Brandon Grafius

With the release of his full length album Another Door, Brandon Grafius brings an alternative Americana feel to classic folk songwriting. Lush with pedal steel, slide guitars, and bopping harmonica, the songs reach towards becoming southern country anthems at times. Though songs are diverse from one another, there is a glue that holds this record together like a concept album. Most importantly, this album never loses sight of the emotional platform great songs are built from.

The first single "Through The Rain", is a rolling country track that quickly becomes an addicting instant classic.

“Through the Rain” came about while I was lying in bed listening to a thunderstorm.  I grew up in Michigan, where thunderstorms are common, but during my time in California I might have heard two cracks of thunder throughout the seven years I spent there. So I always appreciate thunderstorms, and remember what it was like to miss them.  During this thunderstorm, I was thinking about someone I wished I was with, and imagining the two of us together. In the last verse, there’s a nod to these thunderstorms representing tough times in life - sometimes, in order to ride out the storm you need to find someone to be close to and share a glass of wine with," explains the songwriter of his single.

Although the single speaks volumes for the album, in order to get the full understanding of where Brandon is coming from, it should be listened to in its entirety. From calm and soothing ballads to up beat folk rock, these songs all seem to hit home. A song like "Lilacs" is a classic rock ballad with elements of country scattered throughout.

As Brandon tells it, “Lilacs” is a deeply personal song, even though it’s a narrative about a woman who’s leaving her husband.  My marriage of 14 years ended this year - it’s far and away the most traumatic experience I’ve ever been through.  There’s a lot of grief, a lot of anger, a lot of bitterness.  One of my closest friends was also going through a divorce at the same time, and she shared a story with me about when she knew she needed to leave her husband.  She’s always been drawn to lilacs.  They had a lilac bush at the head of their driveway, a wilting, spindly thing that really wasn’t very pretty.  But it was still a lilac.  They argued for years about whether it should stay, and finally she came home from work one day to find that he’d dug the bush up.  In my own house, we had a flowering bush outside of our breakfast nook, maybe a gardenia or something.  It would always bloom in the spring, and the morning light would hit it while we were eating breakfast.  So those two stories contained the germ of “Lilacs.”  As I was thinking about the shape the song might take, I started to wonder what it would be like to write a song about divorce that was from a perspective other than mine, as a way to work towards empathy instead of bitterness or anger."

Brandon Grafius has been performing for over 20 years an running. Having gigged in coffee houses, churches, bars,  concert halls, and outdoor festivals, it's clear live performance has always been a huge part of his artistry. After receiving his MA in English concentrating on poetry, Brandon spent three years at a church in Lansing where he led the contemporary worship service and directed a praise band. It was then that he learned to play banjo to add different textures to the songs performed there. The "Another Door" album is a compilation of life experience and personal spirituality.

"There are several major evolutions to my sound in this album.  First of all, I’ve become a much better guitar player over the last few years, and I think it shows. (I’m particularly proud of the finger-picking on “Lilacs.”) I’ve also incorporated my banjo as a major feature of several of the songs - “Keep Knocking,” for example, is almost entirely banjo-driven.  In addition, I made the decision early on in this process that I wanted to feature top-notch harmonica, dobro, and pedal-steel players as a way to hang the album together and take some of the focus off one guy and his guitar.  I think the sound is still warm and intimate, but also expansive enough to maintain interest and keep the songs moving along," says Brandon of his songwriting process and his upcoming album release.

Brandon has been playing around the Lansing area in support of his release and is planning to expand his performance base in the near future. His album is set to be released in early November of this year and will be available on most digital outlets for streaming and download.

To learn and hear more of Brandon Grafius, please visit: brandongrafius.bandcamp.com