Blues guitarist Brant Buckley shares an early listen to his new song paying tribute to his grandfather who passed away last year. “Drink Malört – Chicago Spirit” will be available on Spotify, Apple Itunes, and all other platforms August 31. With a clear, crisp speak-singing style, Buckley injects a certain cowpunk energy to his own blues formula.
All at once Buckley sings an ode to his grandfather and great grandmother; Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs; and the Swedish immigrant Carl Jeppson who marketed his homemade, medicinal brew in Chicago. “Addison Avenue Feels Red & Blue / Kind of like a Vortex of Energy & Big-League Chew. Back in the day the great Carl Jeppson caught a home run ball / But he died before he could see the Cubs win it all.”
Of the song, he tells American Blues Scene:
The “Drink Malört – Chicago Spirit” song is one of the most selfless songs I’ve ever written. (My grandfather) loved baseball, used to play, and the T-shirt I am wearing on the album cover, (Delmar Lanes), was a bowling business he owned from back in the day in Chicago.
I always remember going to my grandparents’ house and seeing an old Malört bottle with the wormwood stick in it. I miss that they don’t make them anymore with the wormwood stick in it. I remember a few times when I was really sick while over there, he gave me a Malört shot to feel better. His mother, my great grandmother, used to drink it to help her upset stomach.
I wanted to write a fun song honoring Carl Jeppson’s Malört alcohol; Wrigley Field and The Chicago Cubs; my grandfather and great grandmother. I have no expectations with my music anymore and just release it for fun. If something happens great and if not, no worries at all. I am now a web developer and programmer who does music on the side.
The song will be available on Spotify, Itunes, and all other platforms August 31st which happens to be my birthday. I figured I would release it on this day for a potential miracle to happen. It was mixed and mastered by Joe Tessone of Mystery Street Recording. He did a terrific job.
Brant Buckley is a Berklee College of Music graduate with a Bachelor of Music in Songwriting. Born outside of Chicago (Hinsdale), he lived in Costa Rica and spent most of his life in Philadelphia. East Coast folk music and the coffeehouse scene (James Taylor, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Kenn Kweder, and Nick Drake) inspired his early sound.
In 2012, Buckley released his first album, My Life, which was featured in The Times of India (India’s CNN.) In 2013, Brant met bluesman Jesse Graves. Graves was Philadelphia’s premier bluesman during the 1970s and played with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, Hound Dog Taylor, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and Tom Waits. Jesse learned from Reverend Gary Davis and passed on blues and Native American Spirituality to Buckley. In 2014, inspired by Jesse, he moved to Chicago to learn more about the blues. Working as a tennis pro, he experienced the blues for himself after having a career-ending tennis injury. In 2015, he released Chicago Summer, a three-song EP.
April 2021 saw the release of his single “Don’t Shoot Your Blues Away,” getting radio airplay on Uncle Buc Plays The Blues Show. In May 2021, he released his second full length album, Times Strange. His song “Nerve Damage Blues” was featured on The Monster Blues Show and “Mystical Muddy Man” on XM Sirius Radio. In November 2022, he created Flowers For Chicago Blues: A Grave Tour, honoring twenty-one of the greatest blues artists buried in the Chicagoland area.
As a contributing author for American Blues Scene, Buckley has over 100 published interviews/reviews. Check out his author page here.
