An unexpected turn of events gives Coby Brown’s music a powerful new flow
“When I got sick, I decided I was done. I wasn’t going to sweat anything about music. I had no idea what was going to happen, but I knew that it wasn’t going to involve me worrying about making a living playing music anymore,” says singer-songwriter-musician Coby Brown, describing his thoughts immediately following his January 2006 diagnosis with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.
Thankfully, the sensitive, articulate, self-deprecating, and abundantly talented Brown may not be sweating music, but he is still playing it; Stars and Curses is a collection of nine songs written after Brown started his cancer treatment. Produced by Will Golden, Stars and Curses is one of those rare albums that seamlessly incorporates sounds reflecting influences ranging from Booker T. and the MGs, to Stevie Wonder, to Jeff Buckley, to Buddy Holly. The musicianship is stellar, and the catchy, honest, and emotionally revealing lyrics linger long after iTunes has transitioned to a new playlist.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1974, Brown grew up in a family with deep appreciation for art: his father once flirted with pursuing a musical career, his mother is an artist, and his aunt is a singer-songwriter. It isn’t surprising that Brown’s love affair with music began at the ripe age of six. Brown’s brother Matt, now a writer and filmmaker, “was always kind of trailblazing,” he explains, “He is three years older, and he would get into stuff, and then I would. I had the benefit of that.” At an age when most boys were trading Star Wars action figures, Brown was introduced to the Beach Boys and the Police. “Falling for the Beach Boys is my first memory,” he recounts. “I had a greatest hits record with ‘Surfer Girl’ and ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ on it, and I was obsessed. I just fell in love with the record.” By the time Brown was eight, he was already taking classical guitar lessons at the New England Conservatory of music. “I think I lasted about two weeks,” he jokes.
By the time Brown was in ninth grade, he had resolved to devote his life to music. “At a certain point, I realized that I wanted to play music for a living,” he says. “I fell in love with Led Zepplin—as you do at that age—and I locked myself in a room for about two weeks—I was determined to figure them out. I emerged moderately less shitty at the guitar,” he laughs. Brown continued to play music throughout high school, and then, four years later, found himself at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where Brown majored in Literature, with a minor in performing arts. While there, he developed a deep appreciation for playwrights such as George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, and Bertolt Brecht, and the work of American greats like Mark Twain. “I also took a great study of twentieth century pop culture that centered around Elvis Presley.”
During college, Brown started playing with other musicians on a more regular basis, exploring and refining his new relationship with songwriting. Never one to take himself too seriously, Brown recounts, “I was writing songs that I thought were good, but now that I look back, I realize that they were terrible.” In 1997 he moved to New York City, where he spent the next five years trying to catch a break. Eventually, Brown met a drummer, who knew a bass player, who knew a piano player, and this progression led to the formation of the Coby Brown Group, which released an album called Homesick. Eventually, the group called it quits.
In 1999 on the Nantucket set of “Ropewalk,” a film written and directed by his brother Matt, Brown met and fell in love with actress Ever Carradine. He put the finishing touches on an album, Truth Shines, which the Coby Brown Group had recorded in 2001 in hopes of garnering a record deal. The deal never happened, but Brown was able to get his hands on the masters, which he made into a four-song EP. “I was trying to chase down the brass ring and get a record deal with those songs, which,” he states emphatically,” is no way to make a record! I was trying to make a living as a musician though, and it seemed like a great opportunity, so we did it—and it’s goood music. I felt like I was starting to really understand how to write a song at that point—a little bit.” He also started playing venues in Los Angeles, and eventually met another group of musicians; together they formed Coby Brown and the 11:11’s.
In October, 2005, Brown and Carradine married in Nantucket. In the midst of the celebration, Brown experienced sinus pain. He brushed it off as a sinus infection. A couple weeks later, his journey through the medical labyrinth began. The first doctor Brown visited told him he had a polyp, brushed it off as benign, and sent him home with prescriptions for steroids and antibiotics. After two unsuccessful prescriptions and a second opinion, Brown underwent surgery to have the polyp removed. Three days later, Brown returned for a follow-up appointment. The doctor revealed that the tumor he had removed was malignant. Eventually, a genetic evaluation called the Fisch Test revealed that Brown had Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer most commonly found in the long bones of adolescent boys. Only in very rare cases does the disease strike bones of the nose— or adult men. Brown spent the next several months in and out of the hospital.
Ironically, Brown’s musical career gained momentum shortly after his getting sick. One of his songs, “Just the same,” was chosen as winner of the Rhythm and Blues category in the John Lennon Songwriting contest, and soon afterward Coby Brown and the 11:11’s made their television debut, performing the song on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Though for a while Brown stepped away from music, eventually he returned with a fresh perspective. He distracted himself by putting the finishing touches on Time is Now, a group of songs that Coby Brown and the 11:11’s had recorded shortly before he began treatment. This four-sng EP was released shortly after he finished treatment, and one reviewer, Trent Moore, calls the album “…a snapshot of one of the best lyrical minds at the top of his game…”
Soon enough, Brown also began reflecting on and processing his experiences—reflections that eventually became Stars and Curses. “I ended up writing a bunch of songs out of nowhere, kind of doing it just for the fun of it. It sounds like a great big cliché. I would get home from the hospital and be on so many steroids that I couldn’t sleep for the first night I was home,” he says. “I was all speedy and I had all these thoughts happening, so I decided to write them down,” he explains. “I just decided it would be worth doing it at some point, so I kept writing. I ended up putting together enough songs for a record.”
Treatment behind him, Brown and producer Golden spent November 2007 to April 2008 recording the songs in Los Angeles. The result is one of the most emotionally candid, raw, soulful, and well-produced collections of songs to emerge from a studio in years. It is a roadmap to the myriad emotional and physical sensations that mark the experience of cancer treatment and recovery.
Having only recently emerged from the recording studio, Brown reflects on the results so far. “My goal is to not put out any more EP’s that are four different ways. I’m trying to hone it so that every song sounds like it came from the same person. A lot of that is production and that’s where working with a guy like Golden was hugely important for me,” he says. “I think we’re getting there. I think there’s a thread running through the album. I don’t feel like there’s anything out of place.”
Indeed, there is nothing out of place. Stars and Curses is an homage to the artists who first inspired Brown’s love of music, his appreciation for the art of musicianship, and the craft of musical production. Brown has learned a few simple, but powerful lessons about life, love, and music in the past three years—and he’s not afraid to admit it. “I’m all for having a lot of fun. I used to be, and I think I let that get away. I’m all for just having a pretty good time these days. Getting sick distilled everything. It was like having a magical spell put on me, and suddenly I was able to see the whole world for what it is.”
Listen to Coby Brown music samples:
Your Luck Is Going To Change
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Weigh Me Down
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Madman
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Run Like I’m A River
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Coby Brown is one of the most beautiful singers I have had the pleasure to see perform live & listen to in my Car while driving along the pacific coast highway!
I love him!
U will love him
Coby is a rare talent that lights up a room both musically and personally. If you have the good fortune to have him playing ANYWHERE near where you live — run, don’t walk to the gig. Stars & Curses is a magical collection of songs to be appreciated by us all.
Coby is one of those rare individuals whose music gives you goosebumps. It comes from the heart and soul and I am one of the people that knows every word because I have played his cd’s (iPod) so many times. I can not get enough. Do yourself a favor and listen. I promise you, you will become a fan
beautiful music and an amazing story. my father has just been diagnosed with cancer and it seems to be more difficult for him emotionally than anything else at this point. he’s struggling with faith and almost seems to give up. this story is encouraging and i hope i can instill that in my own father, thank you
I’m a big fan out in Richmond, VA. I grabbed all of Coby’s songs on iTunes! He’s an artist in every sense of the word.