The Eclectic Sound of Tony Brown

“It’s like putting every kind of fruit in the bowl and then eating it – including the bowl.” Tony Brown on his musical style. Submitted.

Tony Brown could be the most famous musician I’ve never heard of. He’s toured the world for decades, playing with musicians like blues legend Taj Mahal, and opened for the likes of Bob Marley in Italian soccer stadiums containing 100,000 (likely screaming) fans.

But while interviewing the musician, producer and songwriter by phone – Brown called from his Santa Fe, New Mexico home – someone enters our Baileys Harbor office and our office dog, Oxford Blue (his human is Dave Eliot, Peninsula Pulse co-owner/publisher) starts braying away.

Brown laughs each time (twice), impersonating what the barks mean. You can hear in his voice the great joy the sound gives him; he guesses there’s some hound in that bark (Ox is a Weimaraner, a kind of hunting dog).

The anecdote is notable because Ox often barks during interviews, yet no one I recall has ever remarked upon it. Beyond thinking that pet lovers are a kinder, more compassionate people (true or not), the way Brown interacts with what’s happening in his immediate world, how present he is, strikes me the most.

“I carry dog biscuits in my pockets whenever I go out for walks,” Brown said – for others’ dogs; he doesn’t have one of his own. “My cat died seven years ago and that blew me out of the water.”

That’s how it went for a 15-minute conversation, Brown scaling the emotional spectrum from obvious joy to remembered grief to a sometimes wistful recall of all the tucked-away places he’s lived in the world (Iowa, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Belize, Europe, etc. etc.). Even the weather that day filtered through his prism of dark and light: sunny in the front yard, raining in the back. This is one musician who feels things deeply – and, based upon his success, he’s clearly able to translate that deep feeling into music.

“Compassion and love are two of the powers lacking in the world,” he said. “So I do try to incorporate those inspirations in what I do.”

Brown travels and records with a band, but his gig in Sturgeon Bay Oct. 8, will be a solo performance.

This conversation has been edited for clarity.  

Debra Fitzgerald: How did you find Door County? 

Tony Brown: I lived in Wisconsin for 36 years, different places. I love Door County. I lived near the corner of [County roads] A & E in Baileys Harbor and had a house there [in the mid-1990s] and just loved it. I played every place in Door County. Just name the town and I’ve played in all of them. But, I just had to move, and left, and went to Belize, and lived there for a long while. 

DF: That’s quite a change.

TB: Belize, it’s part of me. It stays with you and you have to go back there. In my case, I had to go back there and live.

DF: You describe a range of styles for your music, from soul to reggae to blues to traditional American folk music. What don’t you play? 

TB: I haven’t figured that one out yet. I know I’m tempted to play just about everything I could. I do love the challenge. I don’t stray away from trying any kind of music. What I basically do in my professional attitude is, I try to combine ethnic musics together. African, funk, soul, reggae, ska, calypso – I try to combine them all into a sound. I did that because everybody was copying everybody. I changed the environment of the music. Stevie Wonder was a big influence in that, in how he took all styles of music and made it one song. 

DF: What are some of your musical influences?

TB: Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Curtis Mayfield, The Temptations – everything in Motown. All the Jamaican music, all the African music, all the Indian music from India, all the indigenous music from the U.S.

I do everything from classic blues to funk to jazz – all the music is in, in combination with each other. There are so many people that have influenced me that allow me to flex between styles.

It’s like putting every kind of fruit in the bowl and then eating it – including the bowl.

DF: If you could only play one style of music, what would it be?

TB: Then I wouldn’t play.

DF: Do you play covers?

TB: If I do, I do them the way I want to do them. I keep the essence of the people who created it and what they were trying to do, but I add other dimensions to it, which is more of my style. I can play other songs people play, but I never play it the way they play it, and they can’t play it the way I play it. I don’t try to copy them. I do try to allow them to influence my modus operandi. I love the influences of the people whose music I play, but I don’t want to try and compete with the originators. 

DF: Where do you draw inspiration for your lyrics?

TB: Everything. That’s the world. Everything in the world. Most of the stuff, it’s not so much doing good in the world, as much as healing the world. I like love songs, socio-political themes. I really try to say something that helps people understand world situations and problems. Some people just complain about stuff, but I try to create a resolution with the power of love. That’s really hard. A lot of people don’t want to talk about that. They don’t have time. Compassion and love are two of the powers lacking in the world. So I do try to incorporate those inspirations in what I do. 

DF: What’s your favorite type of audience?

TB: Alive. I don’t like playing for dead people.

DF: So you don’t have a very high bar.

TB: I want people to react, enjoy themselves, dance. At the same time, I  want them to be conscious of the inspiration of the music and what it’s saying. It’s not just a bubblegum factory, it’s inspiration, it’s enlightening, it’s those things. 

DF: What three words would you use to describe yourself?

TB: Living, learning and living.

DF: If you couldn’t use the same word twice.

TB: Living, learning and understanding. 

Go See Him

Musician, producer and songwriter Tony Brown will perform a solo show Oct. 8, 7 pm, at Piranha North Studio, 110 S. 2nd St., Sturgeon Bay. Admission is $10.