Last month we introduced you to the music of Brian Keith, a country music musician who also just happens to have a day job as an engineer. We thought that combo was pretty interesting on its own, but then there’s a lot more than even that about Brian Keith, so we took a deeper dive.
Hi Brian, thanks for speaking to us today!
First off, you’re an engineer and pilot, and a professional singer songwriter and musician. How do you keep both your careers going and which one would you be willing to sacrifice, if push came to shove?
For me it’s not hard to keep up with at all. A good example is let’s say you’re at Disney World and you’re having so much fun you don’t want to leave. Well, it’s kind of like that for me in my adventures, as I call it…. If you have things surrounding your lifestyle that are fun to do, you simply will make time to fit them all in. If I had to sacrifice one and push came to shove, it would be “PILOT.” Why….because I’m not a full-scale pilot. I fly ¼ scale World War II fighters and I’m a part of the Texas Warbird Thunder Flight Demonstration Team and we meet at sanctioned fly-ins through-out Texas and perform airshows. I’ve been doing that hobby most of my life, but considering I don’t have to give it up I WON’T…. LOL
Tell us how you came to form The Sons Of Buck, who’s in your band and how did you meet them?
The “Sons Of Buck” is named after “Buck Sloan” Buck turns 98 years old in April of this year. Buck is a survivor of the “BATTLE OF THE BULGE” of World War II. Buck and his wife Shirley own and operate the “BUCKSHOT JAMBOREE” and they have an opry every Saturday Night and he sings, plays lead guitar, and also saws on his fiddle throughout the show. At one point of the show Buck will come off of the stage and he and Shirley will dance for the crowd. They are amazing! The “BUCKSHOT JAMBOREE” is somewhat of a museum of artifacts and collectibles and there is also a wall of his memorabilia from when Buck was is WWII.
Coy Sloan is my drummer and Coy is Buck’s real son. By a slap on the back and hug, Buck has adopted me and Curtis as his adopted sons. I’ve been knowing Buck basically since I’ve been involved in music because Coy for the most part has always been my drummer.
- Members of the band:
- Me, of course – Brian Keith – Lead Vocals
- Drummer – Coy Sloan
- Bassist – Curtis Burrell
- Fiddle – Ray Jackson and David Varnado
- Lead Guitar – Buddy Anderson
- Chief Sound Engineering and Lighting – Joakim Krud (aka J.J.)
- Acoustic Guitar and Harmony Vocals – Ryan Keith
- Harmony Vocals – Chad Mitchell
- Film and Tech Coordinator – Ross Fontenot
- Booking Agency – 05 Entertainment – Darrell Kuykendall
- Publicist – Nicole Standly
We really enjoyed your single and video, ‘So Long Emily’. Do you have a love for classic cars as well? Was the car in the clip your own, and if so do you have a love for classic cars as well, and which is your favourite and why?
I really appreciate you guys liking my video for “SO LONG EMILY”. It’s so much fun making these music videos and to actually see how it all comes together. Producing something that actually has your dreams captured on video is so amazing to me, and to have it shared with the world is mind blowing.
I’ve always loved the unique styling and artistry of classic cars, and the engineering and the effort it took to layout and build a car of a certain history point that the world has labeled a “classic.”
The car in the video (1979 Black and Gold Bandit Trans Am) is my car and she is absolutely a dream to drive. It still astonishing to me how much attention that car captures and it’s basically because of the movie, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. She is a star in her own right built around the legacy of that movie.
I love them all but if I had to narrow it down, my favorite cars of course are my Trans Am and the “C2 Corvette which basically are the 2nd generations Corvettes of the era especially the 1963 Split Window Coupe. Such styling, beauty, grace, and a work of art. Chevrolet took away the split window due to the fact you couldn’t see out of the back window from your rearview mirror. How about that for a fact!
The jet in the video is a Falcon 7x which is a global traveler non-stop to anywhere in the world – and no, I don’t own the Falcon 7x. I don’t have $300,000,000 (MILLION) dollars…YET…LOL, but I do have wonderful friends that assisted me that helped me put that music video together.
All of the guys you see in the video work for the company that own that jet. The gentlemen you see in the video are either pilots, security and mechanics for the aviation company and they all volunteered to walk out there and jump in to make that video. None of the blocking was rehearsed. They basically saw the Trans Am being driven out to the jet at Hobby Airport by one of the security guys that works there, and they were curious to what was going on. They simply jumped which worked out perfectly and they made it all come together.
The gentleman you see me shaking hand with by the red helicopter is Mr. George Harpole. George is a very good friend of mine and he along with many other of my are my “TEXAS WARBIRD THUNDER” buddies. George is the person who arranged the Falcon 7X for the video shoot. George is the “CHIEF” pilot for that aviation company. If it wasn’t for George, that video would have never happened. He’s been a blessing and is always willing to do whatever it takes to make ANYTHING happened to produce a result!
The gentleman you see taking pictures is none other the Mr. Michael Lanier. Michael is an amazing photographer and he took all the still shots you now see that are associated with the video. He really captured the essence of the pink shirt in that video. I had brought 3 or 4 different color shirts for the shoot, and it was Michael that chose the pink shirt and the black short sleeve shirt for the video. Michael is also the professional photographer for all the big concerts and events here in Houston, Texas. He is the BEST at what he does and I will be using Michael at all my future photo opportunities and video stills in the coming future. MICHAEL…YOU ARE THE MAN!
Similarly, do you have a favorite brand of musical instrument and how did you come upon it, if that’s the case?
I don’t really have a particular favorite brand of instruments. I basically view instruments as a collaboration of the basis of a song. Usually, I come up with a melody and lyrics about 3:00 to 5:00 in the morning. For some reason my mind has always worked that way. I can’t seem to write a song during the day; it seems like the idea has to come to me early in the morning and then I can work out the details during the day. I always hear a song with a full sound in my head and not one certain instrument, so I’d say all of them are my favorite.
We know you’re inspired by Buck Sloan, but what other artists inspire your music? Who would be your top three go-to artists on your playlist, and why?
That’s actually an easier answer for the me.
- My #1 go-to inspirational artist will always be George Strait. I’d say he is the biggest influence for me wanting to sing, perform live shows, and record music. I feel a lot of artists would say the same thing, that George Strait was their main inspiration for them to pursue a career in country music. If you asked Garth Brooks who inspired him, he’d tell George Strait as well….Heck, we ALL want to be George Strait. Garth Brooks would be right behind George Strait.
- I’ll include two artists on this bullet point. Allen Jackson and Clint Black. Garth, Allen, and Clint all broke out about the same time so yes. These four of these guys are my biggest inspiration to sing, write, and perform country music.
What’s next for Brian Keith, what can fans expect in terms of music releases, and touring and so on?
What’s next for Brian Keith…..We have our next video shoot scheduled for May or June of this year. We are still working on the details and logistics of the video. “Lighter Shade of Blue” written by non-other than “Skip Ewing”. We do have an entire mastered CD with great songs on them. I believe we do have 3 to 4 songs on that CD that would do well, so we are discussing what order we want to release these songs.
We are also planning to go back into the studio very soon to begin recording for next year to ensure that we have enough material to release to radio and social media while we are on tour. Touring is being pulled together through 05 Entertainment. Darrell Kuykendall is the owner of this company located in Houston and he is lining up our schedule for the year. We are taking a couple of months off to see how radio responds to “SO LONG EMILY” and what cities are playing it more than others, and once we get those reports in, we will know how to layout our calendar of dates. We will post the calendar on all of our social media outlets with link to all of the other site concerning our dates and music.
Finally, what question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview, but nobody ever does? And what is the answer to that question?
Hmmmm… let me think about that one.
No one has ever asked me, “What is the biggest venue that you’d like to perform at?”
I’ve always wanted to play the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. For me, that is the pinnacle of achievement. The HLSR is basically the Superbowl of an artist’s career.
A close 2nd would be to perform at the Grand Ole Opry of course and also to have your song perform so well that I am asked to perform at the CMA/CMT award shows AND receive an award for Single of the Year, Artist of the Year, and ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR……those would be dream come true for me.
Thank you so very much for the opportunity to thinking of me and letting me provide to you my response to your questions. You guys are the BEST! Have a great day……….
Watch the video for ‘So Long Emily’ below, and find out more about Brian Keith and his music online on Facebook.
