Andy Browne has enough history to fill an interview without ever reaching the present.
As a young musician in Atlanta, he fronted The Nightporters, opened for The Clash and crossed paths with R.E.M. at a time when the city’s alternative music scene was beginning to take shape. Yet Browne makes it clear very quickly that nostalgia is not what interests him most.
“These days my only concern is with the now,” he says.
That perspective runs through his current work. The punk background is still part of him, but so are Bowie, The Beatles, jazz, blues, folk, country and the quieter rhythms of everyday life. These days, a walk with his dog Samson can apparently carry as much creative weight as an old backstage story.
On April 9, 2027, Browne will travel from Atlanta to Toronto to perform at the Notes From The Crowd Alternative / Indie Rock Showcase at the El Mocambo. Before making the trip north, he spoke with NFTC about his musical influences, his years in Atlanta, the artists who encouraged him along the way and why his attention remains firmly on what comes next.
You spent part of your formative years in England before becoming part of Atlanta’s music scene at a very young age. How did those two musical worlds shape the artist and songwriter you eventually became?
England is a great wealth of history and musical heritage. It is a beautiful country.
I remember watching Bowie and The Beatles on the BBC as a young child and not really understanding their world. I get it now.
A huge part of my writing these days is asking myself, “Would David Bowie or Paul McCartney or George Harrison like this song?”
In most cases the answer is, I think so. The rest gets thrown away.
It is a simple test, but one that says a great deal about how Browne approaches songwriting. Decades after first seeing those artists on television, he still measures his own work against the musicians who helped shape his idea of what a great song could be.
The Nightporters came up during an especially vibrant period in Atlanta music, and you shared stages with artists including The Clash and R.E.M. Looking back now, what stands out most about those early years?
These days my only concern is with the now.
I try my best not to look back. I’m not particularly fond of discussing my first band. That was a long time ago. I’m not the same person now.
However, getting a thumbs-up from Joe Strummer backstage at The Fox in Atlanta as a pup, after opening for The Clash, was like getting a musical blessing from Jesus.
He said to me, “Great show, Andy.”
Nothing will top that. Maybe, just maybe, going fishing with Bob Dylan would come close.
R.E.M. are very cool folks, all of them. Peter in particular took an interest in my songwriting. Great guy.
Browne has previously recalled Peter Buck telling him during his Nightporters days that even if the band did not ultimately make it, Browne himself would someday. At the time, it was not exactly what he wanted to hear because The Nightporters meant everything to him. Looking back, he now sees the comment differently.
“I think he kind of called the shot,” Browne said. “Maybe he saw the future before we did.”
The photograph offers a glimpse into an important period in Atlanta music history, but Browne’s own perspective on those years is revealing. He clearly values the experiences and the people he met, yet he has little interest in making the past the centre of his identity today.
Your current solo work feels more reflective and personal than the music associated with your earlier punk and alternative roots. Was that evolution something you consciously pursued, or did it happen naturally as your life and songwriting changed?
There is a book, The Adventure of Consciousness by Sri Aurobindo, that changed my complete outlook.
My punk rock credentials will always be intact, but these days I’d much rather walk my dog at the lake and explain to him the genius of Stevie Wonder than tell him about drinking a couple beers with The Sex Pistols.
He doesn’t drink any booze, and neither do I.
Samson’s just not impressed with my old stories of yesteryear.
William DuVall from Alice in Chains showed up at our regular residency at DogHobble Winery in Blue Ridge, Georgia. We had a little acoustic jam. Samson liked that.
If my dog likes it, I generally listen.
Samson appears often enough in Browne’s stories that he has become something of a supporting character in this chapter of his musical life.
Earlier this year, Browne ran into Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes at Wax ‘N’ Facts, the long-running Atlanta record shop. Robinson apparently made an immediate impression on Samson by offering him one of his favourite treats.
For Browne, the encounter also carried another connection to Atlanta’s musical past. Before The Black Crowes, Chris and Rich Robinson performed as Mr. Crowe’s Garden, and Browne remembers the brothers coming out to see his old band.
“They were just kids asking, ‘How do you put it together?’” Browne recalls. “I hadn’t seen Chris in a while. He was very nice.”
The story fits Browne’s current perspective well. The history is still there, and the connections are real, but there is no grand mythology attached to them. Sometimes an old acquaintance turns up in a record store, feeds your dog a treat and reminds you just how long the road has been.
Your recent song “The Dummy in Me” looks back at personal and professional growth with a fair amount of self-awareness. What was behind that song, and why did it feel like the right story to tell at this point in your life?
Timing, it’s all about the timing.
Guess I’m kinda dumb, hence the song. I’m particularly fond of it.
Browne does not over-explain the song, and that suits it. There is self-awareness in the answer, but also a sense that not every song needs a lengthy explanation attached to it.
Your influences span everything from Bowie, Dylan and The Clash to jazz, blues, Southern folk and country. When you sit down to write today, how do those very different influences find their way into an Andy Browne song?
If you’ve ever made a stew, you just throw it all together in a pot, boil it and most times something amazing happens.
It may be the simplest description of Browne’s music. England and Atlanta, punk and acoustic music, Bowie and Dylan, Stevie Wonder and Southern roots all find their way into the same creative mix. The influences are broad, but the end result still sounds distinctly like Browne.
One example of how those influences come together is “Highwire,” a song that reflects the more textured, acoustic side of Browne’s current work.
On April 9, you’ll be travelling from Atlanta to Toronto to perform at the Notes From The Crowd Alternative / Indie Rock Showcase at the El Mocambo. What are you looking forward to most about playing Toronto and stepping onto such a historic stage?
Canada is absolutely beautiful.
I always think of that Gino Vannelli song when visiting Niagara. Great song.
Canada and I have met quite a few times. I was dating a wonderful girl in the north country. I met her while working video production at The Calgary Stampede.
Lost my heart in Edmonton. Took years to get it back.
On the El Mocambo, standing on the same stage my heroes stood on is always absolutely magical. Very much looking forward to the visit.
I was in Macon, Georgia last year at The Grand Opera House. My friend Trevor Dixon is managing the remodel and gave me a tour. I stood in Harry Houdini’s and Charlie Chaplin’s footsteps.
My feet are still beaming from that. Two of my absolute lifelong superheroes.
It’s probably the nicest theatre I’ve ever seen. Hope to play there one day.
Kinda thinking El Mocambo is going to have the same glow.
The Same Glow
There is something fitting about Browne ending there. For a musician who says he prefers to live in the present, he clearly understands the significance of places where music history has happened. That does not mean trying to recreate the past. It means appreciating where you are, stepping onto the stage and adding another night to the story.
When Browne arrives in Toronto next April, he will bring decades of musical experience with him, but also a perspective that seems much more interested in where the road is heading than where it began. Bowie, McCartney, Harrison, Dylan, Stevie Wonder, punk rock, Southern music and all the other ingredients remain part of the mix, but they have become pieces of a much broader musical life.
Andy Browne performs at the Notes From The Crowd Alternative / Indie Rock Showcase on Friday, April 9, 2027 at the El Mocambo in Toronto.
For Browne, part of the attraction is the history of the room. The more interesting part may be what he adds to it when he gets there.
A personal note: Thanks to Andy for taking the time to share his stories, memories and music with Notes From The Crowd. I’m looking forward to welcoming him to Toronto in April, hearing a few more of those stories in person and, most importantly, seeing him take the stage at the El Mocambo.
See you in the crowd.
Written by Brad Foley
Brad,
Thank You..
You my Absolute Fave Music Interviewer.
https://andybrowneofficial.com