Viola & The Brakemen

Viola & The Brakeman have been playing for over 3 years and hail from Flagstaff, Arizona.  They recently opened for tried and true bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers. They play original compositions written by Brian White – songs that come alive with some of Flagstaff’s finest musicians: Keith Gomora (bass), Kristin Straka (violin), and Jessica Ludwig (vocals, percussion).  Brian White offers music that is emotional, and strewn with imagery.  His songs are rooted in good times and bad times, and include the fundamentals of song writing- death, despair, depression, joy and everything else juxtaposed with lyrical formation.

A southwest sunset, the washes that run their dry veins through the southern plains, the taste of dirt at the start of a summer monsoon storm, growing up with a father working the Southern Pacific railroad lines, hot steel and desert wildflowers- these are the senses that dictate the songs of Viola & the Brakemen.