Branson Anderson: Keep It Movin'
Branson Anderson was a name that was floating in my periphery for the longest time. I had seen him on a few bills and heard of a show he was headlining every now and then. He finally came into view when I saw him open for the touring artist Mattiel. Walking on stage he carried a vibe with him that seemed very “rock and roll”. Between his fringe leather jacket and a demeanor that was stoic yet posed, he looked in place. Watching his set, you can begin to form an idea that his act is very focused and straightforward. He plays very head-on rock and roll and doesn't the fact the genre has been slipping more and more from people’s interests stop him from playing open-chords.
I eventually would meet up with Branson a few weeks later. We met at a Starbucks Farmington. A good halfway point between Salt Lily Magazine’s home base here in Salt Lake and his home somewhere around Ogden. I walked in to see him without coffee and a copy of Homer’s Iliad in his hand. He sat there calmly reading as if a stranger wasn’t about to show up and prod him with questions about the music he makes and why he does it. Once I got his attention with a soft hello I sat down with him and started the interview. What to ask? I’ll start with something easy and cliché.
Who are your influences?
“The first good music that I got into - ‘good’ is quotes because ‘good’ is relative,” he says, actively aware of each word that comes out his mouth, “but the [good] music that I still like today is probably a Beatles record that my mom bought me when I was in elementary school. That was probably my first introduction - I was in third or fourth grade - to good rock and roll music. From there, my brother got me into Led Zeppelin, and then he introduced me to the White Stripes. Those were the three big bands that I was into as a kid.”
Are you a big Jack White fan?
“Yeah, I’m a huge Jack White fan … Yeah, I love the White Stripes.” But he says the one artist influenced him above all. “A huge one that I discovered in my still formative years, early teenage-childhood, I discovered Bob Dylan,” Branson says. “That probably had the biggest impact on me as far as writing goes. By that time, I heard Dylan and decided that’s how I wanted to strive in writing…”
But he says that was circumstantial. Had there been another artist in Branson’t view at that place and time they very well could have been his Dylan instead. “If I discovered people like Tom Waits at a young age or Leonard Cohen or artists like that…”, he contemplates, “it would have been the same deal, but since at that time I found Dylan, I just went down that rabbit-hole with Dylan’s music and it made that impact on me.”
What do you consider your genre then?
“If people ask - which they do... all the time - I just tell them ‘americana’. That’s what my records sound like. But that doesn’t really translate over to my life… it’s just a rock and roll show.” It’s like the genre “indie” that somehow manages to sweep almost everything under its rug.
When you listen to one of Branson’s records, one thing that catches your ear besides the “americana” in the music is how articulated and postured his lyrics are, like poetry.
Do you try to sound poetic in your lyrics?
“I really strive to be poetic unless I have a good, fun riff that I just want to write some shallow lyrics for just for kicks,” he tells me. “But even then I try to throw in something that means something ‘cause I love the simplicity of 50s rock and roll music like Chuck Berry singing about sweet-sixteen or just something really not that poetic. [But] I love even more lyrics [from] Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan… The imagery of the poetry and good writing- the way you can see it so well in your head, even if it’s not telling a story, it’s giving you an image. I definitely strive for that in writing. I try not to be too obvious unless I’m intending to be, if that makes any sense.”
He won’t sit there and tell me that he is well versed in classic or revered poetry like that of William Blake or John Milton. He says that he does feel as if he finds poetry in lots of other things. “As far as poets go [though], I haven’t delved into a lot of poetry on its own,” he says. “Because I find poetry in a regular book. Especially in Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy… I mean, it’s not laid out in stanzas or verses but it’s there, you know? But one person I’ve delved into quite a bit was Robert Frost. He’s one of the few I’ve read extensively. Yeah, I love Robert Frost, Tom Waits and Dylan.”
Starting to get a feel for Branson Anderson and rounding out this interview, I ask him what I ask every artist trying to be an artist in Utah.
How do you feel about doing what you do in this state?
“It’s a weird thing ‘cause I love Utah and that’s why I’m here,” he says, chewing on his thoughts. “I wouldn’t wanna be in LA, San Francisco or New York, you know? Just ‘cause I love Utah. It’s not great… It’s got a good music scene.” And I enjoy it’s the first time I’ve had an artist not just drone on about what Utah does have and be honest about what it actually lacks. “It doesn’t seem like it caters much to rock and roll- just stripped down rock and roll, and folk and blues”, he says. “As far as young people in Utah, they’re interested in new [music]. Some of the songs I sing are over 100 years old and then the ones that I write are influenced by those songs and that’s not really ‘in’ in Utah.”
He then begins to go over the two different spheres that can make up Utah, especially in its northern half. “I’m in the conservative religious community of Utah and I’m also in the artistic scene,” he tells me, “and I wanna be an artist. I wanna call myself an artist. I wanna write. So in order to balance both worlds and be friends with both worlds I have to stay pretty neutral, or I like to stay pretty neutral. I choose to stay neutral. And even when I go out of state I’m playing all my old cowboy songs and folk songs and blues songs in the rural cowboy communities through Colorado and Wyoming and Montana, Idaho… And I play those same songs in San Francisco or Portland, LA and I get equally good responses from people. And both worlds like those kinds of music.”
So you transcend both worlds while staying centered, neutral?
“Yeah. And I think it bridges gaps as well, which is a good thing.”
With our conversation about to end I want to give Branson the floor offer to open up our talk to anything we missed he’d like covered. He looks at me and simply says: “Keep it movin’”.
Branson Anderson’s albums Graydog and Applecore Baltimore are available on streaming platforms. He hopes to have a gospel record out in May. Unfortunately, with everything falling apart in the world right now it might be a good minute before we can see Branson take the stage again; but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and his music to listen to online before we can all go outside again.
