Me with Brandon and Justin of The Rocketboys and their Golden Fork Award
Brandon Kinder and I go back quite a few years. Not only did we attend the same university, but we helped cultivate a growing indie music culture in Abilene, Texas. In 2005 the music scene here was on the verge of really exploding. Over a decade later, the music culture continues to expand in my West Texas town. Brandon took his band The Rocketboys to international indie fame, and relocated to Austin. There the band has shifted members and created some outstanding new music, including The Appetizer Radio Show Golden Fork Award-Winning album 20,000 Ghosts.
Brandon isn’t just the frontman for the band who has played Austin City Limits, Daytrotter, and other prime indie spotlight gigs. He also has a solo project called The Wealthy West, which is the result of years of songwriting for The Rocketboys with music that never made it to light. The story behind the creation of the Wealthy West (as well as how he came upon that great music brand name) is in this podcast episode.
With his side project The Wealthy West releasing a brand new album this year, and with the growing success of The Rockeboys, Brandon was an ideal candidate to bring on the podcast. He’s a fantastic songwriter, and proof that you can create great music in a small town and go on to do very big things. Our conversation in the podcast dives into stories behind the songs, including his obsession with ghosts real and figurative, what it takes to get good band managers, and why songwriting has to remain pure to be effective.
I encourage you to also dive into the newest album by The Wealthy West, which is currently being showcased across the country on a variety of great indie music platforms (including my own). The album Long Play is available for streaming here.