B.R. Lively is the singer/songwriter project of multi-instrumentalist Bryan Richard Blaylock. Four years after extensively touring the country on his own, Blaylock settled back down in Austin where he has released his sophomore album, People, on August 30th. If there was one way to sum up B.R. Lively’s new record, it’d be that if Into the Blue (his debut) was the inhale; then People is the exhale. Where Into the Blue is more introspective, melancholic, and self-evaluative, People represents the fruit of that inner work and processing of trauma and shadow awareness Blaylock worked through almost a decade ago. The energy is upbeat, groovy, with faster tempos and robust, melodic hooks. Themes of hope, love, and growth permeate throughout. Released independently, People completes a long chapter in a story that's still unfolding, offering melodic plot twists, sympathetic characters, and a narrator who doubles as one of the folk scene's most promising up-and-comers. 

Recorded in 2018 at The Finishing School in Austin, TX, Blaylock circled back with his friends and co-producers Gordy Quist (The Band of Heathens) and Thomas Avery (who composed the string and horn arrangements) to bring these songs to life. Steve Christensen (Khruangbin, Robert Ellis) was brought in to engineer and mix. Richard Millsap returns on the drums with his brother-in-law, Jesse Wilson, on bass. Thomas once again enlists his father, Herb Avery, to play the organ and horn parts, and Thomas performs the piano parts himself (with the exception of the last track). Tricky Jones, Alex Saxon, and Erin Stein sing harmonies and background on a handful of the songs, and centered in it all is Blaylock himself on acoustic guitar and piano for the last track. 

Rooted in folk with hints of Texas outlaw country and southern R&B, Blaylock draws from musical influences that range from Nick Drake to Neil Young, Ella Fitzgerald, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, and Marvin Gaye as well as from the literary works of Bukowski, Rilke, Oliver, Neruda, and Cohen among many others.

CONTACT:

Management/Booking - livelybrmusic@gmail.com