We were lucky to catch up with Brian Pagels recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on that has seen the light of day is Brian K & The Parkway’s debut album “Killing The Bear.” It’s cliche but true to say that it was a labor of love. I started writing the songs that would become the album in early 2020. At that point I had envisioned it as a solo album. I kept writing songs through 2020 and then took almost a full year off before returning to the demos. In fall 2021, Stephen Russ — who had originally signed on to just produce the album — and I started working on full band arrangements with him playing drums. The collaboration worked and it slowly started to morph into a band project. We brought on Mat Williams (bass) and Audrey White (keyboards) to flesh out the arrangements and spent a good chunk of 2022 working together. The recording, mixing, and mastering process then took another 10 months or so, with time spent bewteen a proper recording studio (the Jam Room in Columbia, SC), my basement in Alexandria, VA, Audrey and Mat flying in tracks from their home studios, and Stephen recording horns at Kennesaw State University with our mixing engineer and co-producer Collin Derrick. We added some guest performers, most notably Cat Popper (of Puss N Boots with Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson and who has recorded and performed with Jesse Malin, Jack White, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals) who duets on the song “Straight Through” and Sam Skelton (who has recorded with Elton John, Matchbox 20, Train) who plays the sax solo on “Little Fires.” We released the album in March 2024, marking the culmination of a four year process. It was an incredible feeling to share the first official full length album of songs that I had composed. That album launched an amazing 2024 for me and the band. We were fortunate enough to be able to play about 40 shows across 12 states + DC; our songs were streamed more than 15,000 times and played on more than 30 radio stations across the US and Canada; and we got to appear on three major market TV shows including a live performance on “Today in Nashville.”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am the principal songwriter and singer in the DC-based band Brian K & The Parkway and have written, recorded, and performed original music in various projects over the last decade. I formed the band with veteran DC-area drummer and producer Stephen Russ. We later added guitarist Mike Shade, who won a Washington Area Music Association Award in 2024 with his bluegrass band Pictrola.

My musical journey began when I took up the drums at age 10, and which I continued to play regularly through college where I studied with the amazing jazz percussionist T. Howard Curtis and earned a music minor. I picked up guitar at 13 and soon after began writing my own material. During college I started performing my songs publicly in the duo Through The Wall with friend and guitarist Cameron Snapp. Later I continued performing original material in a guitar duo format with Richard Baker in Coalition Of The Willing. In 2012 I auditioned to join DC-based band The Beanstalk Library as a guitarist and harmony vocalist, and eventually began contributing some songs to the TBL catalogue as well. I also joined DC-based outfit Uptown Boys Choir as a lead guitarist in 2019.

Brian K & The Parkway publicly launched in November 2023 and began releasing music in January 2024. Our roots-oriented yet expansive take on Rock & Roll has been compared to Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, and Drive-By Truckers. “Killing The Bear,” our debut album, is a musical and lyrical journey from the Gulf Shores of the American South to the Green Mountains of Vermont; from a crowded bazaar in the Middle East to drought-stricken California; from the Rock & Soul of the Jersey Shore to heartbreak in the American heartland.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

A lot would have to change structurally in society to make it so that your average, independent songwriter and/or musician focusing on original material could earn a living wage through their creative output and performances alone. On an individual level, however, a couple of things come to mind. One is to help spread the word if you love the music. Music marketer Jesse Cannon launched a survey in 2024 to understand current music marketing trends. He found that even deep in the age of social media and digital marketing, word of mouth — and in particular from friends in person — is still the number one way people discover new music. Songwriters and musicians really need their fans to be talking to their friends and family about how much they love their favorite independent artists, sharing and listening to the music in social settings, and inviting friends to live shows. That brings me to my second point, which is that revenue from live performances and associated merch sales are the bulk of independent songwriters’ and musicians’ income. Attending shows, bringing friends along, buying merch — these things put money directly in the hands of those you want to support so that they can keep creating, recording, and touring.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

All of my favorite artists have one shared gift — the ability to express something deeply personal while at the same time making their readers, listeners, and audiences feel less alone. Ironically, when Tom Petty sings “you don’t know how it feels to be me” what he’s actually communicating is that we can all feel misunderstood in our own identities from time to time. So when we sing along to the song, we actually do feel understood and seen. It’s like a beautiful magic trick and something I aspire to in my own songwriting.

My other primary goal is related to live performance. I never want to look bored on stage, or disconnected from the audience like I’d rather be anywhere else. I want myself and the band to deliver intense, passionate performances that cover a wide range of emotions and directly engage the audience. Live music can and should be a truly transportive, life changing, communal experience. That’s something else that I aim to deliver every night I take the stage, whether we are playing to the venue staff and the other bands or a packed room.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.briankandtheparkway.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briankandtheparkway/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briankandtheparkway
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrianKAndTheParkway
• Other: Substack Newsletter: https://briankandtheparkway.substack.com/

Image Credits

Mike Stone
Daniel Machado
Renee Katz