Lunch and a chat with Brandon Reynolds

Miami is not the first place that springs to mind when one thinks of Americana and folk… Miami is not the first place that springs to mind when one thinks of Americana and folk musicians, but it has produced an up-and-coming artist in Brandon Reynolds.

Reynolds’ debut EP, Lunch in Lisbon, was released in July, and he plans to hit the road in support of it in the fall.

While the songs on Lunch in Lisbon are almost too sparse and straightforward for them to be performed by anyone but a solo artist, Reynolds’ musical roots came in the form of various bands around Miami.

“I didn’t have enough of an outlet for the songs I was writing in the bands,” Reynolds explained in a recent interview with The Pitt News. “It was much more fulfilling to just play my music and not have to politic.”

Although Reynolds clearly prefers the solo life to the band dynamic, the transition didn’t come so easy at first.

“It took a long time to get used to performing without the band as a security blanket,” Reynolds said. His first solo show was in a coffee shop in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“I’d never had an audience with their attention rapt on just me,” he remembered. “I was used to these loud college bars where people kind of half paid attention. I was freaked out. I think my voice probably cracked a little bit. It took me a year, year and a half before I got that trepidation to turn into excitement.”

After overcoming his initial stage fright, Reynolds then had to deal with a Miami music scene that was very light on performers of his ilk. “There were a lot of South American and Caribbean bands, which maybe helped me with my rhythm,” he laughed.

With his sea legs acquired, Reynolds decided it was time for a change of scenery. “I didn’t feel comfortable