BRANDON EARL BRISTOW


Brandon Earl Bristow has been wryly commenting on the human condition from the moment he could strum a guitar chord.

Right out of high school B.B. formed “Slight Return,” a heavy, all original rock band that played  the coast from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. There were some hard personnel changes  through the years  yielding the “Agave Blues” band and the “Three Laws of Motion” band, during which B.B. honed his skills as a producer and songwriter.
Today, Brandon’s  projects and  bands feature his full name right up front, citing the “if you want something done right” philosophy.
Born in the early seventies in California, to a family that would not let the 60’s go down without a fight, Brandon always understood peace and love to be the highest achievement, yet it was anger that fueled his desire to say what needed to be said. “All some folks seem to understand is a poke in the eye and music is one powerful medium,” says Bristow while sipping his morning coffee comfortably behind the glass in his full service (invite only) recording studio in Oakhurst, CA, now dubbed Rivermouth HQ.
Utilizing his connections in the surfing community, B.B. has  produced  seven songs for 3 different surf films from this High Sierra mountain vantage point   (“Absolute Mexico” by Josh Pomer, “Live” by David Parsa, and a soon-to-be-released “Burnt Toast” production by Rich and Liz Lehrer).  Brandon freely admits his first love to be surfing and has been a full-time free surfer for 20+ years; the surfing, an escape, while the music was to become his main connection to the outside world which Brandon has seen fit to keep at a “reasonable distance” which places him squarely on a mountaintop, in the ocean or on the stage.
It is from this distance that this self-described TRIBAL FOLK MISANTHROPE launches into his trademark vocal meditation on the powers that be.
Character-driven songs inform us to be wary of religious and political agendas at play in today’s America with a clear and present persona that is always inviting the listener to remember how good it feels to join up with the side of peaceful conservation.
“Sometimes you have to paint a pretty dark picture in order to underline how important it is to be loving and kind to one another.”
B.B. delivers his all original songs  in an acoustic “unplugged” format often with the help of former band mates on percussion  and extra guitars. Make no mistake! “This is some down home snappy shit” as one satisfied So Cal beach pub patron once put it.
After a brief time working for Malibu-based Higher Octave Records (a then owned Virgin Records “smooth jazz“ label) as an assistant to their chief producer William Aura (Third Force), B.B. has proudly declared his creative independence  and  has released two albums simultaneously  in 2007 “FREEDOM CHANGES MEANING” with long-time friend/musician and film producer, David Parsa, and “RIVERMOUTH.” Featuring a huge variety of musical styles and  loads of guest musicians, RIVERMOUTH is an audio scrapbook of the last ten years as an active singer/songwriter/producer.
Brandon Bristow is presently working on his third official release (“tales of a TRIBAL FOLK MISANTHROPE“) and planning a fierce “all out gigathon” for the summer of 2008.