About Bryan

Bryan Masters' crooked heart was educated along the two-lane blacktops and dirt roads of Kansas, and his music speaks of small towns, dreams lost and found, and the torments of real love and dented hearts.

A staple of the Kansas acoustic music scene, Bryan's evocative songwriting and emotive performances have gathered a devoted audience of listeners with a penchant for Sunday mornings, carnival rides, comfort and chaos.

Attentive Kansans will recognize Bryan's voice and songs from his longstanding presence in the winners' circle (18 songs in 13 years) in the Walnut Valley Festival's New Songs Showcase. Or maybe from his former bands Shoobachs, Howdy and Stick Men, where he first played with Dennis Hardin. Bryan has released two solo CDs, So Low and Thundar the Boy Giant.

These days, Bryan performs solo and also as half of Back Porch Buddha with co-conspirator and six-string franchise Dennis Hardin.

"Bryan Masters sings like the illegitimate love child of John Prine and Elvis Costello. He's a guy who'd like to see the world in romantic terms if there just wasn't so much evidence to the contrary."

"With keen detail, Masters shows the many ways love lost, tossed and otherwise crumpled can make good, literate art."

"Pop-disguised-as-folk tunes define Masters as unique among the current crop of whisky-voiced, world-weary troubadours of the heartland ... Bryan Masters in on to something."

"He writes short sweet songs that stay in your head long after you're done listening to them."

Video

Miss You Sundays

This song was recorded in a Wichita living room on New Year's day. The audio recorded years earlier for the solo CD "Thundar the Boy Giant." Shout out to chief cinematographer Miss Juli and beloved stunt gutarist Mark Horton.

Despite what you see here, Bryan cannot really grow a full beard in 3 minutes and 27 seconds.

September 14th, 1966

This is a storyteller's song, full of long-ago sensations and very real, sweet childhood memories. It's a favorite, and it is probably one of Bryan's most-requested songs. "The first time we played it," he said, "I heard my sister sobbing in the audience and knew that I'd pretty much nailed it."

Recorded live for Currency Exchange on KMUW's Strange Currency with host Jedd Beaudoin.

Close Enough

This song pretty much wrote itself — it just landed on Bryan's head one night while he was in the front row of a Peter Case concert. Which was cool, but incredibly inconvenient. Bryan says: "If I had a time machine, I would take this song directly to The Blasters in 1984. They would know exactly what to do with it."

Recorded live at The Brickyard in Old Town in Wichita, Kansas. May 8, 2015

Mona Rigby's Houseboat

This is a song about drinking too much, and it is very popular among people who drink too much. It is even more popular among recovering alcoholics. Intended as a tongue-in-cheek observation of substance abuse, this song has become a sort of a weird singalong alcoholic inkblot test.

Recorded live for Currency Exchange on KMUW's Strange Currency with host Jedd Beaudoin.

Booking & Media

Bryan Masters performs in Wichita, Kansas, and in the surrounding region. He typically performs as half of the folk-rock duet Back Porch Buddha, but is also doing some solo shows. His favorite venues are coffee houses, galleries, breweries, patios and living rooms. And, of course, festivals. He has a special fondness for festivals.

For booking inquiries and media inquiries, please contact Bryan directly.

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