Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brandon Hughes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brandon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Well, for me, this particular path came to me.

I’ve always enjoyed singing. It’s been something that has been in my soul since the beginning I do believe. As a kid, any and every chance I had to use my voice was taken. From talent shows in school to singing in church…I never missed an opportunity.

As a pretty shy kid, music was my voice. However, around my teenage years, that changed. I was the only one in my family to really express myself through an art, and with my future on the horizon, priorities and expectations shifted. I stopped singing pretty much entirely and focused on studies and sports throughout my middle school and high school years. Music was then just something I listened to as I hid away internally.

Going to college was pretty much a must for me and was pushed on me pretty hard. I remember my dad wanted me to pursue being a school teacher. I didn’t know about that or what I really wanted to do with my life at that point.

However, at the end of my senior year of high school, I discovered a new love revolving music: the guitar. I fell in love with the puzzle of learning songs and tones and spent the summer before college learning the hobby in my own.

College rolled on, but at the end of my first year, I was enjoying my hobby of guitar much more than my business classes. Then I was hit with a challenge.

One of my college friends told me about this venue in town called “The Tipsy Teapot”, a tea/coffee shop and live music venue. It was a pretty popular spot in my college town and I had a internal desire to play my guitar there.

So I went and managed to set up a meeting with the owner. I met her in her office and she asked me how many songs I had written. I was like, “um…none really”. She then explained that her venue only promoted original music and if I could come up with some songs (I think 4 songs) she would let me play.

Since the beginning of college I had kept a journal. Just stories of my day, things I saw, emotions I felt. After that meeting I decided to try and make some songs, but not just guitar songs, but songs I could sing as well.

About a month later, I had my 4 songs. I returned to the owner of The Tipsy Teapot and played her my songs. She gave me a date to perform as soon as I finished.

The day of the show comes and the place is packed. I hadn’t really sang in front of that many people at that point and I was so nervous. But my old love of being creative and using my voice allowed me to step up and perform.

The show went amazingly. At the end of the performance, all I remember is the happy faces and cheers from the crowd along with the owner of the Teapot telling me how much she enjoyed my performance.

It was at that moment I knew something had changed in me. Something that said that this was your true path.

After that, word of mouth and my own reaching out to venues landed me several steady gigs while I attended college. After college, music would take forefront for me as I performed around my home state of NC playing my originals and renditions, all the while getting better and cementing that this was indeed my true purpose.

The rest is history as they say, I continue to perform and grow as a musician and singer all the time as a professional.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

So I originally went to college for a business degree, and ended up turning that knowledge into a sort of “music and management” career.

I do a majority of my own booking and managerial duties on my own. Booking Emails, Networking, Billing, Practicing, and Performing are all in my job description.

I really like the challenge of the balance. Knowing when it’s “business time” and when it’s “creative time” has always been a constant factor for me in my career. Over the years, I feel like I’ve reached a happy medium to have both factors remain a priority through the discipline of knowing that I take this job seriously.

My professionalism is probably the aspect of my work that I’m most proud of and sets me apart from some. I throughly love what I do and I will always hold each hired event as a priority, always be on time, always give it everything I have, and most importantly, have fun while doing it.

I guess I would want your readers to know that if I’m performing, you are getting all of me. Whether that’s in a public venue, a hired event, wedding, or other function, you’re going to get my 100% every time. I always like to say, “I’m going to either make you feel something or just get up and dance”

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

In this time of constant motion and change, the arts could be seen as less important or inconsequential.

Our society needs to hold on to the focus that art is a vital part of not only society, but humanity. Throughout history, art has always been a reflection of its times and its people. Art is living history and If that notion can be seen as a universal truth, then our creatives will thrive.

From the largest corporate entity to the everyday individual, we all need to:

go to local shows, buy their art, tell your friends, go to a local concert, buy their merchandise, tell your friends, set up city wide social programs, encourage art programs in schools, make expression a priority, change the mindset that a creative field cannot be lucrative, embrace the new and those around it…just to name a few things

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think sometimes that some people don’t realize how much work and effort goes into being a professional creative. The amount time, costs, equipment, practice, and work drive that goes into a finished product or performance can be lost on the everyday individual.

“What’s your real job?”, is a phrase I’m use to hearing these days and the absolute shocked expressions I get when I respond that I’m a full time musician is very common.

Secondly, as a creative, pursuing this path doesn’t always feel like a choice, it feels like a purpose. Something I have to do to be me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Www.Instagram.com/bhughesmusic

Image Credits
Featured photo & 1st photo (train station, Henley, jeans): Photos by: Javi Gonzales Guitar & Black and White photos: Photos by: Brandon Aguilar