William Brooks

Silent Wings William Brooks

William was a Selected New Folk Finalist at The Kerrville Folk Festival ......I've had an incredible experience working with some great musicians on these recordings..many of them have recorded and performed with these major artists....Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow, Tom Constanten (member of The Grateful Dead), Stevie Nicks, Moby, Rasputina, Sarah McLachlan, Carly Simon, Percy Sledge, Silverchair, Ben Folds Five, Lisa Loeb, Suzanne Vega, Tracy Bonham, Matt 'guitar' Murphy (from The Blues Brothers), Chrissie Hynde, Laura Nyro, Rosanne Cash and Marshall Crenshaw THIS IS ABOUT AS MUCH AS I CAN REMEMBER ABOUT ME: I grew up in a small Oklahoma town and have retained most of what that means...courtesy, manners, and a great love of malls.....I was raised in a house full of women so I learned early to leave the lid down and knock before I walk into a room...I've lived in NYC for many years and I still smile at strangers, which usually gets me a lotta strange looks back. There are so many psychos in this town that girls don't smile back anymore and guys think I'm trying to pick them up....Jeeez...In the words of Rodney King, 'Can't we all just get along?' My first 5 years in NYC was one VERY lost weekend, I stepped inside my first Irish pub and didn't leave for 5 years...After my head cleared a bit I eventually figured what I wanted to do, I wanted to be the fifth Beatle but it was too late..so I started writing my own songs as a hobby and of course to impress girls..I did take me a while to realize that while I was busy singing to people at parties, the other guys were snagging the girls..Now I don't sing at parties anymore.... I do perform in clubs with my rock band. Do some solo gigs and I love trying out new songs down in the NYC Subway System...You will always get an honest reaction down there...If they love ya you'll know it ... I even have a music video on the web if you'd like to see me make a complete fool out of myself. Just kidding....it's pretty cool....it's at Zebox.com. While I was perorming down in Kerrville Texas at The Folk FestivalI realized I am not a folk artist, I am a folk rocker. There is a huge difference I love movies, prank phone calls, sushi, buffalos, horses, political news, bad jokes, Tex-Mex, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Ricki Lee Jones, to laugh, the A minor chord, long silences and old Ford Mustangs..Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!! AND HERE IS MY (clearing my throat sound) FORMAL BIO: William Brooks' story reads like a pack of lies but swears it's all true. William was born and raised just north of The Red River and a tad south of The Arbuckle Mountains in southern Oklahoma. After a dismal, failed attempt at working in the oil business, Brooks packed up camp and moved to New York City. After crashing on the floor of noted author Brett Leveridge (Men My Mother Dated) he finally settled down in what he considers the smallest apartment in NYC's last great red-light district, Hell's Kitchen. William has acted in about a dozen movies and TV shows. He has been detained by police on several occasions but never actually arrested, got caught in a revolving door with Bob Dylan, jumped out of more than 7 perfectly good airplanes, waitered in a Chinese restaurant earning the nickname 'Sing Ging Ping' which translates to 'Neurons Don't Meet', saw the Beatles in concert, has seen at least 4 ghosts, none of which he knew and is most proud of writing 2 songs with critically acclaimed Rick Moody, author of The Ice Storm. Native Oklahoman William Brooks has played many of Gotham's most notable digs from The Public Theater, The Continental Divide, Arlene Grocery, Wetlands, Webster Hall and CBGB's to Tramps and Fez. HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS ON THESE SONGS ON SILENT WINGS 1 'Silent Wings' I was watching Marlon Brando being interviewed on television, Great Wit, Great Charm, Great Talent....Then he starts describing death. You know. ^#^what it's like after you die.....I'm believing everything he's saying till I realized, 'Hell...he's not been dead'.....'How in the hell does he know what's it like'.....'I'm just as dead as he is'..... So...this is how I see death....this tune is about leaving the body and the ascension that I hope follows...Lorenza Ponce (Shreyl Crow, Kitaro) plays a beautiful violin throughout 2 'Hideaway' This is what it's like walking a mile in my head....romance is not easy for me....Too many things to coordinate.....Julia Kent (Rasputina) plays a wicked cello on this one...this song could have easily been titled 'Make The World Go Away' but that name was already taken..or maybe, 'Please Hold Me while I Isolate' 3 'Land of Lincoln' You know ......you just gotta write a train song...Peter Adams (Carly Simon, Tracy Bonham) plays a mean Fender Rhoades on this upbeat Country Alternative Song...To me it sound like Steely Dan goes to Nashville or as I like to call it, Nash Vegas 4 'I Have A Mind' I'm pissed and you'll never hear about it....this is a real bluesy rocker about the silent treatment.....lots of angst here.....whenever I perform this one....it's always the favorite of the help..... 5 'You Barely See Me' What a saxophone solo by Baron Ramonde (Rod Stewart) This haunting lilting waltz is about being invisible in a relationship...It has one of my favorite lines 'I threw us a funeral and you hardly noticed...some things never change, they just get real strange' 6 'Maybe Meagan' This is my favorite Pop tune...did I mention romance is hard for me? ....An interesting note on the percussion...Yes, that is an aluminum chair being played...Whoa, you do have good ears.... 7 'Justified' I wrote this tune with Rick Moody, the author of the novel, 'THE ICE STORM' .....which was also a great Warner Brothers movie....This hard country rocker is about a very drunk and very angry bartender who gets in a mess of trouble on the way home from work...... 8 'I Will Stop With You' This ballad has a great 70's guitar sound, Jon Gordon (Madonna, Suzanne Vega) plays the hell out of it..It's about stopping my whore-dogging ways and settling down 9 'Thicker Than Thieves' You know .....if you spend enough time with someone...and really get to know their secrets.....you can blackmail them...that's love. This has a honkey Tonk vibe..... 10 'Whose Moon' A girlfriend of mine left New York for the West coast, which I love to refer to as The Left Coast...Anyway...She's over there and I'm over here but we look up and still see the same moon....A real tear jerker...It has a coffee house thing about it 11 'That Skin' I live in Hell's Kitchen and we have lots of hookers in my neighborhood...You can tell how long a 'working girl' has been on the street by her skin. Sad but true. This haunting sad tale follows a young man's obsession with one of these girls...beautiful guitars 12 'Between There and Here' My favorite song to date...you will hear a lot of Bruce Springsteen influence in the recording...My collaborator and I are huge Dylan fans, you'll hear that in the writing, we hope....It's a story of finding yourself by moving on, only to realize what you needed was there when he started in the first place. A journey. Prior releases include : FOWL MOUTH, KARMA DOGS, BUFFALO TREASON. ^#^which czn be found at MP3.com Music style Folk Rock Musical influences Neil Young, Beatles, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison, Dylan, Greatful Dead, Elton John Similar Artists Dunan Shiek, Shawn Mullins, Lyle Lovitt, Van Morrison, Leon Russell, Wallflowers, Elton John THIS IS WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT MY MUSIC: 'Four Stars, Hip Swaying'--The Musicians Exchange 'William Brooks is a part of a New York resurgence of the sensitive singer-songwriter, the kind of performer who gives you a lyric you'll catch yourself singing softly on the train home.'--Dana Dickey Special Projects Editor, Conde Nast Traveler '.........Entrancing, Ruggedly Individualistic...'--The New Review of Records '......Cinematic, Spins a Fine narrative...'--The Audiophile Voice Magazine '...Beautifully Embroidered Songs...'--Nat. Assoc. ^#^of Campus Activities 'Gorgeous Ballads'--Back Stage Additional info: Don't forget to ask for your FREE PONY!!!