so much is pre fabricated and polished up, this band is a huge breath of fresh air. Classic rock influenced with a modern rock twist, shook up and poured into a shot glass full of groove. BJCB are able to melt your face, or slow it down with an acoustic ballad that slowly melts all the girls chocolate hearts on their way to the merch table. There is truly something "hear" for every listener. So get up, put your lighters and cell phones in the air and let's hear it for Brent James! Their hard work, dedication and Brent's true commitment to the craft of songwriting is undeniable. Look for a 2014 tour and single to impact radio soon thereafter. Listen, live & love. - Balcony TV

Ted Nugent is a name synonymous with rock n roll, hunting and more but his love of America has always been prevalent throughout his career and life. With the release of his newest single ‘I Still Believe’ and his current ‘I Still Believe’ tour, Uncle Ted is crossing the country he loves so much to bring fans a dose of the rock n roll he is legendary for! The Tour kicked off a few days ago and the Salt Lake City, UT. show at The Depot was a ferocious stampede of rock, blues and pure soul.

Starting the night off was Brent James. They took the stage with raw energy and focused it into an amazing performance that definitely garnered them quite a few new fans based on crowd reaction. Not only did Brent James rock their hearts out, they set the mood perfectly for one of rock n roll’s greatest living legends - examiner.com