Official Biography (courtesy of Alan Brooks)
Cleveland native Alan Brooks, singer/songwriter is slated for his second release. Brooks’ first EP “Getting from A to B” came out on the heels of his stay in Chicago, and now after working to get established in Ohio’s music community for the past year he’s ready to share his second group of tracks titled “Alibi”. Brooks is a bit of a departure from the more familiar folk formulas. Inspired by more soul oriented artist like John Legend he layers his vocals over guitar riffs reminiscent of Thelonious Monk’s irregular Jazz rhythms.
In contrast to A to B, which features full band compositions of city life scenes, “Alibi” are stripped down solo sketches that contemplate a more cynical perspective. Don’t mistake simplicity to mean low quality. Engineered by Jake Fader, of afro-beat favorites Mifune and Kokolo, the tracks were recorded “one take” style live in the studio. The bare bones method lets the listener hear every dynamic change of Alan’s voice and feel all the dissonance of the frequent chord changes.