The band Brassville has made a name for itself playing all across Music City, from an initial street corner performance during the 2019 NFL Draft to dates at The Basement East, Exit/In, Acme Feed and Seed and other venues.
Similar to the selection of songs in the group’s curated playlist, the band performs a wide array of music, including hip-hop, neo-soul, R&B, gospel and even original material. As the band prepares for a Jan 18 performance at 3rd & Lindsley, members Jonathon Neal and Derrick Green spent an hour in the WNXP studio, breaking down the arrangements of the songs in their sets.
Neal, who plays trumpet, spoke about his process for choosing songs that fit the group: “The first thing I do is listen to music on repeat for a long time, every single day. My roommate might get sick of it, my girlfriend gets sick of it, everybody gets sick of it. But I’m listening to the same songs over and over again to make sure I’m doing what I need to do. From there, I’ll shoot a message to the group. Like, ‘Hey let’s make sure we listen to this before rehearsal.’ Initially, it takes a lot of listening first.”
Green, who plays the drums, says, “A lot of this stuff just comes from experimentation. That’s the best part about this group. We give each other space to experiment and express ourselves musically.“
Brassville DJ Set List:
Silk Sonic “Silk Sonic Intro”
Ramsey Lewis “Wade in the Water”
Brassville “Bring Yo Brass”
Beyoncé Featuring Andre 3000 “Party”
Kendrick Lamar “Don’t Kill My Vibe”
Outkast “SpottieOttieDopaliscious”
Floetry “Say Yes”
Brassville “Haters”
Brian Brown “Flava”
Jay-Z “Encore”
