New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Brian Evans, whose opened for stars ranging from Joan Rivers to
Erasure to Social Distortion, has released a new album entitled "A Crooner Acapella" today on Apple
Music and all other music stores.
The difference is, Evans chose not to use a band. Normally produced by Narada Michael Walden, the famed producer of Whitney Houston, Evans decided that he would pick songs that he enjoyed, and release them.
"This was a daring, raw, decision. It is, however, a decision I understand. Brian remembers driving from Massachusetts to Los Angeles with his mother to be a singer, and grew tired of overly produced albums. After performing thousands of shows in Las Vegas, he had seen the city turn into a world of electronic music and billboards that went from Tony
Bennett to names that he'd never heard of," says Mark Andrew Biltz, a long time partner of Evans. Biltz and Evans created "Horrorscope," which will be at Comic-Con in San
Diego from July 19-23rd (booth 4017).
"I just wanted to sing again, without all the bells and whistles and enhancements. Narada understood that this was something I wanted to just do on my own and he's always supportive," says Evans. "I will obviously record with him again, this was something I just wanted to do."
A resident of Maui, Hawaii, Evans recorded the tracks in one take.
"As I said, I just wanted to sing some songs that meant something to me without anyone telling me what to do. Some people will like it, some may not, but it's my voice, and that is the first instrument on every album that the music business seems to forget a lot of the time. This was me dry, and that's fine. It's me," Evans adds.
The album features Evans covers of "My Way," "Smile," and even the
Rick Astley song, "Never Gonna Give You Up." His original songs "Place Your Bets" and "Tell Me Where I've Got To Go" are also featured on the album.
Separately, his book "Horrorscope," which was a novel that was critically acclaimed, was adapted into a graphic novel last year and will be presented at Comic-Con beginning July 19th through the 23rd. The graphic novel tells the story of a psychic forced by the mafia to provide them with predictions of their crimes.
"Those close to me know where "Horrorscope" is going," says Evans.
Evans is also the author of books "The Funny Robbers" and "Savannah." He also wrote a string of short stories entitled "Creature."
He will begin producing a pilot for "Creature," which he likens to "The Twilight Zone" later this year. Evans is known for such classics as "At Fenway," which features
William Shatner, "Creature at The Bates Motel," which features comedian Carrot Top, and "It's A Beautiful Game," which features "Breaking Bad" star RJ Mitte, Lou Diamond Phillips, ICE-T, and Carrot Top. Evans' thematic videos are often seen on video monitors inside live sports arenas.
"You have to think of new ways about producing music," Evans said. "You release an album these days and people are just going to steal your music. When you do thematic material with video's, it's all about licensing." Evans knows a thing or two about licensing, given his music is used currently on shows such as "BoJack Horseman," "So You Think You Can Dance," "Drop Dead Diva," and numerous others including Vodafone campaigns that use his version of "Don't Worry Be Happy."
"Brian Evans - A Crooner Acapella" is now available worldwide.
Evans has received more than 50 million YouTube views, and over 1 billion streams of his version of "New York, New York."
"Brian does everything. It's just who he is," says Biltz. ""A Crooner Acapella" was his way of saying he just wanted to sing without all the fanfare that goes into producing an album that involves a fifty people," concludes Biltz.
"At Fenway" was recorded acapella. Walden added the music after the recording. That song is now in the
National Baseball Hall of Fame.
