Brandon Tenney & John Maddrey & Leah Simone Song Swap

Brandon Tenney

Brandon Tenney grew up in North Carolina idolizing the music of AC/DC and Van Halen. Now in his early twenties, Tenney is a bandleader recording original material, and building a local following in the North Carolina Triad area. On his new EP, Tenney finds his niche in modern indie rock, while paying homage to his favorite 70s bands.

Tenney began teaching himself to play guitar at the age of 11, wanting to be a lead player like Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen and Brian May. “I was mostly learning from YouTube videos” he explains. He went on to join the jazz band at highschool, where he met future band mate Sebastion Olmedo, who plays bass. At 15, he began playing piano, singing, and songwriting.

After forming a band in high school, and experiencing the chaos of a group project, Tenney started working solo after graduation, taking a year from school to gain experience from playing at local venues. Eventually, he formed “The Diamond Dogs”, a David Bowie cover band, that saw him finally take a lead singer role. The band was relatively short lived, but it gave Tenney confidence that he could have an impact on audiences. “For about nine months after we ended, people kept asking when we were going to play again,” he explains, “and that gave me a lot of motivation to figure out my next step.”

At the time, Tenney was 19 years old, and working at McDonalds. “I hated working there, but it gave me a lot of perspective because now, anytime I catch myself complaining about something trivial I can think, well at least I’m doing this thing that I love and working towards a dream.” It was at this point that Tenney committed himself to leading a band of his own.

Tenney enrolled in a sound engineering and production program at Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC), and through an internship met Jeremy Jereskin, who is the lead engineer at The Flat Iron, a venue in Greensboro, and has done sound work for the likes of Billie Eilish, Chance the Rapper, Big Something, and many more. Jereskin became one of Tenney’s most important mentors, training him in live sound, but also giving him opportunities to perform and record his own music.

On his new EP, Tenney takes inspiration from various styles of rock from the 70’s citing influences like David Bowie, Queen, Steely Dan, The Talking Heads as well as modern indie artists like Mac DeMarco, Steve Lacey, and Summersalt. He is further influenced by funk, psychedelic, blues, folk and progressive rock. In his band, he is joined by Joseph Cline, Drums, Sebastion Olmedo, Bass, Colton Strandberg, Guitar, Jake Ratledge on keys who make up the core of his band. Session musicians Sandy Blocker, Percussion, Kyle Philips, Saxophone, and Brandon Cole, backing vocals, will add to the band's lush, melodic landscape under Tenney’s winding vocals.

Tenney’s lyrics range from meditations on a peaceful, rainy day on “For Today”, to explorations of a post-apocalyptic world on “Life as I Knew it”. The EP “Under Construction” will be recorded at The Flatiron and produced by Tenney himself with engineering assistance by Jeremy Jereskin.

Still at the beginning of a burgeoning career, Tenney has not only an unstoppable drive to create and build a successful band, but a full commitment to artistry, which includes fashion and performance. His EP will be available in November and he can be found playing live around North Carolina.

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Self-proclaimed ‘singer/songwriter/sadboi’ John Maddrey brings the music in his head to life, often from the comfort of his bedroom. The 22-year-old indie artist, producer, and engineer builds his discography from the ground up and currently performs in and around Charlotte, NC.

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Born and raised in the Queen City, Leah Simone delivers a sound that blend neo-soul, india-folk and a smart sprinkle of pop. She aims to encourage her listeners through music, helping them find healing within and to motivating them to be active participants in the spiritual work of relating to and loving one another at the most basic level.

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