Jesse Brand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jesse Brand Train is a country music band of the Red Dirt music scene that can be seen in the Ft. Worth Stockyards and surrounding areas. Jesse is part of the rapidly growing "Texas Country" music scene.
Jesse was born in the small town of Ferndale WA, where the son of a local musician and schoolteacher, quickly picked up the music bug himself. At the age of nine, Jesse started playing drums, often sitting in with his father in local beer joints, where he “fell hard” for the idea of people dancing and singing along with what the band was doing. “I absolutely loved the idea of entertaining people.” Jesse’s musical influences started with …“The Stones, Merle Haggard, Waylon, Willie, Zeppelin, Dylan… all the greats.” “I used to skip school and sit in my room listening to my dad’s vinyl all day… and all night.” Jesse says, “I couldn’t sleep without listening to Hendrix, Page, Red (Volkaert). I’d be so tired in the morning (from being up so late listening) I couldn’t go to school.”
After graduating from Meridian high school, Jesse attended Portland State University, where he earned All American honors as a football player… his other passion. “I still play football, I play AAA minor league for the N. Texas Stampede. We made it all the way to the National Championship game last year… lost in overtime… it broke my heart to see all my friends work so hard and not get that ring. It’s a great game though!”
After college, Jesse went through several different jobs, never satisfied with the direction of his life… “I drove a truck over-the-road for a while, roofed houses, poured concrete, framed houses, cut grass for a landscaping company, heck… I did just about everything there is to do, other than what I knew I was supposed to.” Jesse says his favorite job, was working for his dad on his golf course… “Dad’s a G.C. Superintendent, and I love to golf. We’d spend all day and night hitting balls together, I loved that.” Jesse credits his father for …“giving me the ability to play and sing.” Jesse’s father, Steve Brand, was a famous drummer and guitarist from the 60’s -80’s, playing with bands like C.C.R. Steppenwolf, the Night Cat’s… “shoot… my dad was the best man, he played with guy’s like Waylon, Johnny, Willie… Red Volkaert grew up just across the border from us… when he was a kid, he used to carry his guitar across the border and play with my dad and all his buddies. That must have been fun, that’s what I want. That was all way before my time.” Jesse’s father left the road to raise a family, continuing to play locally at night, and work during the day on golf courses, the family struggled to pay bills… but Jesse says “we never went without love or music… we always had something to eat (laughing), it might not have been great, but my life was great! I always had music, and I had a family who took care of each other.”
Jesse has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction most of his life. In and out of Drug rehabilitation centers, jail, hospitals… Jesse is definitely here for a reason… “My mom always said I had a guardian angel that wouldn’t quit… no matter how hard I tried, and let me tell you… I tried, I should have been dead several times over by now.” “I drank and drugged hard man, I took just about everything I could get my hands on. All my friends back home in Seattle were taking drugs, playing music, partying… it seemed like a lot of fun.” Chris Cornell was one of my best friends back home, we played and partied a lot.” “He got me writing, thinking on a different level, away from mainstream… he was mainstream, but I never thought on that level.” After the Seattle scene fell apart, and Jesse’s friends were dead (from drugs), or had moved away, he had a conversation with his dad about the direction of his life. “My dad was the only hippie I’ve ever heard of that never took a drug in his life… he left David Frizzell’s band ‘cause they drank and did drugs too much.” Jesse says his father “always looked at it from a different standpoint… music is a gift, not to be squandered by greed or power”. “I asked my dad why I was having such a hard time making it…” he said “Because you don’t want it badly enough.” “I respected my dad so much, because he was so honest, never fell in the trap a lot of musicians fall in… He’s a great guy and has great wisdom”. That was when Jesse made the decision to move down to Texas… “Where the real music is.” “I knew I had to do something drastic in order to play my music, my way.” He loaded what he could in his pick-up and headed off to join the Texas Music Scene, and in the short time he’s been here, Jesse has shared stages with Stoney Larue, Randy Rogers Band, Charlie Daniels, Brandon Rhyder, Brandon Jenkins and other Texas Music giants. Jesse is here to stay, and has a lot to offer through his music. “I got stuck playing drums and guitar for different bands and never felt like I was part of the group, I need to play my stuff, I need to sing my stuff… not sit back on my drum kit while some schmuck, who’s never lived my life, sings a song about my life, that I wrote”.
Jesse is currently working on album number three, where he is getting help from some of today’s best Texas artists… “Stoney Larue is a great guy… he and his band are helping make this thing happen for me.” “Travis Linville is another great guy, allowing me to use his studio for almost nothing, I can’t believe how nice these people are down here… I figured when I got here it would be something like… every man for himself, (the way it is everywhere else I’ve been) but these cats are the real deal. Great artists, and great friends.” “I love Texas Music and Texas artists, and wouldn’t think of going anywhere else… Texas Music is the only place I can be, where I can feel and give real emotion... it’s just right... it feels right... it’s true and honest”.
