Profile :: Brian Joens

Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones
Roger Miller's "King of the Road"
Barry Sadler doing "The Ballad of the Green Berets"
"Eight Days a Week" by The Beatles
The Lawrence Welk singers doing "Winchester Cathedral"

There isn't much common ground between most of these songs, but they are my earliest memories, musical and otherwise. I have a flashback to being a small kid every time I hear these songs. And, I think I realized, even as a child, that music would occupy a major portion of my heart and soul. It has ever since.

I was born and raised in Manning, Iowa. Typical small town upbringing. After college and a brief stint in commercial radio, I moved to Los Angeles in the early 80's and spent the next 10 years stuck in traffic, paying ungodly rents, getting my cars stolen and trying in vain to keep bands together. One day, shortly before I started recording my first cd "Omaha," a surprising realization popped in my head: I missed the midwest.

So, I packed the truck and moved to Minneapolis. As luck would have it, I was just in time for two of the coldest/snowiest winters on record. Upon completion of the "Honeywagon" cd, I ditched the world of day jobs. (Actually, I got fired from General Mills. You know that 800 number you call when you find a bug or a finger in your box of Cheerios? That was me.) Over the next few years I stayed with family and friends, playing coffeehouse, brewpubs, restaurants and bookstores. Then I did something I thought I'd never do: move back to my hometown.

The next cd "Hometown Planet" says it all. Nothing changes, but nothing's the same. It's been seven years and I'm still adjusting. Anyway, now I have a home, a new life and a comfort zone that allows me to continue my music. Shortly after 9/11 I flew to Los Angeles to record "Hollywoodland." In the years since, I've continued to travel the midwest, playing gigs from Lake Superior to the plains of Kansas, constantly driving those small winding rural highways of concrete and asphalt, avoiding as many deer as possible.

The new cd "Midwest" is now available. I produced and mixed for the first time, learning much from my mistakes. I host a weekly eclectic radio show, Dirt Road Radio on KSWI-FM in Atlantic, Iowa and organize two music festivals here in Manning: The Farm Fresh Acoustic Fest (July 16) and Harmony in the Fields (August 13).

There's always more to tell, but I don't want to bore you with my self indulgence. If you really need to know more, stop by the house. There's cold beer in the fridge and the doors are never locked. We'll talk.