Who is Jonathan Brightman and some of his songs? Downloading and the internet are both a blessing and a curse for musicians. What is your take on the industry as it stands today? Where do you see it heading? Jonathan Brightman: I think the musician will have to catch up with all this technology. In other words, a band may have to use more of their own words, images, actions and give more of themselves up to be noticed. These days anyone can edit a video and put up content. We’re going to have to learn how to be as creative on several formats now. After all this time, do you still keep up to date, with what Buckcherry are doing? Jonathan Brightman: Actually, I heard one of their new songs on satellite radio recently. I think they released a few records after my departure. But the song was really good. Everything was in key.
Jonathan Brightman and Buckcherry: Josh Todd grew up in the Anaheim Hills neighborhood of Anaheim, California and later moved to Lake Forest, California. Early on, Todd fronted the Hollywood glam rock band Slamhound. He eventually met lead guitarist Keith Nelson through their tattoo artist (Kevin Quinn). The duo made a few demos before being joined by bassist Jonathan Brightman and drummer Devon Glenn, calling themselves Sparrow. Sparrow began performing around the Hollywood club scene, receiving a strong, local following due to their old school rock and roll vibe, and were signed to DreamWorks Records shortly after. The group changed its name to Buckcherry after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from a record label called Sparrow (owned by EMI). Although the band’s name is a spoonerism of the late Chuck Berry, the group said it was inspired by a drag queen acquaintance of theirs named Buck Cherry.
Black Robot is a California-based hard rock band formed in 2008 by bassist Jonathan Brightman (JB). In December 2010 the band’s self-titled debut album was picked by Apple iTunes as one of the top 15 rock releases for the year alongside notable artists including Tom Petty, Slash, Elvis Costello and Deftones. Additionally, Classic Rock Magazine ranked their song “Baddass” as the #5 Song of the Year and chose it as the opening track of their Best of 2010 CD.
Your debut album came out in 2009 but I remember hearing ‘Badass’ in 2008, and this year you picked up a nod in Classic Rock’s album of the year. Does it feel like this is a new start?. Jonathan Brightman: Yes. We released an independent version of the record in 2008. We were basically selling them on ebay and online. Once we got larger distribution channels in place we’re finally getting some broader attention.
Over the past years Brightman Music has been a leading Producer Management firm located in Southern California with a presence in New York City and Nashville, Tennessee and London, England. We represent some of the recording industry’s most highly recognized award winning producers, mixers, songwriters and engineers as well as tomorrow’s game changers. We hold a unique emphasis and proven track record on the discovery and development of groundbreaking chart-topping new artists. Our clients work with artists and record labels, big and small from every corner of the globe. We celebrate musical diversity and support artists of all genres. Discover more info at Jonathan Brightman.
The reason Yogi and Devon aren’t on the record is because Yogi went on tour with Chris Cornell and couldn’t be at two places at the same time, he needed to work and I couldn’t say don’t take the gig. Devon had gotten married and started his own business; his priorities in his life were different. I understood where he was coming from. It came down to this — they weren’t in a place to do it and I couldn’t wait until they could, or would, do it. I needed to make this record. I’ll clarify, this was a vision that was Huck’s and mine. This wasn’t going to be a band, we needed to get these song recorded and if it was good we’d release them.