This last year, a lot of us were tested. Life was put on hold and all of the sudden when you can’t do what you’ve done, you start to think about your life and if it’s going the way you want it to be going. After taking time to think about it… the way I missed my fans, the way I missed the stage… I do BELIEVE that I am following my dream.”
In it's ten tracks front to back, Brian Leighton was afforded the luxury of being able to use the studio as a creative tool during Covid shutdowns, working on the songs that came to be BELIEVE throughout the course of a little over a year. Expertly co-produced by Patrik Tanner (also Leighton’s lead guitarist), the sound is timeless, polished, American rock-n-roll. “The songs got to take root and evolve – we were able to try our hand at varying arrangements and different lyrical approaches,” says Leighton. “The benefit of that really shows.”
While Leighton hopes the album is well received, his foremost priority is letting fans know how thankful he is for their support; how instrumental they’ve been in helping him get through to the other side. An enthusiastic proponent of live-music-as-therapy, Leighton declares, “one of the primary ways I work through this stuff is ‘shouting it out.’ I simply couldn’t do that if I didn’t have people still coming to see me play, year after year.” Brian is looking forward to a great summer with his fans, supporting BELIEVE on the live stage again.
all words and music written by brian leighton
produced by patrik tanner and brian leighton
brian leighton: lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica
patrik tanner: backing vocals, acoustic and electric stringed instruments, keyboards, drums and percussion (unless otherwise noted)
special guests:
track 1: tina schlieske (vocals)
track 2, 4, 7, 8, & 10: ryan inselman (drums)
track 3: adam daniel (organ)
track 5: jeff victor (organ and string arrangement)
track 7 & 10: peter sands (piano)
track 9: jeff victor (string arrangement)
recorded and mixed by patrik tanner at studio bredsound, st. louis park, mn
mastered by bruce templeton at microphonic mastering, minneapolis, mn
art design & image editing by michelle tanner
cover artwork by sheila petersen
photography by heidi bargmann, brian leighton, and michelle tanner
