New York City-based saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer: New hood, updated tour dates, all that

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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

New hood, updated tour dates, all that

Typing in "Earth, Wind, and Fire" and hitting "shuffle" is a really good idea, particularly on a day when it's raining and thundering like crazy and I'm stuck inside bombarding people with emails on my quest to get as much publicity about the Progger, Funky Knuckles, Indie Revenge tour as possible! Since my last post there have been some pretty monumental changes in the life of Brian, including a new apartment in a new neighborhood, a crazy busy schedule, and juggling a million different playing/booking/publicizing jobs in order to float my crazy, illogical habit of making music full time.

Brooklyn was so very good to me for my first almost-year in New York City. Northeast Flatbush might not be the safest or most glamorous neighborhood, but it was exactly what I needed when I needed it. Thanks to my celebrity roommate I was able to make incredibly cool new friends from around the globe, and that awesome apartment was my gateway to finally moving up north.

But Harlem is a fantastic neighborhood. The neighborhoods are beautiful, the people are friendly, there's great coffee, the trains are amazing, and I can walk to everything I need. I'm really enjoying getting to know it.

Of course, most of my energy is going into preparing for this whirlwind tour from Texas to New York via the Southeast. I'm really grateful at how well everything has come together, and it will be very gratifying and inspiring to share the stage and the travels with Dallas' Funky Knuckles and Atlanta's Indie Revenge, two really fantastic bands that represent the best things about the music of their respective cities. We'll also be doing our first show in Albany, NY in just two days with a really cool duo from upstate, Welcher/Urvalek. The venue, Red Square, has a really great vibe and Abita beer on tap, which is always a plus! Here are all the dates:

Progger and Welcher/Urvalek

July 17: Albany, NY (Red Square)

Progger and the Funky Knuckles

July 28: Dallas, TX (the Free Man)

July 29: Austin, TX (One2One)

July 30: New Orleans, LA (Blue Nile)

July 31: Hattiesburg, MS (the Thirsty Hippo)

Progger, the Funky Knuckles, and the Indie Revenge

August 1: Atlanta, GA (529)

August 2: Asheville, NC (the One Stop)

August 3: Athens, GA (Hendershot’s)

August 5: Raleigh, NC (Pour House Music Hall)

August 6: New York, NY (Rockwood Music Hall)

August 7: Philadelphia, PA (the Grape Room)

Bio

Initiate third-person voice.

Brian Donohoe was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and took an early interest in composing and performing on the piano, woodwinds, and guitars. Originally inspired by soundtracks from movies, cartoons, and video games, he soon became fascinated with British and American rock, pop, soul, funk, and jazz. By high school he was playing bass in rock bands, piano and saxophone in jazz and funk bands, and clarinet in the Albuquerque Youth Symphony.

While attending the University of North Texas College of Music jazz studies program, Brian recorded and toured internationally with the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band and won Down Beat Magazine awards as a soloist and band leader. He developed friendships with the UNT community that would eventually evolve into the Grammy-winning group Snarky Puppy under the direction of Michael League. He also worked with prominent members of the Dallas music scene, including Robert “Sput” Searight (Snoop Dogg/Kendrick Lamar), Shaun Martin (Kirk Franklin/Kim Burrell), TaRon Lockett (Erykah Badu/Funk Apostles), Wes Stephenson (The Funky Knuckles), and Bobby Sparks (Prince/Marcus Miller).

After composing music for and performing on three Snarky Puppy albums, Brian moved from Dallas to Austin, spending several years as a touring and session musician while forming and developing his own group, Progger. He currently serves as Progger’s band leader, saxophonist, keyboardist, and primary composer.

In 2013, Brian relocated to New York City while keeping ties to Austin and Dallas strong. In 2016, Progger released its third record, “Scattering,” under the auspices of Ropeadope Records, using musicians from both Texas and New York. “Scattering” was released to warm critical reception by the international jazz and progressive music communities, and it continues to garner praise in publications and podcasts in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

In addition to Progger and Snarky Puppy, Brian has performed and recorded with many critically acclaimed artists including Okkervil River, Myron Butler & Levi, Nelo, Bill Laurance, The ClubCasa Chamber Orchestra, and The MK Groove Orchestra. His compositions appear in multimedia productions around the world.