TEXARKANA, Ark. - Marshall, Texas, has been a good home base for musician and singer-songwriter Nick Brumley, who brings his acoustic show to Fat Jack's Oyster and Sports Bar Friday.
Brumley's East Texas days have brought him success with bands like the roots rock of The Mansion Family and, before that, the bluegrass and hillbilly tunes of The Good Time Rounders.
But recent years have seen him also focus more on solo material, and he released an album this past November.
With plenty of scheduled events scrapped due to quarantine and venues shutting temporarily, his plans to promote those songs were put on the back burner. Instead, Brumley found himself relaxing at a ranch in central Texas, partnering with a younger musician to write songs.
Now Brumley's ready to get back out there, supporting himself and playing his music live. He only started back up about a week ago and admits to feeling nervous then, an unusual feeling.
"I was going to take this time, three months, to start writing for another record, because I just released one in November but I wasn't able to tour it. I wasn't able to play it out," Brumley said.
As it turns out, he devoted much of his quarantine time at the ranch to writing songs with a younger female musician. "I spent most of my time writing with her, playing with her, so I didn't really focus on what I was doing," Brumley said. It was nice to spend time co-writing, he found out.
He'd previously had writing sessions planned during the quarantine months with a chance to really make it, he thought, but things turned out way differently than he imagined. He plays a lot of gigs in Louisiana, but that state shut down in March and Texas followed suit. Pretty soon, with the pandemic, all his plans were dashed.
But he's excited to play again live for a crowd now.
"These three months have given me time to sit back and think about what I actually want to do creatively. I had been in bands for almost 16 years. Here recently, I guess these past two years the first years I actually focused on stuff that I want to write and I want to creatively put out there," Brumley reflected.
Being in bands helps him know the road and the stage. And it's a bit scarier being on his own. "It's like you're naked. You've got nobody to rely on. You're extremely vulnerable," Brumley said.
Crowd participation, storytelling and making songs relatable to at least one person in the crowd - all of that helps.
"If one person gets it and can relate, then I think I won within that five minutes of that song," Brumley said.
About 85 percent of what he plays is original, which has its pros and cons, he admits. Folks want to hear what they want to hear. Friends doing covers make a killing, he says. But his original work is important to him.
"It's a harder path but I like it, but the music that I write is extremely personal. It's extremely personal, like life lessons - certain downfalls, overcoming obstacles and of course relationships," he said. He's a storyteller, sort of folk but not in a traditional sense, he says.
"I've had some people tell me this is bluesy, bluegrass, folky, rock sound. I'm just like, 'Yeah, that's cool, man. Call it that,'" Brumley said.
He likes it that way, not being defined by any particular genre. Whatever type of song he wakes up and wants to write, he can do it.
To hear these songs, catch Brumley at his Friday night show at Fat Jack's. He will be joined by a pedal steel guitar player and intends to play all the originals he can. His 2019 album is titled "My Thoughts, My Mom's Guitar and My Daddy's Heart."
"I just want everybody to have a good time. If I can touch somebody with any of my songs, that means a lot to me," Brumley said. "That's all I kind of really ask."
(Nick Brumley's show starts at 8 p.m. Fat Jack's Oyster and Sports Bar is located at 3324 N. State Line Ave. More info: 870-774-5225.)
