Category Archives: News

Brian Whelan Turns Up the Heat on ‘Sugarland’

BY  ART THOMPSON You always know a record is good when the songs start sticking in your head on the first spin, and Sugarland, by ex-Dwight Yoakam sideman Brian Whelan, catches the ear with tunes that sit comfortably in the alt-country camp, while simultaneously steering in a heavier, more guitar-forward direction than what’s typically heard from […]

World Premiere: Brian Whelan’s “Americana”

BY WILLIAM MICHAEL SMITH It might seem like career suicide to write a scathing tune about the very genre you operate in, but that’s exactly what former Dwight Yoakam sideman Brian Whelan has done at the beginning of his second solo album, Sugarland. “Americana,” which the Houston Press is premiering today, is a jet-blast critique of […]

Brian Whelan and Primal Twang

By: Jefferson Laufer @ 23.12.2015 L.A. based singer/songwriter/ producer.. Brian Whelan  sends spiritual consolation  through his music. His dossier includes playing with the likes of Chuck Berry and Dwight Yoakam. Whelan learned to play guitar before he could walk! The album “Decider” is a few years old but it continues to teethe a lot  of wallop. He’s now completing his […]

Dwight Yoakam Ends 2015 Strong In Ventura, with Brian Whelan Opening

For his sustained excellence as a songwriter and as a bandleader, there is no other musician touring now like Dwight Yoakam. He has released two records in the last three years that sound as innovative and distinct from contemporary country music as his debut did from Nashville’s mainstream in 1986. Playing in Ventura on Friday […]

Dwight Yoakam Sideman Brian Whelan Heads Off on His Own

By William Michael Smith Thu., Mar. 5 2015 at 6:00 AM – Houston Press After four years of road-dogging with Dwight Yoakam’s band, multi-instrumental utility man Brian Whelan has quit and struck out on his own. He rolls into McGonigel’s Mucky Duck Saturday for a song swap with old Los Angeles running buddy and local […]

Tulsa Voice – Brian Whelan goes solo with a unique brand of pop Americana

Brian Whelan has spent the past four or five years as guitarist and multi-instrumentalist for Dwight Yoakam, whose extensive touring schedule has brought Whelan through Tulsa on multiple occasions. Prior to that, he was a member of the California power-pop band The Broken West for about five years. Whelan will perform solo for the first […]