Shawn Brown, a vibrant musician from the Portland area, unveils his latest musical offering, "The Sad Ones." This soulful record is webbed deep within raw emotion. Released through Brown's digital label, Bootney Lee Records, the song encapsulates a poignant journey through earnest feeling and heartfelt storytelling.
With a recent headline performance at Show Bar alongside friends Bre Gregg and Ben Landsverk, Brown celebrated the song's release in style, captivating audiences with his infectious energy and authentic musicality, giving them a glimpse of what's in store.
"The Sad Ones" epitomizes Brown's signature genre-defying style, seamlessly blending folk, R&B, and roots influences into a mesmerizing sonic tapestry. With his distinctive falsetto vocals, Brown delves deep into the complexities of human emotion, crafting lyrics that resonate with universal experiences of love, loss, and longing. This track is a brilliant exploration of vulnerability, offering listeners a safe space to embrace their innermost feelings and solace in shared experiences.
Behind the scenes, Brown has assembled a dream team of musical wizards to bring his vision to life. With production and arrangement by the talented Grecco Buratto and contributions from acclaimed musicians like Daniel Clarke and Brendan Buckley, "The Sad Ones" is a masterclass in sonic craftsmanship.
Brown's vocals soar, empowering the world to find strength in our vulnerability, enveloping listeners in a warm embrace of sound. Each carefully crafted word carries weight, resonating long after the final note disappears.
With "The Sad Ones," Shawn Brown has once again proven himself a master storyteller, weaving tales of heartache and hope with a rare authenticity. So, let yourself be swept away by the soul-stirring melodies you will never forget.
Welcome back to BUZZ, Shawn Brown! We love the power and emotion felt in your latest single, The Sad Ones." What was the inspiration behind this record, and how did you approach the songwriting process with such care?
Thanks for having me back at Buzz. It's always awesome to chat with you. I appreciate your kind words about “The Sad Ones,” too; it’s been a wild release cycle. This is definitely one of those songs that damn near drops out of the sky, and your artistic job is basically just grabbing hold of the thing and making sure you don’t blow it. If anything,
I was inspired by the idea that we, as humans, currently seem to be having a rough time tolerating our challenges. We are so easily distracted by our phones and other technology that we lose out over and over again on opportunities to practice just being with the challenge, holding the sadness, grief, or disappointment - whatever it is we’re dealing with.
We’ll start to feel something hard and just whip out our phones out of habit and distract ourselves. So when we face big-time feelings we can’t avoid, we can be super impacted. Feelings are funny; they’re just feelings. Nothing more, nothing less. Our reactions to experiencing them are where things can get so tricky for folks. Sadness, in particular, gets a bad rap, so I wanted to make some space in the song for sadness to just be ok - to not need to be fixed or pathologized - to just be ok.
Being your most personal work to date. How do you navigate the balance between vulnerability and storytelling in your music?
It’s a good question. The longer I write songs, the less self-conscious I’ve become about the whole dang process. I used to be absolutely tortured about every little decision or edit. It was brutal. It's different for everyone. But for me, there hasn't been any upside to all that nonsense. The best stuff tends to come from just being as honest as humanly possible and just going with whatever that is. Honesty and vulnerability lead to the best stories and songs that all go together. The trick is to just get out of your way and just let it happen.
You've collaborated with a talented team of musicians and producers to bring life to it. Could you please tell us about the creative dynamic in the studio and how it contributed to the song's final vision?
You are right to point out the roster on this track; it’s an embarrassment of riches. I’m so super lucky to have this ongoing creative collaboration with Grecco Buratto. That guy is a massive talent and has supported my songs. We’ve got a good thing going! This song, in particular, is a great example of how our work together moves.
His production on “The Sad Ones” is pretty incredible. One of the aspects of the song that I really needed his help with was fighting the urge to resolve the song's theme in a “happier” place. Moving a song into uplifting places is always so tempting, but that’s not what this song is really about.
The whole theme is that sadness is OK - and doesn't need to be fixed or turned into happiness. As a result, we had to work really hard to let the song sit in the place of acceptance and not let ourselves fall into the same trap the song is trying to work against. We brought back both Daniel Clarke and Brendan Buckley, too, which is just a massive thing to have those guys on the song.
Touching on themes of acceptance and emotional healing, how do you hope listeners will connect with these themes through your music? What message would you like them to leave with?
If anything, I hope the strong pro-mental health message comes out loud and clear. I genuinely believe that if we focus more on accepting our feelings - instead of vilifying, rejecting, or pathologizing them - we'll be far better off. So, to do that, we have to practice accepting the hard stuff as it comes and see if, by just holding it, we can get through it all more peacefully. In other words, your feelings are valid and important! You're not bad and wrong for feeling sad…or anything else. That’s the message of “The Sad Ones,” no doubt.
We love it when creative avenues cross, and in addition to your musical pursuits, you've also ventured into literature with your book 'We Almost Are.' In what ways do you see your music and writing intersecting? What are you looking forward to most?
Oh wow, thanks! The book came as a real surprise, and I’m beyond psyched that Embers Arts Press was so enthusiastic about publishing it. I think I’m just in a place where “making stuff” is the goal. The vast majority of our time and attention is spent making the thing - song, book, painting, play, garden, dinner - whatever. That's been a real shift for me, understanding that so much more of my life can be spent in the “making” of things and that the results are far less impactful than I would have ever thought. So that's really the interaction, just pushing forward, making as much as possible - regardless of whether it comes out in the form of a melody, lyrics, or writing. Just make stuff!
I am due back in the studio in a few weeks to cut another couple of singles, so I am super excited to get rolling on making some more records. Hopefully, we get to talk about them soon, too!