Steven Bryant

45 seconds of pure genius from the Salamander Studios hit factory in Memphis, TN. Written, performed, recorded, mixed, and distributed on Sunday afternoon.

"Wrong About Me"
http://www.myspace.com/stevenbryant

James McMurry: lead vox, guitar, backing vox, lyrics
Steven Bryant: bass, lead guitar (all three notes), percussion, ooh-aah vox


people think wrong things about me
but they're wrong about me
no...

I spent Friday evening with the Harding Academy band and their new director this year, Colby Canterbury, working on Dusk. I have to say when I first walked in and saw that about 40% of the band consisted of saxophones, I was slightly worried. Somehow, though, they actually made a solid, warm, non-saxophone-dominated sound as an ensemble - I was really quite impressed with the group!

Aside from...

Heading to Memphis to work with The Harding Academy Band on "Dusk" this evening. Then it's on to dinner with some old roommates from my undergrad days.

Gotta hit the road...more later!

Because of an imminent ice storm, the Arkansas All-State Convention held its concerts today, instead of tomorrow, as regularly scheduled. I drove down early this morning to work with the Symphonic Band, under Rick Blatti's direction, on my piece, MetaMarch. Two nights ago, Rick asked if I'd be interested in conducting the piece, and I of course jumped at the chance. These concerts were in...

Last Monday, I had the privilege and honor of conducting my work Rise with the St. Charles East HS Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall. I had a great time working with the group and conducting this piece (my first time!). A special "thank you" to director Jim Kull for inviting me to be a part of this event. Jim has been a big supporter of BCM for a few years now, and this evening was no exception...

Tuesday, Feb. 7th marked my last day of nearly 10 years of affiliation with Juilliard, first as student, then as a staff member. Many different events in my life over the past 10 months or so have converged to bring about this new direction. It was difficult - I've worked with a great number of wonderful people over the years there, and it has been the best 'day job' I could've possibly...

Been traveling and haven't had much internet access...at least, that's my excuse for not keeping things up to date. A LOT has been going on. I'm about to hop on another plane, so this will be quick until I can flesh each one out:

Last week I officially resigned from Juilliard to pursue composing and conducting full time - I do have pictures of the party, and I hope to post some tomorrow.

On...

I've been back in New York the past few weeks sorting things out. The big news: after almost a decade, first as a student, then as an employee, I'm leaving Juilliard! I'm leaving to spend more time composing, conducting, etc. Tuesday, Feb. 7th will be my final full day...pictures from the party that day will be forthcoming, if they're appropriate for public viewing... ;)

This week, I discovered sketches for all my old pieces (and I mean ALL). I keep everything, apparently, including old, crappy pop songs I tried to write in ninth grade. Those should be shredded. Anyway, I found some sketches for Monkey. Prompted by a recent thread on the BCM forum, I decided to scan some of these in and post them here. Note: these images average around 500k, and will...

It's currently 74 degrees. This is a beautiful day.

Happy New Year to everyone!

My brother, Ben (seen in Santa regalia, below), cooked a fantastic dinner this evening.


Ben Bryant, December, 2005


The meal consisted of chicken breast stuffed with red pepper pesto, mushrooms, tomato, feta, and parmesan, encrusted with bread crumb parmesan mixture. The side dishes were sauteed mushrooms and grilled asparagus, pasta salad, and broccoli salad. It was DELICIOUS. My brother is...

Today we made a trip down to Murfreesboro to exchange gifts with the extended family. Had a pleasant visit and dinner with everyone, and met a new friend, Will, who specializes in building sheltered homes that handle most of their heating and cooling from ground heat and water - I find this fascinating - I hope to build such a house at some point, and rely on the 'grid' as little as possible. ...