Coming off his appearance on NBC's "The Voice" last season, Nashville singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist BRIAN FUENTE is self-releasing his debut solo EP 1983 tomorrow, Tuesday, October 16, on all digital retailers.
"I sat down at the drawing board shortly after my time on 'The Voice' and was trying to figure out where I wanted to go creatively with my first EP as a solo artist," explains FUENTE. "I started listening back to some of the music that inspired me to get into music in the first place. I grew up around a lot of R&B as well as 80's pop. I grew up listening to everything from Tears For Fears to Duran Duran; Michael Jackson to obscure pop bands likecRobin. When I was listening back to some of those early inspirations, I thought that it would be really cool to write and record something that set me back in a time and place where I discovered my love for music. 1983 is the year I was born."
The five-song EP pays homage to that decade of undeniably addictive pop with a modern twist. Propelled by BRIAN's rich, at times gritty, vocals sung with an abundance of passion and conviction, 1983 is sure to please his ever-growing group of loyal fans--over 4,000 Facebook fans and over 5,000 Twitter followers--while drawing in new fans and further establishing BRIAN's place in music.
FUENTE--formerly a member of the now-defunct indie rock band Newmatic--was eager to tackle this new project as a solo artist and took complete creative control with guidance from some notable Nashville players. BRIAN laid down guitar, bass, keys, percussion and vocals and self-produced all the new songs, except for "Slow Down Steven" which was co-produced and recorded with Chris Grainger (Wilco, Switchfoot, Luna Halo, Kyle Andrews, The Five Knives) at his studio. The drums were recorded at The Sound Emporium in Nashville while the remainder of the tracking was completed in BRIAN's home studio known as "The Fountain." The songs were mixed at Blackbird Studios and mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Andrew Mendelson (The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Kings of Leon) at Georgetown Masters Nashville.
In 2007, BRIAN found his way to Nashville hoping to be seen and heard by the industry that mattered most. He embedded himself in the music scene and put together his first Nashville band, Newmatic. The band gained an increasingly loyal audience within the area but BRIAN was determined to show the world what he was all about and in the summer of 2011, he auditioned for the hit TV reality competition "The Voice." His version of
Grace Potter's "Paris" earned him a spot on Team Blake (Shelton) and the chance to work alongside Shelton and
Kelly Clarkson.
Track listing for 1983:1. No By Now
2. Josie
3. Slow Down Steven
4. Why'd You Have to Be So Beautiful
5. Sidelined
