It was church, via a DUI at the age of 16, that really led Brother Earl to music – part of the sentencing was to help out at his mom’s church over the summer. It was here that he met an “old school rocker” who inspired him to invest more time into playing guitar and singing. It wasn’t until he joined the Army, shortly after 9/11, that he began writing his own songs. When he found himself dealing with both a back injury and a broken heart, Brother Earl sought solace in songwriting, noting that “all of the sudden, my guitar, a piece of paper, and a pencil was what I used to get through it.”
‘Down With My Ship‘ is the lead single from an upcoming EP of the same name, which will be released on Aigust 13th. It’s a statement of fearlessness in the face of adversity, whatever it might be. Fearlessness and a certain stubbornness to hold a line.
Brother Earl shared some background on ‘Down With My Ship‘: “‘Down With My Ship’ is very much a personal statement song lyrically, but it wasn’t written out of intention. It’s a song that I wrote a day or two after the tragic passing of Tom Petty. I’ve always been such a huge fan of his. How he always had a way of getting to the hook in the first 30 seconds of a song was amazing, and something I had never set out to do purposely in my own writing. As funny as this sounds, and as embarrassing as it is to admit this, I actually prayed out loud and asked Tom Petty to send his muse my way just for one moment. In that moment, this song was born. It really is one of those rare songs that was written just about entirely in one sitting, without pen to paper. I played and sang, and this came out. If you listen closely to the vocal delivery, you’ll hear me paying my homage to Mr Petty in the phrasing of a few choice words. This song is a fun one, and I’m thankful to have written it! ”
