We recently connected with Gregory Allen and have shared our conversation below.

Gregory , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

For me, experience is crucial when it comes to writing music. My music is on all platforms under “The Allen Brand” which was derived from my hitchhiking counterpart last name along with my own. My newest original release means a lot to me but to provide some more background..

In 2015 I was in the throes of alcoholism and one event lead to another while I was hitchhiking down south and I had an incident with a train by my own hand in Florida. I was hospitalized and had bilateral amputations. I played music in the hospital for my visitors and folks I shared a room with. Following that I recorded some music when I relocated to physical therapy rehab.

This is a literal sequence of events of course for context but deriving emotion and introspection from these events and what came afterward is the driving force of what I write music about.

Having had a lot of bitter sweet experiences behind me, I’ve found that the perspective and growth I’ve gained is invaluable. When it comes to sharing messages through my outlet, I’m more than fortunate.

Most of my original music has overall values, principles and concepts that are suggested but I also write in a way that most listeners can all have different interpretations. This is a songwriting technique I’ve continued to try and hone and shape. My newest album has a lot of this too.

Gregory , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m originally from Syracuse, NY. Born into a musical family, the garage always had a band in it and my parents were always singing or strumming a guitar late night in the kitchen, trying a new cover tune out together. My mom is a vocalist and my father who passed away in 2004 was a singer and guitar player as well. Many other family members of mine passed on the music gene to me. My grandpa played in the fifties and uncles on my mothers side and my fathers side were in bands as well.

I began playing drums at age 6 and picked up a guitar at age 12. Having the family I have, I was quickly welcomed into the music world. My father taught me for a few months before he passed away.

I was eager to learn right away and my pride drove me to continue to devour whatever lessons I could but mainly I locked myself in the bedroom for hours just learning rock and roll by ear and trying to sing along.

By my late teens I was playing local bars sparsely and writing music behind closed doors or making a YouTube video here and there.

I took a hiatus in 2014 and decided to hitchhike the south with a friend of mine. We would conjure up crowds in tourist towns and play a passionate cover tune for them, collect our tips and compliments and head for a local bar. We slept on rooftops and beaches causing trouble by night and with what daylight we did catch we hustled money from my music we played for the vacationing folks. As I mentioned before, the dark experiences of my past, losing my legs below the knees and learning to walk again never stopped me from writing and playing but they did give me more to write about.

After returned home following a year long stint in five different states along the coast I began writing music at home and focusing on production as well.

My main goal as a songwriter is to share my stories and life lessons with others and bring hope, understanding, tears ir laughter to any listeners.

I love the art of production. I spend countless hours on my music, editing and mixing each track and learning with each passing beat.

Since my childhood and my introduction to the world of producing music, I’ve taught myself the bass guitar and ukulele as well.

I play a lot of cover music in local bars and I record my own music often. My passion is for writing more than anything but I’m involved in quite a few musical projects now.

I released my first album which was self produced in 2018. A few singles and another album in 2021. My latest 7 track album was released this week
, under the name “The Allen Brand” which was derived from my hitchhiking experiences.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think it’s so competitive now. The world we live in today has so much social media and content out there. I think continuing to find ways to share and organize content and make it available to the appropriate target audiences would be great for artists. As a songwriter myself I’ve found it’s so much work to promote on my own or to create a solid fan base it’s disheartening. I really think more funnels for content and platforms that really empower songwriters would promote so much growth for all of us.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Well I did at one point think I was invincible, a common youthful attitude of course. But even after learning to walk again and having to retire certain habits and addictions, although I never stopped writing or playing I did have many moments where I thought maybe I’m just not a guy who will end up playing music the way I thought I would. My life was so busy with other things that were more important and it was so hard to get material together and to manage booking. Feeling that things may not look the way you expect them to pan out when you’re so emotionally invested in that picture can be devastating. Pushing through that I did find ways to re-enter the musical community and found more inspiration as time passed to keep writing and practicing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://artists.landr.com/055120549342
• Instagram: the_allen_brand_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllenBrandMusicLive?mibextid=LQQJ4d