Tag: Shellie Brown

Marty Brown Takes a Ride on the “Love Swing”

In this video from Marty Brown’s backyard, the country singer is joined by his wife Shellie on another Marty Brown original, “Love Swing.” As Brown explains in the video posted on his Facebook page, the real-life swing where they sit inspired the catchy song, which appears on his independently sold CD, Country Strong.

Brown also seems to be having a fun time making the video for us fans. Check it out.

What do you think of “Love Swing”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Marty Brown: “My Love Will Follow You”
  • Marty Brown Profiled on Episode of “Kentucky Life”
  • Marty Brown’s Video for “Gonna Make It Fly”
  • How Marty Brown Wrote “Whatever Makes You Smile”
  • New Single from Marty Brown: “I’m Gonna Make It Fly”
  • Marty Brown in Middletown, NY (Concert Review)

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Marty Brown in Middletown, NY (Concert Review)

    Marty Brown New York As a long-time fan of country singer-songwriter Marty Brown, I was happy to finally see him sing live with a relaxed intimate performance at Brian’s Backyard BBQ & Blues in Middletown, New York on Saturday, July 5. And I was not disappointed.

    Brown performed his main set solo with an acoustic Gibson guitar, and he also sang several songs with the opening act, country rock band Blanco Diablo. The different accompaniments allowed the singer to show his versatility and his voice that still hits the same broad range from his younger days. One minute with the band he had the crowd clapping along on Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” Then, a little while later, one could hear a pin drop when he gave a moving solo acoustic rendition of Hank Williams Jr.’s “Blues Man.”

    Brown, who released several albums in the 1990s and had a career resurgence after several appearances last year on America’s Got Talent, gives a show that any fan of classic country music should check out. He covered songs like Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” and George Jones’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” He performed Merle Haggard’s “Sing Me Back Home,” where in the closing verse he tacked on the similarly themed “Green, Green Grass of Home.” His wife Shellie Brown joined the singer on stage for a few songs, including an excellent version of the Cash-Carter staple “Jackson.” Brown also put his own stamp on a few non-country songs, getting the crowd to join in on Don McLean’s “American Pie.” And, of course, he sang the song that started his run on America’s Got Talent, “Make You Feel My Love,” explaining in the introduction that he had just recorded the Bob Dylan song for upcoming release.

    Marty Brown BannerBecause I own every Marty Brown album, my highlights occurred when Brown performed his own songs (or put his stamp on something obscure). Brown is a great songwriter, so I would have liked to have heard even more songs from his own pen as well as other songs from his own albums. The songs he performed near the end of the show, including his composition “Jackpot Lucky,” created the most memorable moments for me. When he sang his recent single “Whatever Makes You Smile,” it reinforced the fact that his own songs stand up favorably even when played next to the classics.

    During the show, Brown also kept the audience entertained by telling stories and interacting with the audience. He and his wife mingled with the audience before, after, and between sets, making themselves available to fans for photos, questions, song requests, autographs, etc. Brown reveals a refreshing joy in his music and an appreciation of his fans, both qualities that are genuine, heartfelt, and rare.

    Overall, it was a great show and music fans should check out Brown if he comes to your area. His website lists upcoming shows, some of which feature his own band, in New York, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, California, etc. You can find out how to order his latest CD, Country Strong, through his Facebook page. If you are unfamiliar with his music, check out this acoustic performance of “The Day the Bootlegger Died,” which appeared on his album, Here’s to the Honky Tonks (1996).

    The venue, Brian’s Backyard BBQ & Blues, provided an intimate setting for the performance, as well as some excellent barbeque. If you live anywhere near New York City, it is only a little more than an hour outside the city and worth checking out for its live music and food.

    Photo of Marty Brown performing in Middletown, NY by Chimesfreedom. Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Marty Brown: “My Love Will Follow You”
  • Marty Brown Live in Calgary 1992
  • Marty Brown Profiled on Episode of “Kentucky Life”
  • Marty Brown’s Video for “Gonna Make It Fly”
  • How Marty Brown Wrote “Whatever Makes You Smile”
  • New Single from Marty Brown: “I’m Gonna Make It Fly”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    The Great AGT Rebirth of Marty Brown

    Marty Brown Shellie Regular readers know Chimesfreedom has been a Marty Brown fan since he released four albums in the 1990s. A few years ago we wished for him to return to the national stage, and our hopes came true this summer when he became a contestant on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. As the season draws to a close, it seemed like a good time to look back on his amazing run on the show.

    Brown’s Surprising Debut on AGT

    TV viewers saw Marty Brown back at the beginning of June when he appeared on the first episode of season eight of America’s Got Talent. The show included Brown auditioning in San Antonio singing Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” after it introduced him simply as a carpenter from Kentucky.

    We learned that Brown’s wife Shellie tricked him into appearing on the show, illustrating her faith in him and making a nice storyline that continued through all of Brown’s appearances. After the introduction, Brown gave a heartfelt performance of the song.

    The judges apparently did not know the full backstory on Brown. Judge Howard Stern called him an “undiscovered treasure.” The judges’ comments throughout Marty Brown’s tenure on the episodes continued to show that even as they praised him, they really had no idea about the depths of his talent. But after this first performance, the judges had nothing but praise and put Marty Brown through to the Las Vegas round. The audience loved him too.

    Las Vegas Rounds

    In the Las Vegas round shown in July, contestants performed in front of the judges with no audience. Below is a video of what they showed on television from the Las Vegas rounds, including a part of Brown’s performance of Keith Whitley‘s “When You Say Nothing At All.”

    Howard Stern and Howie Mandel did not like the performance as much as Marty Brown’s San Antonio performance of “Make You Feel My Love.” On the other hand, if you saw the entire episode, you would see the editing was designed to create drama, so it showed the judges saying something negative about everyone. Meanwhile, one of the other competitors noted about Brown, “He makes me like country music.”

    Most importantly, the judges liked the performance enough to send Brown to the live performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Brown had made it through two rounds with the judges to advance to the next stage where viewers would be the judge.

    Brown’s performance thus far was impressive. As a country act, it was tough competition against a range of acts that included acrobats, magic, and people risking their lives. The next question was whether the viewing audience would vote for a traditional country music act among all of the other contestants.

    A Tough Round at Radio City Music Hall

    For his debut at Radio City Music Hall at the end of July, Marty Brown sang Shania Twain‘s “You’re Still the One.” The artists are not allowed to select any song they want, but it was still a good choice because many voters would know the song. Unlike the previous performances, Brown went with a band this time, which appeared to be a good choice. He has played with bands in the past, and he needed to do something to use the big stage before the big audience.

    But almost immediately, viewers knew something was wrong. As Brown’s sister has explained on this website, Brown’s father had been ill, and when Brown saw the lead-in video with his father it choked him up. The judges would claim that nerves got the better of him.  But regardless of the cause, Brown’s voice cracked at the start of the song.

    Eventually, he recovered during the performance.  But on what was probably the biggest stage of his career thus far, it was far from the best performance of his career.

    The judges were tough on him after the performance. Howard Stern genuinely seemed to be rooting for Brown but expressed his disappointment. Melanie Brown, i.e., Mel B, was especially critical, not only getting his name wrong, but Tweeting a few minutes after the performance, “Ok. ok. I got his name wrong!! He blew it anyways, so what!!”

    The next night on July 31, the results came in. The judges and many others expected Marty Brown to go home. Had the run ended here, it would have been tragic. Brown would have come all this way to launch a comeback and then have to live the rest of his life wondering if he blew it.

    But something only slightly short of miraculous happened: America appreciated the emotion in his performance and voted for him to go to the next round. The judges were shocked, but nobody was surprised as much as Brown himself, appearing humbled by the support of his fans. The audience still loved Brown and recognized the real emotion in his performance, even if the judges did not.

    The whole run on America’s Got Talent featured Brown seeking redemption, and now he would get another chance thanks to the voters. The pressure, though, ramped up. With one less-than-perfect performance, he could not afford to follow it with another mistake in his next performance.

    Semi-Finals Round

    On September 3, on a semi-finals show of America’s Got Talent, Marty Brown performed “Bless the Broken Road,” made famous by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Rascal Flatts. After the awkwardness with the band in the previous round, Brown opted to go it alone again with his guitar.

    Howard Stern would say it was a “safe” performance and that he wished Brown had done something to blow him away. Maybe he was right, but Brown had something to prove after the judges claimed he could not handle pressure. He had to go out and show he could do a solid performance on that stage facing extra intense scrutiny.

    And he did what he set out to do, showing he could handle the pressure. He gave a touching performance of the song within the limited time given to performers on the show, earning a standing ovation.

    The heartfelt performance of “Bless the Broken Road” would be Marty Brown’s last song in the competition because he found out the next night that he would not advance further. But if he were to have a final song on the show, it was a perfect one to go out on. As we have previously written, his life has taken a broken road to get to this point. So the song fittingly connected to this one moment on stage, reflecting the path of both his career and his life, including finding the love that inspired his entire run on the show. He lived the song, and it was a great heartfelt performance.

    Going Home To a Revitalized Career

    Looking back on the show, one might understand why the run ended here. Brown has never been a pop artist. The audience for real traditional country music is big, but it might not be enough for winning a talent show like this one. And, of course, on the show, America never really got to see the depths of Brown’s talents.

    Because of the limited time on the show, the producers showed Brown as part of the story they created, never coming near to showing Brown’s real intelligence. Had he been able to bust out a few of his own songs, it might have changed the outcome. But even an unknown Bob Dylan or Hank Williams would not have advanced further on such a talent show. For example, a principal closed the curtain on Dylan at a high school talent show.

    Marty Brown Sparky As the field narrowed, the producers and judges also seemed to stray away from the initial strong support for Brown. On the September show, they put him in the second spot, traditionally one of the worst places to be on one of these shows because viewers do not remember the second or third performers on a long show.

    By contrast, in that show, the producers put Brown’s main competition, country singer and former Marine Jimmy Rose, in the prime finale spot. Rose is talented and seems like a great guy, but his subdued (but very good) cover of Garth Brooks’s “The Dance” is not a traditional closing act.  Producers made an interesting choice to promote Rose, especially when they had bigger acts such as dancer-special-effects master Kenichi Ebina or even powerhouse singer little Anna Christine.

    That is not to say there was a conspiracy or that Brown might have advanced given a better spot during the night. Someone has to go into the second slot, and the producers have to sell a show. So, I do not begrudge them their choices, and I appreciate that they put him on the show. But if Brown won, some viewers might have felt cheated that the producers never mentioned his 1990s albums (even though artists with careers are allowed to compete on shows like America’s Got Talent and The Voice). People are more critical of you when you win. On the other hand, had Brown sang his own songs, it would have been a different competition.

    For Brown and his family, I wish they had won and were a million dollars richer. But as a selfish fan, had I written the story of Marty Brown’s tenure on America’s Got Talent, I pretty much would have written it exactly how it went. It is a great story of someone climbing back, falling, and rising again through his talent and the love of family and fans. And throughout the whole run, Brown showed nothing but class, decency, and heart.

    As for the outcome, had Brown won, there would have been more expectations, more critics, and more outside control. Instead, it worked out perfectly for those of us who love great country music. Marty Brown got some attention, new fans fell in love with him, and now we hope for some new recordings and performances (and all his old CDs back in print).

    True art is not a competition, it is about the artist bearing the soul. And this new music will be done Marty Brown’s way. And that’s the way it should be.

    We look forward to the next chapter in the great rediscovered career of Marty Brown.

    What was your favorite performance on “America’s Got Talent”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Marty Brown Advances to Radio City Music Hall on AGT!
  • Marty Brown is an “Undiscovered Treasure” on America’s Got Talent
  • Marty Brown Gives Emotional Performance in NY: Still the One
  • Marty Brown’s AGT Las Vegas Performance of “When You Say Nothing At All”
  • Goth Meets Opera on America’s Got Talent
  • Marty Brown: “My Love Will Follow You”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Marty Brown is an “Undiscovered Treasure” on America’s Got Talent

    Marty Brown Make You Feel My Love

    Regular readers know that Chimesfreedom is a big Marty Brown fan, with previous posts covering his “lost career,” his recent albums he recorded on his own, and recent videos of an original and a George Jones tribute. Hopefully, tonight was another step in his comeback when he appeared on the first episode of season eight of America’s Got Talent singing Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” (a song we covered previously too). Check out his moving performance at the San Antonio auditions below.

    The audience reaction gives away the result before any of the judges say a word. Unlike another former rising country star Julie Roberts who failed to win over any of the judges on The Voice this season, Marty Brown is moving on. Howard Stern called Brown an “undiscovered treasure,” but we have known he is a treasure for decades. And we are thrilled he is getting the attention he deserves.

    In the video, you will also see how Brown’s wife Shellie Brown tricked him into appearing on the show. Marty is lucky to have the support of Shellie, who has given us previous reports on Marty’s comeback. We wish them both well in the next round on America’s Got Talent, although regardless of what happens, we hope some music executives saw tonight’s show.

    In the excellent baseball documentary The Glory of Their Times (1977), someone once described seeing Babe Ruth when he was a pitcher before he played for the Yankees. After giving a glowing account of the Babe’s arm, the listener paused and then replied, “Wait until you see him hit.” After the judges tonight praised Brown’s cover of the Dylan song, I wanted to say, “Wait until you hear him sing his own songs.” Knock it out of the park Marty and Shellie.

    [September 2013 Update: For our recap of Marty Brown’s entire run and all his appearances on America’s Got Talent, check out our post The Great AGT Rebirth of Marty Brown.]

    What did you think of Marty Brown’s performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • The Great AGT Rebirth of Marty Brown
  • Marty Brown Advances to Radio City Music Hall on AGT!
  • Marty Brown: “My Love Will Follow You”
  • Marty Brown Profiled on Episode of “Kentucky Life”
  • Marty Brown Releases “Make You Feel My Love”
  • Marty Brown: “King of Music Row”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)