Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryant Allan.
Hi Bryant, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The way I ended up as a songwriter and running a these events and writers showcases, It’s a little bit unconventional to say the least. I moved to Nashville with plans to be the next big thing. I wasn’t sure in what regard, but I knew I wanted to do something in music. My Grandfather was big in the radio and songwriting scenes in Bakersfield during the height of that era. Growing up, he would also tell me stories of what it was like to hang around these legends. I knew without a doubt, I wanted to do something that would grant me similar experiences. But I’d have to earn my stripes first, and by that time Nashville was the place to do it. So I moved here and started trying to do just that. To start earning my stripes. Eventually, after a lot of late nights and cover gigs on Broadway/ Midtown, I got the chance to start doing the thing. I got to play on a handful of small tours, made some cool friends, had some experiences I hope to never forget. But then life had other plans…..
Wrong place, right time, one night I tried to play superhero. (I’m not great at it). I pushed someone out of the way, and in the process ended up getting run over by a car while in a crosswalk. Which ended up doing a number on me. It left me with a number of injuries including a couple of TBIs. For a long time I couldn’t play, there was a while there that I couldn’t really talk, my memory only went back a handful of days. If you’ve ever seen the movie 50 first dates, it was kind of like that. Only, in real life. Any dreams I had of contributing to music, didn’t look likely.
That was until I met a name named Richard Casper. A veteran who had launched a successful art therapy program in Chicago for veterans called Creativets. He was in Nashville trying to figure out the ins and outs of expanding their program to Nashville. Pairing combat veterans, with Nashville songwriters. He was told my story through mutual friends, and even though I wasn’t a veteran, he took a chance and sat down with me. Casper, Jesse Wayne Taylor, and I sat down and wrote a song about what I was going through. We somewhat comedically titled the song “Chasin’ Memories”. It was the first time that I was able to put into words what I was experiencing. The accident, the memory loss, feeling broken, the fact that I had lost a lot o my so called “friends”, and a lot more topics, we kind of tackled them all. In a song that was never supposed to see the light of day outside of our little song therapy session.
*Spoiler Alert* it did.
The song ended up finding its way to a guy named Rob Snyder, who at the time started and ran – what to this day I would still consider – the gold standard for writers rounds in Nashville. A show called Revival. Rob heard the song, and he ended up having an idea. A takeover night. He gave me Revival for the night, to build the lineup and make it my own. A night to show the world this song, and to stack the lineup with all of my friends who had stood by me. Who had my back, who had helped me get to the point, where I felt like I could write a song like this.
We put the night together and, much to my surprise, people showed up. That was night one of organizing my own Writers Round, and now we’re about to hit the 9 year mark. And about to do so as one of the biggest writers rounds in Nashville. Wild really.
The song actually exists to this day on all platforms. To listen back to it now is pretty wild. Originally it was supposed to be Jesse going into sing the song. At the last second, in the studio he called an audible and decided I would sing it. Listening back, it sounds completely different from what I sound like singing now. But actually at the time, that night was my first time singing or even really putting together full sentences even, after my accident. Which is what makes it so monumental. Nick Baumhardt who was the producer on it, had to have the patience of a saint to make it work. Then my buddy Benjy Davis who is a legendary songwriter in his own right stepped in to do the background vocals and help bring it to life. So many people came together to make this happen, and I still to this day could never thank them enough.
Any of yall reading this make sure to go look up Benjy Davis. Legend, seriously!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There was obviously the obvious physical struggles healing from this accident. And as you can imagine, organizing larger shows when you can only remember things a couple of days, is an adventure. Haha. (Luckily, that issue was not permanent).
But beyond that it’s just the mental component of it all. Nashville can be a very disheartening town sometimes. We all move here because we’re likely the best at what we do in the towns that we come from (or for some of us maybe not). We don’t anticipate that not translating to us not being the best here. So you face set backs, you hear no more than you hear yes, and you have to learn the hard way sometimes who your friends are. I’ve got a couple people I can lean on for anything. Shoutout Ty Graham, and Chris Young for helping me keep my head on right at all times.
It’s just important to keep in mind that eventually, things balance out. You find your crew, and you hit your stride. It may take longer than we would like, but it works out. Luckily especially over the last couple of months, I think I’m in good shape.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I run “Chasin’ Melodies”. Currently Nashville’s longest running weekly songwriters round. That’s probably what most people know me for. I’ve kept up with writing, especially the last couple months, gotten a handful of cool songs. I work closely with Creativets and St Jude here in Nashville. I definitely consider myself very fortunate for those relationships.
What am I most proud of?
Probably the impact we’ve been able to have. We’ve been able to directly give a stage to roughly 9,600 writers over the years. We’ve also been able to help start six other writers showcases in recent years.
When. I moved into the writing and writers night running side of the industry, I had a lot of people who had faith in me. Whether I deserved it or not. The fact that I’m in a position to pay that forward, and show that same faith to other folks now is absolutely huge.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
My hope, and I see it starting to happen little by little, is that things are going to become more about community. Writers and people in general working together to build each other back up. Working in competitive fields, it’s easy to fall into the mindset of having to tear each other down to succeed. But in the long run that doesn’t help any of us. Find a good crew, have their backs, and do your best to elevate not only yourself but everyone around you.
With the introduction of social media, self-production, self-distribution, new promotional tools, the industry can now be as big as we need it to be. It’s not necessarily 1000 people competing for 10 spots anymore. Be a good person, and you’ll find your place in Nashville, it’s that easy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @chasinmelodiesnash
