Luckily Discovering Brody Price

Luckily Discovering Brody Price

Brody Price (2023)

I am always on the hunt for new music to play on my radio show, whether it be through an artist’s playlist or obscure tiktoks. The latter was exactly the case for Brody Price, a Texas-based doom-country artist whose song I found while scrolling through my for you page. I was immediately drawn to the loud guitars and twangy voice, adding it to Clam Jam’s playlist. After featuring his song “Dying When I Met You,” I got the privilege to interview him and attend his first show at Empty Bottle.

His new album, Win a Trip to Palm Springs! (WATTPS!) released in October of 2022 features a wide variety of musical influences ranging from Nirvana’s In Utero—seen through heavy guitars in “Dying when I met you” and “Satellites & Dust”—to country influences of his childhood. Price recalls growing up on ranches in South Texas and listening to artists such as Freddy Fender, George Jones, Marty Jones, and especially Willie Nelson. Price creates a unique sound aptly dubbed “doom country.”

“It creates some interesting situations where we’re always kind of caught in-between. We play country shows and we’re the outlier country band that everyone’s two-stepping at certain venues or at others, all the dancing stops. Then at Indie shows, everyone’s wonders who this country band is.”

Price was originally in the indie pop band Dunkin Fellows in Texas, but after taking different directions, the band split and Price moved to Joshua Tree in California to work as a geologist. Price fondly recalls his experience at Joshua Tree, expressing its importance to his personal growth and identity. He recounts, “There’s no water, and it’s so beautiful and unforgiving […] it’s just intense, and it puts things in perspective when you feel really small doing something like that for so long.” Talking to Price, I could sense that he loved traveling and the experience that comes with navigating the unfamiliar and meeting new people.

When it comes to WATTPS! a lot of the writing was done in a time where traveling was not possible. Written during the COVID pandemic, Price talks about the self-reflective process of writing in isolation and some of his influences.

“Songwriting-wise, I love Leonard Cohen. He’s kind of the high-water mark for writing and I also love his poetry quite a bit. A lot of this album was quite a bit like. I was reading a collection of poems called Life on Mars. It was pretty mind blowing and a lot of the poems may have inspired a lot of the songs in this. And also, a book called Jesus’ Son by Dennis Johnson. That was a collection of short stories that really inspired these songs. Musically, the record itself (recordings and mixes), even though it’s a very heavily country influenced album, a lot of the influences were Nirvana. The mixes they have, specifically In Utero, especially for our band, it’s so loud and dynamic. The lows are so low, and the highs are so high. We were going for the massive dynamic swings, which I had never done before. So going from a solo-feeling song to a massive rock song was really influenced by the In Utero record by Nirvana. Which is funny because we don’t sound like them necessarily.”

Price’s writing style, while starting off as a daily obsession, was refined to a healthy write when inspired process, which can’t help but be triggered by touring. Price passionately speaks: “Being on the road is definitely a really inspiring feeling that lights a fire on all the raw materials already in your life.” Price’s dedication and love for what he does shine through not only in his music but in his personality.

Upon arriving at his show, the venue was filled with the chatter of friends and strangers. What he said before about having a very mixed audience was true here too. In between the breaks of the openers, Brody was socializing with everyone and embraced me and my co-host. He exudes a welcoming energy and radiates positivity. I would highly recommend listening to WATTPS!, if not for its charming sound then for an artist who loves his craft and the people who surround him.