Meet Brett Dooley | Singer-Songwriter and Engineer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brett Dooley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brett, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I would say that a person’s background and history impacts everything in their life. In fact, the sum total of my life so far still has great effect on the decisions that I make today. This is something that I explored deeply while I was writing the album that I’m releasing in February. The songs are all written directly from the memories of periods of strong emotions in my life. I’d started with about 17 or 18 memories, then boiled them down to the most vivid. I then presented them in chronological order on the final version of the album.

I’m originally from the midwest, just outside of Kansas City. My family has some deep roots in the farmland out northeast of the city proper, but I was born and raised for a short time in the suburbs. While I was in middle school, we moved out to Odessa, which is a smaller town out east of the city (population 3500 or so). After I graduated high school, I joined the Navy, and through that 11 years I moved from Florida to South Carolina, then to New York, Washington state, and California. When I left the service, I made a short hop over to Arizona and have mostly been here ever since.

I believe that my journey has shaped me into the person I am today. During these travels I’ve seen the different life perspectives of so many people from different parts of the country. It’s truly humbling to see how small I am in the grand perspective of the world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It’s been a long journey, and I think that many musicians would say the same. Music has always drawn me, I’ve been playing in some form for most of my life even though I only started performing around 15 years ago. When I joined the Navy, it took me a while to figure out how to integrate an instrument into my life. I eventually found that the submarine’s laundry room made for an excellent practice space. I brought a small traveler’s guitar with me on every deployment. After I left the service, I jumped immediately into finding groups to play and perform with. Over 15 years I’ve played with half a dozen different bands, 2 of them focused mainly on my own original songs. I’ve recently completed writing and recording my own album and am also now performing solo as well.

My original material has always come from the heart and reflected the person I was at the time it was written. My newest work is a mirror like reflection of my past and I can’t wait for you all to hear the new songs!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely make them bike up Mt. Lemmon with me, that’s a unique ride that isn’t easy to replicate anywhere else. We could eat at Le Buzz afterwards, then catch some live music at the Gardens at Bear Canyon that evening. Other can’t miss spots are El Rustico for the quesabirria tacos, Tucson Hop Shop for the beer selection and the cool little art village surrounding it, and then since there’s absolutely no way this hypothetical friend doesn’t also have kids, we would hit up Mildred and Dildred for some toys to take home.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife and children are the biggest deserving recipients of this shoutout. They have given me the time and space necessary to write my songs, practice my instruments, perform on many occasions that they couldn’t attend. They’ve all been so supportive of me, and I am so appreciative of them!

Next, I would like to thank each and every single musician that I’ve played with over the years. I can’t think of a single one of them that didn’t teach me something that I now use every day as I perform. Special shoutout to my fellow Whiskey Treats members, Travis Owens and Mike Dehn.

For my most recent album, I’d like to thank Eric Cunningham for spending so much time giving me feedback on the mix/master and Travis Owens spent considerable time there as well. Brett Hansen (former bandmate) also helped me a lot on some production ideas for one of the songs which really helped get me over the hump.

Website: http://www.brettdooley.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/brettdooley

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dooleybrett/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brettdooleymusic

Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3KT3f5Dfr2K4TUql0v2CkW Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/brett-dooley/447466491 Bandcamp (to buy music directly): http://brettdooley.bandcamp.com