<--press kit   <--- reviews

March 2007

There's a Party Going On with gb Leighton
By Janie Franz
Contributing Writer

Published online at:
http://www.hpr1.com/music.html

Everywhere that gb Leighton goes, he brings a good time. His upbeat rock 'n' pop creates a party and was responsible for his appearance in the Shooting Star commercial. A Shoreview, Minnesota native, Leighton and his band have been pumping up audiences four or five nights a week in intimate little clubs to large stadiums throughout the country for almost two decades. In the early days, they burned a path through the U.S., playing such clubs as Tramps in New York, Howin' Wolf in New Orleans, Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, and Bohager's in Baltimore. The band has sold out in 800 to 1,200 seat venues but continues to draw eager fans to area clubs, becoming overwhelmingly one of Minnesota's top-drawing bar bands. Though Leighton tours nationally a little less lately, preferring to play regionally to be close to his family, he does take his musical wares down to Acapulco every January for a week of non-stop music and fun. Check his website for the 2008 dates.

Brian Leighton, lead singer and songwriter, has also opened for the BoDeans and fellow band mate, Jonny Lang, at the Minnesota State Fair. He also has opened for Joe Cocker at the Minneapolis State Theatre. Leighton and his band appeared in a cameo and on the soundtrack for the independent film, "The Marksman," which was viewed at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 1997.

When audiences come to see G. B. Leighton, it is clear they have a long and intimate history with Brian Leighton and his music. Audiences not only get up and dance, but they know all the words to their favorite Leighton tunes and sing loudly, becoming a part of the fabric of the evening's musical experience.

Leighton's music is a mix, having developed some depth in recent years. There is still a sprinkling of club rock, a blend of innocent lyrics and happy tempos that keeps audiences on their feet and feeling good. There also is an honest roots rock or bluesy/country rock feel that some have said is Springsteen-esque but feels more like Steve Earle. It's still danceable and audience-singable, but it triggers something deeper that speaks at living and loving hard. It isn't quite the country thing that sometimes bleeds about hunting for love or hurting over it and it isn't quite the light rock thing that often is shallow and glitzy.

Audiences will see more of this rootsyness in Leighton's new album, "Shake Them Ghosts," coming out in May. Raised on country and early Bruce Springsteen, it is no wonder that Leighton keeps returning to the earthy music of the people as an avenue to tell his own stories in song. "We've been working on writing these songs for a year now and going down to Nashville and co-writing with a bunch of people down there," says Leighton. That experience was eye-opening since it defies what you'd expect the creative process to be. "It's different, but it's a learning experience. There are lots of people down there, and that's what they do for a living. They write songs in a room."

So, Leighton brought his ideas and partial songs to a room with a couple of other songwriters, and they hammered and polished and worked out the songs together. Though you'd expect these songs to sound like most of what's coming out of Nashville (songs about pickup trucks, honkytonks, and redneck lovers), Leighton's work is still his own unique perspective on loving and living. For example, "When You Get Home" is a great cut about a young man's life from boyhood to being shipped off to war. Leighton has always been able to capture more than a smooth pickup song. His "Man in the Moon," a song from one of his older CDs, tells about faithfulness and standing with someone no matter where they are.

One reason for the lack of twang in this new album is the strength of Leighton's songs and the match up of good songwriters. His manager went to the head of the publishing company and arranged for songwriters who would be more in keeping with John Mellencamp or Tom Petty's style for Leighton's Nashville writing experience.

"Most of the time it's a breath of fresh air for these writers," says Leighton, since they don't have the opportunity to dip into rock and roll very much.

But the collaborative work definitely has Leighton as the primary focus. "I'm ultimately going to be singing and playing the songs," he says. "We're not in there to just write a great country hit or anything like that. We there to write something just a little more rocking and something that will use words that I'm going to say live." Shake Them Ghosts will be Leighton's seventh studio CD.

Get a taste of gb Leighton this Friday at Playmakers. When "Shake Them Ghosts" comes out in May, expect to see much more of him. 

WHO: gb Leighton
WHEN: Friday, March 16, 8 p.m.
WHERE: Playmakers/The Venue