We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jon & Brandon Hutcheson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jon & Brandon below.
Hi Jon & Brandon, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Brandon: When I was 18, I cut a solo album, but I had no idea about marketing, how to contact people correctly, or anything involving the business side. Unfortunately, it all isn’t about the music. So, that initial career was over quickly. I really didn’t think that much about attempting music again as a career until Jon started playing the guitar and playing out some. I was in my mid-20s when he and I started writing and joining cover bands in our area. It seemed like each year he and I progressed more to where the opportunity to expand from our area to our current touring duo just happened. As those opportunities became more and more available, it instilled the drive back in me to write as best as I can and try to take this thing on a professional level.
Jon:
I never thought about playing professionally at first. After playing in our region for a few years, more and more people began to like our music. That encouraged me to become more dedicated to songwriting and performing. Eventually, it became to where I have to write something, whether it’s only one or two lines, and pick up my guitar everyday.
Jon & Brandon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
We are the Hutcheson Brothers, Jon and Brandon. We have a 9-year age difference – Brandon is the oldest. We’re singer-songwriters and Nashville recording artists from Tennessee. Music has always been a part of our lives. Our uncle, Buck Hutcheson, was a 50+ year member of The Memphis Beats, the backing band for Country Music Hall of Famer and Rock N Roll legend, ‘The Killer’ Jerry Lee Lewis. Our mother, Lorie, toured many years as a Country-Gospel artist and had a couple of top 10 country gospel singles.
Outside of family, we both have been inspired by artists such as Garth Brooks, Keith Urban, John Mayer, HARDY, Bob Seger, Koe Wetzel, George Strait, Brooks & Dunn, Dan+Shay, Merle Haggard, and many others.
We began performing together in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2019 when we released our own music in the form of our first EP. Since then, we have also released several singles, including our current country radio single, ‘Sip Happens’, (which we also released a music video for), that has made it on to the CDX Nashville True Indie Radio chart. On June 22, 2023, we will release our first album entitled ‘Behind The Levee’ on all streaming/digital platforms.
What we feel that separates us apart from others is literally what you see is what you get. We’re not glitzy or have to be ‘in character’. We are who we are on stage, off stage, in the studio, at home and on the street. We’re true to who we are, and hopefully that’s what people hear when they hear our music. When you want to listen to something real and something that’s true, you listen to country music – and we’re proud to fall under that banner.
Some of the things we’re most proud of musically, are being able to release songs (some we’ve written – some we haven’t), having shows where people sing our songs back to us, earning several nominations through different independent country music award shows, and having the opportunity to perform in wonderful venues such as The Bluebird Cafe (Nashville), the NFL Draft, Nashville Superspeedway, The Dosey Doe (Houston, TX), and open for country artists such as Gene Watson, Confederate Railroad, Shenandoah, Buddy Jewell, T. Graham Brown and more.
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.
Brandon: From my own experience, most of those who know you best and who aren’t a creative seem to think what you do is either a hobby or doesn’t take it seriously – especially in the beginning. If I had a dollar for everyone who said ‘get a real job’ or thought playing music was ‘cute’, I’d be rich (lol)! It took a while to get over statements like that, but I’ve come to realize most folks don’t know any better. They don’t know the sacrifices it takes to try to get to the next level of your career. Also, many do not recognize how simple it is to support an independent artist. Though, buying merch and downloading music is fantastic, there are many things that can be done for free. If you have social media, follow us, share/like a post, encourage people to come see us live, make a nice comment online, or send us a direct message to let us know what you like or didn’t like – all things that can be done for free and helps share who we are and what we do to a broader audience.
Jon:
I don’t think some people realize that the job never stops. It’s not just the 45 minutes, 2 hours, or 4 hours on stage – though that is the most important. We have to work on our show, but you have to schedule time to practice and go over new songs for the run of shows itself. Then there’s making time to be creative on the songwriting side. There’s the booking aspect, running social media, emails, staying in contact with radio, promotions, the logistics to and from shows and the hotel, creating and approving merchandise, photo shoots, then the whole financial side is a beast of its own. All of that I mentioned, we do that ourselves with help from one or two others. Then, you have to balance out family and personal time, but we’re lucky that our family is involved in what we do. But, when you see us on stage, that’s just part of what we’re responsible for throughout our music journey.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Brandon: It’s rewarding taking an idea that comes from your head, or is spoken aloud, putting it to paper and creating a story, then adding a melody behind it and sharing it with the world. That idea can be anything from heartbreak to finding that one true love or from anything to going through a tough situation to empowerment. The topics and stories are endless. They just need someone to put them out into the world.
Jon:
Just having fun doing what we’re doing is rewarding. If you’re not having fun with anything you do, then you need to stop and do something else.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hutchesonbrothers.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hutchesonbrothersmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hutchesonbrosmusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HutchesonBros
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-1Kvya1T720M6D_UfIruQ
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hutchesonbrosmusic
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5bjaS6oiL0VufZarXM7yyW
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/hutcheson-brothers/1465887266
- Amazon Music: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/artists/B07SLNJT1N/hutcheson-brothers
- Booking: [email protected], 731-442-1035