Brick Blair shares his lamenting new single ‘Two Dollar Coat’, an acoustic, stripped back recording that paints a vivid image of life and love on the streets, a reality that Brick himself came very close to whilst battling his own addictions. Brick’s vocals encapsulate a Country, singer-songwriter sound, delivering soaring melodies with his rugged, warming vocals, accompanied by the simple plucks of an acoustic guitar. The song was recorded with Robert Farren in Brooklyn, New York, in a studio that Brick, a carpenter by trade, built with his own hands.
Talking about the inspiration behind the track, Brick Blair shares: “Two Dollar Coat is a musical projection into a reality where I am homeless, alone, and nullifying myself through drug addiction. I wrote it during a stark period where each day I faced decisions that would move me nearer or farther from that fate. For the three minutes and forty seconds it takes to sing this song, I’m in that future. I feel its truth in my throat, in my fingers, and in my blood. There is a fragile filament separating me and the people sleeping on the cold concrete that I walk every morning. That knowledge is useful. It keeps me connected to our shared humanity and the truth of our time together on earth.”
After a failed stint as a choir boy in his native Alberta, Canada, Brick Blair began his career in music as a Christian Rock band leader, playing shows to hungover bull riders at cowboy churches and in jails and correctional facilities before moving to New York in 2011 as a solo singer-songwriter. Brick’s music is influenced by his experiences with drugs and alcohol as well as love and mental illness, carefully crafting his lyrics to be both exploratory and reflective.In 2021, Brick played a solo show at the Triad Theater in Manhattan and he can often be found with a dynamic full-band setup, taking on a more Indie Rock sound.
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