Brett Newski moved to Vietnam after becoming jobless, band-less, and girl-less in 2011. There, he wrote nearly 100 power-folk songs in the steaming city of Saigon for his latest releases "American Folk Armageddon" & "Hi-Fi D.I.Y ep" (produced by Violent Femmes co-founder Victor Delorenzo). Newski now tours the world 200+ dates per year and has been featured in Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Guitar World, and NoDepression. His style has been compared to Violent Femmes, Frank Turner, Jake Bugg, and Chuck Ragan.
www.brettnewski.com
PRESS:
“I like the sound and the way he is forcing the world to contend with him.” -Brian Ritchie, Violent Femmes
“Newski rocks in the grand tradition of Billy Bragg (and, more recently, Frank Turner), blending the sound of driving folk into songs that have the spirit (and occasionally the sound) of punk. -AV Club
“Newski’s solid Midwestern roots anchor songs with super catchy melodies and melancholy lyrics with subtle wit.” -Guitar World
“Loudest acoustic act ever.” -Eon Hare, Daytrotter Engineer
“Can’t wait for the full record. Having toured the world, Brett has a unique story to tell, and his music reflects those experiences.” –Kevin Leahy, NPR
_______________
In high school David was an athletic, but socially awkward, below average student, who barely got his diploma, and hated music class. Hardly a future musician. His dream was not to be on stage singing to crowds of raving fans but to be backstage while someone famous sung songs he wrote in his dreams! Day dreaming was his profession for many years especially since stage fright was something so real it never seemed like a possibility that he would ever take the stage and sing, let alone enjoy it.
But after years building courage dealing with irate customers in the car rental industry and finally getting the nerve to record some songs in his home studio – his song ‘Let You Go’ got included on a compilation CD out of LA and he was invited to share his songs at the CD release party. “I was nervous as hell but excited at the same time to be on stage – and it was during that trip I got angry at myself for not pursuing music with all my might and letting fear get in the way of my dreams. So I came back home to Vancouver with a new drive to make an album no matter what”.
And that he did, writing and recording ‘Hard To Control’ in his home studio and releasing it with success in 2007. It won Male Contemporary Album Of The Year in the Toronto Magazine’s music Awards and had several songs take home honorable mentions in the Billboard and Great American Song Contest!
Early in 2009 ‘Things Left Unsaid’ came out and had radio play across Canada with ‘Hurts So Hard’ – his first radio single and music video ever. ‘This Is The Soundtrack’ would be the next single that would receive airplay in Vancouver for a year as he toured in a figure 8 pattern from Vancouver to New York and back in his VW Jetta by himself. “That tour killed me but it was one of the best experie
