Guns and Butter

“He’s in the spirit of power-pop tunesmiths from another age, a brand of unadorned, straight-up love rock uncluttered by pretension and perfectly out-of-step with his generation.”
--Eric Hage, Metroland

Brian Bassett debuted in Albany, NY in 2003 with his record "Rock and Roll”, combining glorious guitars and throbbing hooks, netting radio play for several of the tracks including “Nichole, Nichole”. 2004s "Nothing To Lose” was mixed by Dave Cook (Juliana Hatfield, The Smithereens, Graham Parker, Nick Cave, The B-52s). As one critic put it, this record delivered “twang and spit, dewy testaments to love, sounds that make you want to hold hands and others that make you want to raise those hands in self-defense.” Awarded “Best New Solo Musician 2003”, “Best Singer-Songwriter 2004” and “Best Recordings of 2004” from Metroland, he performed with John Brodeur and shared the stage with The Alternate Routes, Mike Viola, Ben Lee, and Two Cow Garage.

Sharpening his teeth in New York City, Bassett began performing with Joe Whyte. The pair recorded and toured for the next few years, twice in Ireland, culminating in the KiIlkenny Rhythm and Roots festival, sharing the stage with Son Volt and Ray LaMontagne. In 2006, Bassett relocated to Raleigh, NC to record with longtime friends and Eric "Mixerman" Serafin (Ben Harper, Tegan and Sara) in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina at the legendary Echo Mountain Studio. The band Strange Faces, cut the album entirely on 2" analog tape without the aid of computer editing, conjured a mix of Radiohead, Pink Floyd, and Beethoven.

Brian Bassett currently hails from Panama City, FL where he keeps busy writing, recording, performing and touring.

“After one listen, Brian’s songs already seem familiar, they’re just that catchy. When I heard the CD, some of those songs grabbed me from the first note; he sounds great on the radio.”
--Jason Keller, WHRL/Channel 103.1 DJ

“... straight-ahead rock tunes - which call to mind expansive fare like early Radiohead, Oasis, and Matthew Sweet’s 100% Fun - made to be swathed in thick guitars and lush production. His songs take a direct, simple path to the heart, not to the intellect and not hitched to any trend. On the “Rock and Roll” LP, Bassett came off like a man in search of an arena, avoiding poetic platitudes and complex rumination and glorying in big, breathless love-rock, earnestly direct anthems and throbbing melodic hooks.”
--Erik Hage, Metroland