Brandon Bush, the newest full-fledged member of the Grammy-winning band Train, is a multi-instrumentalist who began his performance career at the age of four, when he and his older brother played a fiddle duet to open a Dolly Parton show. With over 60 CD’s on his resume, Mr. Bush is also featured on the Grammy-winning, triple platinum recording “Room for Squares” by John Mayer (Aware/Columbia Records). Mr. Bush has toured extensively with Lost Highway recording artist Tift Merritt, appearing with her on The Late Show with David Letterman. Mr. Bush’s studio credits include piano, Hammond organ, vintage keyboards, synths, drums, and drum programming, including the now classic loop behind Shawn Mullins’ hit “Lullabye.” In the studio, Mr. Bush has recently worked with Brendan O’Brian, John Alagia and Chris Stamey. He is currently on the road with Train (Columbia Records) in support of their newest release, “For Me, It’s You.”

Interview with Brandon Bush:

Artists House:

You’ve toured with several major-label artists, including Train. What kind of tour support can one expect from a major label these days? What kind of activities does the label set up for you to do, in a marketing capacity, to help sell your record?

Brandon Bush:

I’ve been fortunate enough to tour on many levels, from van and trailer to buses and trucks: from asking people for a floor to crash on between sets to relaxing in cushy hotels. The job is really the same, but once you’ve reached a certain level, the day just gets a bit easier. Show up, play your music, meet some people and move to the next town. Once you get beyond just trying to cover gas money to afford to make it to the next town, the economics of touring can quickly become a challenging business to manage. Labels sometimes offer tour support to help cover costs in hopes that by touring you will sell CDs, and promote the band. But if that cost is recoupable, which in most cases it is, you are basically taking a loan to tour. In that case, you need to make sure that you are going to new markets and making the most of your time in a particular city to promote the band. Visiting radio stations, playing in record stores or even just meeting some local promoters and club owners for lunch can go a long way towards spreading your name in that market. Think of the tour support as an opportunity, not a necessity.

Artists House:

What else should a band watch for when taking tour support?

Brandon Bush:

Touring around to different towns playing music with friends can be an incredible experience. If you are using label provided tour support to cover expenses, it is important that you are routinely checking to see what it is that you are gaining from touring besides a good time. Make sure that you are reaching new markets, or getting enough local promotion. Ideally, touring will become an important profit center for the bands future. By building and nurturing your audience, you can establish a circuit you can visit again and again.

Artists House:

How are support bands chosen?

Brandon Bush:

Choosing support bands can be a tricky issue. Your booking agent, label, management, band mates and friends all have different needs and opinions. Depending on how tickets sales are, often the booking agent and promoters would like to add someone to the tour that will help fill seats. At the same time, you want to make sure that the people coming to your show enjoy the entire evening, and so you want to find someone that fits the style and mood of your show. Then again, everyone loves to expose people to great new music, so the undiscovered new gem that someone in the band stumbled across is usually an exciting option. Not to mention that every musician has more than a few friends they would love to help out with a valuable opening slot along the way. Ultimately there is often a compromise. Sometimes, there is an artist who meets all these needs.

Artists House:

What is your opinion on the state of the record industry? Where do you see the industry going?

Brandon Bush:

There has been a continuous and dramatic decline in CD sales over the past few years. This is affecting the record industry on many levels. Labels are letting employees go, bands are getting dropped, recording budgets are shrinking, recording studios are less booked and session players have less work. There is less money coming into the big machine. I feel that digital distribution, ring tones and the consolidation of radio playlists is shifting the priority away from the CD and toward the single, not unlike how the industry worked when 45s were the salable product. It doesn’t make sense to spend all the money recording the 8 or 9 other songs, if all you can really sell is the 3. I personally would hate to see the long play album format disappear, but I fear that is where we are headed.

Artists House:

How has file sharing changed the industry?

Brandon Bush:

Speaking only of my own experience, file sharing is an issue of availability. As online distribution sites like iTunes and emusic have grown, I’ve been more apt to buy music online. I’m a sucker for liner notes and album art, so I tend to buy hard copies of most of my music in a store, but I think I’m in the minority here. There are certainly less people buying music now because of file sharing, and it is hurting the industry. NARAS has a website for their What’s The Download campaign (http://www.whatsthedownload.com) which is a great place to look deeper into this issue.

Artists House:

From your perspective, how important is the major label radio campaign to the success of the record? How important is the Internet campaign?

Brandon Bush:

I think this all depends on how many CDs you are trying to sell. If you need to sell a million copies, radio is crucial. Touring can’t sell those types of numbers. I don’t know enough about Internet marketing to weigh in on how important that can be, except to say that it is certainly crucial and growing.

Artists House:

What role do the indie labels play in the record industry?

Brandon Bush:

In my opinion, indie labels have become the place for bands and artists to develop a catalog, much like the major labels did for artists in the 60s and 70s. Many of the great classic rock bands, if they started out today, wouldn’t survived in this environment because they didn’t sell enough records until their second or third release. There isn’t enough flexibility built into the major label system to afford this kind of time now.

Artists House:

How can a band become successful in this environment?

Brandon Bush:

First you have to define successful. Is that selling enough records? Making enough money to quit your day jobs? Affording to make the music you want to make? Retiring on a private island? I think the key, as with most things in life, is staying focused on your goals, while appreciating all you’ve accomplished along the way. Patience, humility, determination and a good sense of humor seem like a great set of tools to accomplish just about anything.

Artists House:

What kind of things should a developing band watch out for?

Brandon Bush:

I think the biggest trap out there for a new band or artist is the assumption that the people you surround yourself with share your needs and goals. It is important to find good people to manage, book, represent and market you. But ultimately, all these people have different goals and obligations to themselves. These people are your advisors not your bosses. Use them like a politician would use a cabinet. Listen, ask questions and tell them what it is you want. Remind them what it is you are really trying to accomplish. And periodically check in to make sure they are helping you get there as best they can.

Artists House:

What do you think are the most important areas for a major label to focus their marketing budget on to sell records? What works, in your opinion?

Brandon Bush:

I wish I knew the clear answer to this. Radio promotion, music videos, TV appearances, advertising all seem to work differently for different bands. I have to leave this one to the marketing brainiacs.

Artists House:

Do you think this is a good time to get involved in the record industry?

Brandon Bush:

There is never a bad time to get involved in art. If your heart is into something, regardless if it is making music, or running a record label, the best time to get involved is now. The state of the industry is irrelevant if you consider that if you are interested in doing something, there is no time like the present.