March 31-April 6, 2005

musicpicks

Brian Seymour

by Nicole Pensiero

"We're at an important moment in the music business; it's a broken model," says Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter Brian Seymour. "If you'd asked me at the time I put out my first record if I wanted to be on a label, I'd have said "yeah, sure.' But now I'd rather eke out my own opportunities. When I want to make a record, I make a record."

The 37-year-old Jersey native celebrates the release of his sixth CD, Perfectly Wrong, on his own Bamu Ventures imprint.

Seymour's so-called "smart-pop" has earned a devoted Philly and New York following, as well as landing him some national exposure. His song "Always Leaving" ended up on Cowboy Mouth's CD, Easy, "I Go Happy" became part of Pennsylvania's national tourism ad campaign and "Always Leaving" found its way to a Kenneth Cole CD sampler.

"The exposure's great," says Seymour. "It's another way for me to, hopefully, engage the listener." And while his incisive, intense and finely tuned pop songs have earned him comparisons with everyone from David Gray to Elvis Costello, he's decidedly of the to-thine-own-self-be-true school.

"It's my songs, my voice and my energy," Seymour says, adding that the new record's added level of "punch" will be noticeable to devotees.

"It was a real challenge for the band to translate what we are doing live onto the record," Seymour says. "It's a bit more lush, a bit broader sounding. It's the record I wanted to make."

Sat., April 2, 10:30 p.m., $8, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770.

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