Tennessee native Brandon Stansell has been singing since he was a child, first appearing on the Grand Ole Opry stage at the tender age of 6. Since then, he has lived in New York and LA, toured as a back-up dancer on Taylor Swift’s Fearless tour, and expanded his worldview as well as his performance resume. In the midst of that, he went through a powerful break-up, one that led to his latest album ‘Dear John’. The record is his first foray into songwriting, and one that examines the full course of a relationship from beginning to end, from heartbreak to moving on. It was recorded with a whole host of great musicians and co-writers; Jimmy Herman on fiddle and mandolin, who has been touring with Carrie Underwood since 2008; Elizabeth Huett, on background vocals, who toured as Taylor Swift’s background vocalist from 2008-2013 and co-wrote Sara Evans’ single Put My Heart Down, and Hailey Steele on co-writing duties, who was featured on Season 2 of The Voice and has co-written for RaeLynn.
Recently Brandon released the title track of the album as a single, and with it an accompanying video. The sweet ballad is built from acoustic guitar picking and Brandon’s smooth, relaxing vocals, describing a devastating heartbreak in which the narrator attempts to look forward to the future. While very little is made of his sexuality, it is made clear through the pronouns in this simple track that Brandon is gay, and thus it provides a perspective rarely offered within the country music field. Still, love is love, and without closer inspection it is easy to miss the distinction – as it should be.
The video also hints at this. For much of it Brandon can be seen wandering round an apartment, walking/running along the street and sitting on the rooftop, listless, morose and reflective. Once or twice there are perceived flashbacks to a happier time, in which Brandon’s beau throws his arm around him, but for the most part he is alone and trying to move on.
It’s a beautiful song and video, and you can check it out below.
https://youtu.be/PisXPudOVXs
