Finding Your Rhythm in the Magnolia State with Andrew Bryant

Casey Combest: Hey everyone, and welcome to the Blue Sky Studios Podcast. We're here today with Andrew Bryan. Andrew, thanks so much for being with us today and taking a few minutes.

Andrew Bryant: Yeah, thanks for having me, Casey.

Casey Combest: Absolutely. Take a moment and tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and what you've done with music over the years.

Andrew Bryant: Well, I, uh, grew up, um, as a teenager, just kind of a lonely kid playing, learning how to play guitar and drums, piano at my house. You know, I was taught piano by my mom and started out playing, uh, in the church band. Like a lot of people from here, you know, just going to church three times a week. And I played drums in church. And then kind of as soon as I, I graduated high school, I started playing in, in, um, like punk and hardcore bands and stuff like that cause I was real into that and just started traveling, you know, to Memphis and just kind of all over and then that just quickly, uh, led into me, uh, starting to really write a lot of songs and starting my own rock band.

And then, um, not long after that, made my first record in 2004 under my own name Andrew Bryant, uh, just as like a solo record and I'd started. You know, kind of really wanting to hone in my skills as a songwriter and started listening to a lot of country music and stuff like that, you know, and Bob Dylan and things like that in my early twenties. And so I really moved into the singer-songwriter thing, like pretty hard in my twenties and, but I was still just trying to figure it out. And then I guess in my. Early thirties, I started a band with a friend of mine named Justin Kinkle Schuster, and we started a band called Water Liars. And we did that pretty hard for, uh, about five or six, seven years or something like that.

And then, uh, I've still just continuously put out solo records and I've always had a studio in my house, I guess, since my early twenties. And that was always, Part of my writing process and also just like learning how to record music, you know? So, uh, yeah, that's what I do and I've been doing it.

Casey Combest: That's great, man.

Andrew Bryant: For like 20 years now.

Casey Combest: Well, I don't remember. Uh, how, how many records did you guys do with Water Liars?

Andrew Bryant: Uh, we did four full, full length albums.

Casey Combest: Yeah. I, I wish I could remember which one. Uh, man, I, I swear I, if it was, if you could burn, uh, holes into a a disc, I would've done it, man. It was such a great record.

Andrew Bryant: Yeah, thanks.

Casey Combest: Uh, sonically just sounded so good, man. Yeah. Um, well that's great. And, and so many people who listen to the podcast, they have, uh, similar stories, similar backgrounds, and I think it is funny to pause for a minute on the church band thing. I feel like, so myself included so many people, that's such a great way to get started.

A lot of times younger, uh, kids will come through the studio in their teenage years and-

Andrew Bryant: Mm-hmm.

Casey Combest: You know, conversation. You're like, Hey, what, what do you do with music? And they're like, ah, I just play at home. And I was like, do you play the band at your church? And they're like, nah, they're really good. I was like, Well, you could be really good too. You should go play with, you know, it's like such a great opportunity, especially today. Uh, back when I was coming up and we didn't play with a metronome, but now so many churches do and it's such a great way to cut your teeths.

Andrew Bryant: Is that right? They play with metronomes now?

Casey Combest: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, man. Yeah, that's cool. So a lot, lot of tight, tighter musicians for sure. But, uh, so a little context here you are in Oxford, Mississippi, the. Part of the state. That's right. Uh, you guys have done some really neat things with music over the years. There's been some really great studios in Oxford. Uh, it seems like a pretty healthy music scene. I'd love to hear a little bit about what that was like to see or to have that as the backdrop of your music career as you've grown up.

Andrew Bryant: Yeah, I mean, honestly I didn't really get involved in the Oxford scene till Water Liars had started. I mean, I had played some shows here and I knew some people and, but I'm more new. The people who kind. Uh, ran the local record store or just like other local musicians and, you know, there was sweet tea, uh, studio was here and I never went to it.

And, uh, I knew people who like worked at it and I knew some bands who had been in there, but I'd never been like really exposed to a lot of the other things that really have made Oxford sort of known for this. And then obviously Fat Possum Records being based outta here and Water Liars. We signed with the label that was a subsidiary of theirs.

Big Legal Mess Records. Oh, cool. So, you know, everything was kind of ran through the fat possum office and once I sort of got a foot in the door there, then I really started to see like, oh there's all this stuff here, but you really just kind of don't know it cuz it's a small town, you know, it's a really small town.

And then the university has so much such a presence that, um, Local musicians, there's always things happening, but you kind of just like don't know where it is, you know? Uh, which is kind of what makes it special too. Um, so in my younger years actually, I was spending a lot more time in Memphis and I think it.

Part of that's like a genre thing. Like at the time I was really in, like I said, into punk and hardcore and there was a lot of that stuff going on there and just like a lot more of a rock and roll type of a scene than there was in Oxford. And so I, you know, I was always kicking around like little studios.

It just seemed like I just would end up in studios and hanging out with bands in their houses and you just kind of go places and, um, but Oxford now, It's really, really, it's just this really cool little pocket that's kind of in the middle of the state that is sort of between the delta. And what's called, you know you have the Hill Country Blues like around here, and so all the blues you kind of just like in this university town, sort of in between all of this and then having Fat Possum records, how they've expanded out to just make all these other types of records.

You have a great music venue here called Proud Lyrics that just has always gotten great shows and. So a lot of my exposure to music just came from like, seeing bands, or you'd hear about a band, then you'd go see 'em live and you're like, wow, that's great. You know? So it's just, yeah. It's just this little pocket that's just really vibrant, you know?

And I can't take much credit for it. There's been, there's people here who's been a lot longer than me. I, I think I'm sort of a new guy in town when it comes to stuff like that.

Casey Combest: Yeah. Now, we were speaking a little bit before we started recording. You have a new podcast of your own mm-hmm. Tell us a bit about the origin of that and, and why you're doing that.

Andrew Bryant: Yeah, so I have this, uh, new podcast I just started. It's called Magnolia Radio. I've sorta used the, the social media tag, Magnolia State for a long time. So if you go to at Magnolia State on like Twitter or Instagram or anything like that, that's me and I just grab that up. A long time. People always ask me like, how did you get that?

And I'm like, well, when Twitter started, like nobody in Mississippi was on Twitter. And like I wasn't in a band. And so I just like thought it was a good one to grab and I've just grabbed it. And then-

Casey Combest: that might be some intellectual property you can, uh, sell in a few years.

Andrew Bryant: Man, I've always been afraid that the state's gonna come and just like take it or something to try to use it.

Casey Combest: grab it in front of and then,

Andrew Bryant: and then like, and what can you do, right? Yeah. But anyways. Yeah, I just like, um, I had been thinking about it for a while. I listened to a lot of podcasts and I, I always found that I got a lot out of just like listening to how people recorded the songwriting process. Uh, and I listened to other podcasts just from writers and, and you know, just whatever things that I'm interested in and sometimes I just found that like I get kind of just fatigued working on music, but I still like to do something that is surrounded by music, you know, the creation of it, how it's made and all that. So I wanted to approach it with that, but I also want, like, wanted to approach it by just like making it like inviting friends into my space, which is, so I produce it all outta my studio here.

And you don't always have times when you're working with people. Or even when you do have times when you're working with people in here, you just don't have time to do stuff like that. So I thought it would be cool to create a space and a time where it's just like, Hey, we're just gonna hang out and talk.

Uh, and it still comes from here and we just kind of see where the conversations go, you know? Um, and I just wanted to. Kind of expose people also to just like things that are happening in Mississippi. I mean, I feel like Mississippi gets such a, a bad rap around the country when it comes to just, oh, everybody's so backwards and all, you know, all these things.

And I just want, I just don't live in that world anymore. I know that that world exists, but like, I just don't live in it. And so I kind of wanna expose people to like my world. So-

Casey Combest: Yeah. Your, your version of Mississippi, which is not backwards.

Andrew Bryant: Right. Well's. Try not to be anyways. So- (laughs)

Casey Combest: try the best, best you can not to be. Yeah. Well, I've got a little hunch I would love to kind lean into and it, it might be a non-starter, but I would love to talk a little bit about the writing process. It sounds like even in the few minutes we've talked so far, that's something that you've thought out, you've tried different things, uh, for young writers starting out.

Who might even be hearing the phrase writing process for the first time. Right. Uh, what advice would you give them,

Andrew Bryant: Andrew? I mean, you're specifically asking about songwriting process particularly.

Casey Combest: Correct. Yeah, sorry. Right, right.

Andrew Bryant: Yeah. Yeah. I'm more mostly a songwriter. I do write some essays and things that go along with my podcast, but from a songwriting perspective, you know what's interesting?

The few, couple of song writers I've had in here so far, I hear so many of the same things that I think, but then there's always different too. And, and the one advice I would give to a songwriter is, uh, just keep doing it. And you've gotta write a, you know, a lot of songs. And then you pick 10 good ones, you know, or something like that.

If you're trying to make a lot of people think like, oh, I can't write songs because I tried this and like it wasn't good, or I played it and people didn't like it, you know, and I, to that, I would say like there, there are no bad songs because you just have to write a lot of songs and then figure out what you're trying to make out of it.

You know? For me, I like to make albums. It's like the thing I grew up with and I like to write enough songs to put together the album that I want to make and. For me, like I've heard a lot of advice over the years, like, oh, you have to write every day. You know, like, uh, just find some time, even if it's just a few lines, or just play your guitar every day or work on something.

I don't do that anymore. I tried that for years and, and actually almost kind of killed me from wanting to write songs cuz it was so frustrating to just not have something on a day, you know? And so I have literally- I'm 42 now, and I've been writing songs for over 20 years. The thing that I do now is when it comes, when it strikes me, I write it and I take the time and I sit down and I write the song.

Uh, and it usually comes in spurts for me. I will write 20 or 30 songs over the course of a month or two, and then I may not write anything for two years. You know, it just depends. Um, but sometimes I write two albums in a year. Never know. And I, my best advice I would give would just be like, don't give up just because you don't think it's good or, or you don't think it's good enough or whatever. You just gotta keep doing it.

Casey Combest: One of the fun things about doing a podcast like this is over 30, 40 plus episodes. I should probably look at that number and see how many episodes we've done. Uh, you get to hear so many different perspectives, uh, and it's so cool to see that that's what works for you. Cuz we have people come on and they talk about that diligent approach. Uh, I feel like I land somewhere in the middle. Like if I write a few times a month, uh, or, or maybe a few times a week, depending on the season, that it's enough to where I can keep those, uh, muscles exercised, so to say. And I, when I'm pulled away from it, I'm like, oh, I want to get back to that and kind of finish that song that, uh, that concept.

Um, so yeah, you know, if you're listening right now, The one simple thing, uh, to kind of add to the, the great advice that Andrew just gave is, uh, kind of find what works for you because everybody does have a different approach, a different thing that gives them life. Uh, so a, a little in the weeds question here, Andrew. Do you start on guitar, piano, no instrument? How, how does the starting point for an origin of a song?

Andrew Bryant: Usually either guitar or piano? One of those two actually. Mostly guitar. You know, I used to have this philosophy of. Uh, I would come up with a little, a riff or, or something or a melody that was on the guitar.

I'm like, Ooh, this is a song. I have to write it right now. And if I didn't write it right now, I would think that like this would go away and I'll forget it. And, you know, I will come back to it and it won't be any good. And I also like kind of had this philosophy of like, If I don't write as many songs as I can right now, then I'm gonna lose. This is only a, this is a finite amount of time I have. I'd always heard these things like, oh, the best Beatles songs were written by the time they were 30. And all these other songwriters, it's like, you gotta write everything before you're 30. And now I'm 40 and I'm like, this is so dumb. You know, like all these people's takes on like how to write songs, just like don't listen to it because my process is completely changed in that, like I'll come up with a riff now and I'll turn on my voice memo on my phone and I'll record it and I just leave it and then I'll come back to that and be like, oh, that, that could be, that could be a song. And actually, you know what I used to do is I would come up with the riff and I would just sit there and force myself to write lyrics to it at that moment and have to finish it.

Whereas now, like I put some time between it and I find it like I will record music for a song. I'll even like record, you know, I'll turn it into a ver- verse, chorus, bridge, all that, and then I'll write the lyrics just. I find that if I put off lyrics sometimes, once I have a couple of songs and I'm start to generate a theme for my album, then it's really easy to fill in the gaps that way.

And so for me, even my processes change like that and, but then sometimes I do just sit down in my piano and I play something that catches me, you know, just outta nowhere. And I'll just start singing with it. And a lot of times I just sing along with what I'm doing and I get those couple of lines, and then I just, I'll record that on a voice memo and I'll sort of take a walk and I, I kind of think of it as your brain as always.

Turned on to writing songs or mine is anyways. And I sort of, it's just always in there lingering and I think it does a lot of the work for us, you know, and it's kind of all about learning how to let that part of your brain do your work and still be able to function in your family and your work life and all that without having to say like, Hey everyone, go away. I gotta write these songs right now.

Casey Combest: That's right.

Andrew Bryant: You know?

Casey Combest: A lot, a lot of my voice memos, like, it's typically like an idea that I have, and then you'll hear my son or my daughter walk up behind me and they're talking. Yeah. Or my wife turn on dishwasher. You know, it's like, it's kinda, uh, some of the best lyrics I feel like have come to me, uh, within life.

You know, not, not separated, not pulled back. So that's exciting. Now, uh, you talked a little bit about, uh, how you like writing albums. So people who are listening under the age of 20, they might not even be familiar with that concept, and I don't mean that as an insult in any way. Talk to us a little bit about that approach. How is that different to write an album than you would just writing a song?

Andrew Bryant: Well, you know, if, if I set out to write a song, it's usually. I see what happens, you know, and, uh, like what's coming out, what's, is it something from my past? Is it something that I'm feeling? Is it a complete metaphor or character that I'm working off of?

A lot of times I just, cuz to me, like when I'm writing lyrics, I'm just sort of piecing together things that sound good, you know what I mean? And then sometimes you sort of realize like, oh, is this about me? Am I trying to talk about something bigger? Or is this just something that I wanna explore? But anyway, so I'll get a, usually get a few songs that I'm like, okay, thematically they go together and it's, I'm like, this is where I'm at.

And so this is the theme that I wanna work off of for this album. So I usually, like I say, I'll have 20 songs. And I'm like, these eight are really fit really well together and cohesively into this album that I can title this, you know? And then I start to think about what order they go in. And we call it sequencing, you know, first to last for an album.

And so I, and then I usually, almost every time I have a 10 song album, and then I, the one's right in the middle, I go, that's no good and that's not good enough. And so I pull those two songs out and then I just write two songs. That say better what I think should go there. So it's sort of like writing a book in that you're writing, you figure out your, your beginning and your end and you know, in writing, well, I've talked to some writers who write books and things too, and they always say beginning, middle, and end.

And so I always fill the middle end last. I always, I figure out how it's gonna start and how it's gonna end, and then I fill in that middle to like get it just perfect. So, and I just, I think like that because I grew up listening to my mom's old vinyl collection, you know, like actual records. And when you put on side A and it flows and then you flip it and it flows from there to the end of the record and, and to me, and it was just like looking.

Record, cover the art that goes with it, reading the liner notes. It all is like one piece of art to me. And I've just never been able to separate my brain from like creating like that. Cuz to me a record collection is just a special. And just as meaningful as, as a book collection, you know, someone's library in their house.

I've learned as much from listening to the, you know, hundreds or thousands of records that I've listened to, uh, you know, over my lifetime than I have from books. So, and I have a huge book library as well. So my point is that I just put 'em sort of in the same category, and so that's the way I write.

Casey Combest: That's cool. So for someone listening and they're like, man, this concept is completely foreign. I've never tried to write an album. Uh, what would be the big advantages for them to approach a work like that rather than, Hey, I'm gonna write a few singles, or I'm gonna write just a song. What are the big advantages there?

Andrew Bryant: I think the biggest advantage is that it keeps you on a theme and that it keeps you, it. He what can help you write those songs that you didn't know you were gonna write. You know, like if you, if you write a few good songs and they're sort of thematically all the same, and then you're like, well, I need a few more, you already have the theme there, so you're just gonna write something from a different angle or something totally different, you know, than you might have before.

Or, whereas if you're just writing songs all the time, it's sort of like each song has, its each. Individual theme, it has this, each thing, you know? So I think it diversifies it in some way. Yeah, I don't know. I guess that's-

Casey Combest: No, that's good. And you might, you might disagree with me on this, so please feel free to, I'd love to know your thoughts on this, but one of the things I, I tell people a lot of times, especially if they've never recorded, they're coming in the studio and they're like, well, I just kinda wanna get in there and figure it out.

That's a great idea if you have an unlimited budget sponsored by some major or something like that. But for, for normal people, honestly, not even, is it more practical financially, but it's also more enjoyable and can be more creative to sort of have some boundaries. I'm, I'm curious, and this relates to what you just said, have you ever felt that where sometimes giving yourself some thematic guardrails, if it's songwriting, or, Hey, this is what I'm trying to do.

If that almost provokes more creativity sometimes, rather than a complete blank canvas? Yeah,

Andrew Bryant: I think it depends on the person, honestly. Cuz I've seen other people thrive without the structure and they just like, don't, you know, um, I don't know. They don't benefit from it in the same way that I do. So it's really kind of all about knowing yourself.

Like if you. Look at your work life, you know, how do you approach your work life? If you approach it as like a person who's like really organized and kind of prepared and knows what they're gonna do before they get there. But then when they get there and there's a roadblock, they're like prepared for that.

Right? And some people work really great like that, and some people work really great of just being like, throw me into this chaos and I'm gonna make something. I'm gonna structure it myself. You know? Yeah, yeah. Uh, I think there's, I've seen people do that. One thing I learned a lot about by just playing in Water Liars because I didn't actually write any of the songs in that band.

Justin wrote all the songs, but then he would just bring it to me, uh, and we would kind of restructure it and figure out how it was gonna go on the album and, and do all sorts of things. So I realized that like me, just not having to think about like. The writing and the themes and things like that. I would just go into the studio and approach it in a really loose way a lot of times.

But you know, it just depends on like what you're going for. I think too, you know, experiment. That's the one thing about music is that experimentation can lead to things. But what I try to do, I try to experiment with my instruments cuz an instrument it's not words, it's not like, you know, it's sounds and sounds are really fun to play with and to like mess around with.

And so I always try to schedule in my, you know, free flow, creative time. Um, but that's just me. You know, some people just like to live in that world, but me personally, when I get into a situation like that, it's like, ugh, okay, I guess I'm doing this, but you know, it's gonna make me a little shaky the whole time.

Casey Combest: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is it labeled a free play in your calendar?

Andrew Bryant: Uh, it's, I think I call it jam time now or something like that.

Casey Combest: Jam time.

Andrew Bryant: You know what I mean? Which I would, I think I do that to be funny cuz I would've never Sure. Yeah. I've always been like against, I'm not like a jammy type guy. Uh, yeah. I just kind of grew up like, you don't, I don't jam, you know? But, uh, now I'm like, Man, I just want to jam. Like, I really just wanna find a band to like, where I can just jam, you know, or whatever. So

Casey Combest: yeah, it's funny how you, how you change over the years and develop, man. That's really fun. Yeah, for sure. Andrew, thank you, uh, so much for your time today for, uh, listeners who wanna check out your podcast or any of your music, where can they find out more

Andrew Bryant: about you?

Well, you go to my website, AndrewBryantmusic.com. There's pretty much everything there and it links to everything. Podcast is called Magnolia Radio, and it's pretty much on all podcast servers now. So yeah, I appreciate everybody checking it out. Yeah, thank you Casey. It was really good talking to you.

Casey Combest: Absolutely, and thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of the Blue Sky Studios podcast.

Have a great day everyone.