2014 SRS Band Bio: Bryan Adam Joyner

Competing Week 8, September 25th
Love and War in Texas (Grapevine)

Band: Bryan Adam Joyner

Band Members:
Bryan Joyner – Vocals and Guitar
Greg Deans – Vocals and Guitar
Eric Tamblyn – Vocals and Bass
John Joyner – Drums

Band Bio:
Songwriter Bryan Adam Joyner’s first guitar was a stringless toy guitar from Sears.  Excitedly strummed to That’ll Be The Day by Buddy Holly over and over until the record skipped so much it wasn’t playable. The 1978 film The Buddy Holly Story fueled a life long passion for music in the 7 year old.

Born in Ranger, Texas in 1971, his family moved to Mineral Wells, Texas in 1977 to pursue his father’s dream to own his own grocery store. The family worked long days at the store and evenings were often spent listening to Willie, Waylon, Haggard and Jones on the record and 8 track player.

But the happy times soon ended. The collapse of the Texas oil industry in the 80’s brought on the collapse of Joyner’s Food Store.  Bryan’s dad turned to whiskey and his mother collapsed mentally and emotionally. Neither one ever recovered.  Bryan turned to music as an outlet immersing himself in hard rock.  The toy guitar exchanged for a real six string.

In 1989, while attending college at Texas A&M, Bryan rediscovered his country roots and found he could sing a little. Strait, Yoakum and Black cassettes could be found on the dash of his F150 and the guitar left behind found its way to College Station.

In 2004 Bryan attended the Americana Jam at Gruene Hall.  The annual music festival had a profound impact on him. Cory Morrow, Charlie Robison, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Reckless Kelly moved him to write his own songs which before he had never thought he could do.

Bryan has been writing, performing and recording ever since. His first solo album was released in June 2014. You’ll find in Bryan’s music some of  his dad’s honky tonk, some of the rock he turned to when his life was falling apart, some of the Strait, Black and Yoakum he sang in his F150 and some of his favorite songwriters  such as Hayes Carll and Sean McConnell. The  subject matter is close to his heart. It is typically about his own life experiences where the song is an outlet for emotions that he sometimes has difficulty expressing such as his anger at his father for his alcoholism or his overwhelming sadness and desperation he experienced throughout his divorce.

Come check out Bryan Adam Joyner this Thursday night in Round 1, Week 8 of the 2014 Shiner Rising Star Competition! This week is at Love & War (Grapevine), 8-10pm.