In these dark times, “Sunshine” – the summery, uplifting new single by The Brummies premiering here at American Songwriter on July 9 – is certainly a welcome slice of escapism. The song is taken from the Nashville-based trio’s as-yet-untitled album that will come out later this year. This single and the other album tracks showcase their distinctive mix of indie folk, and rock.
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“We hope during hard times people can turn this one on and it gives them some light in some sort of way,” says percussionist and background vocalist Trevor Davis of “Sunshine.” He says that the song was inspired by the late, great singer-songwriter Bill Withers: “We were messing with the groove of this one for a while and were having trouble finding the right one when someone said loudly ‘Bill Withers vibe,’ and then it clicked and we knew exactly what it needed.”
With the right style in mind, the songwriting process flowed. Singer and multi-instrumentalist John Davidson relates how Jacob Bryant (who is also a singer/multi-instrumentalist) supplied the specific spark that led to the rest of the song’s creation: “Jacob told us he wanted to write a song about a ray of sunshine that woke him up that morning from some broken blinds by his bed. I believe I had a classical guitar in my hand and started playing the basic first two chords of the song. The melody and lyrics naturally fell out for this one pretty quickly.”
Davidson adds that Joe Hertler, who helped the band co-write the track, was also crucial to its completion: “[He] went into his world and came out with pretty much the whole bridge, or section before the instrumental. As we got closer to production for recording.”
The Brummies already have a history of working well with other artists – they had a big hit with Kacey Musgraves for their song “Drive Away” in 2018, from their debut album Eternal Reach. For their forthcoming album, they also worked with producers Jarrad Kritzstein (Ruston Kelly) and Austin Jenkins (Leon Bridges), as well as taking co-production credit as a band.
With their forthcoming album, The Brummies hope to continue their successful run in Nashville, where they moved from their native Birmingham, Alabama (hence their name: their original hometown shares the same names as the city in northern England, where natives are nicknamed “Brummies”). Until the album release, “Sunshine” can tide listeners over with its hopeful, uplifting lyrics and optimistic musical vibe.
