Junior Brown charms Infinity Hall

On Wednesday, June 11, country guitar wizard Junior Brown thrilled a packed and rowdy crowd at Infinity Hall in Norfolk, Connecticut. Known for his pyrotechnic playing, Brown dexterously jumped between clean chicken pickin’, blues, rock, western swing, and jazz.

Brown plays an instrument he made himself called the “Guit-Steel.” Two guitars in one, it features a Fender Telecaster neck on top and a pedal steel guitar below, all in one body.

With his homemade axe, Brown brought listeners on a sonic journey through Americana and made his guitar “speak,” at turns imitating the human voice or tractor trailer horns. His great group included upright bass, simple snare drum and his wife Tanya Rae on acoustic guitar.

Lyrically, his humorous songs tell tall tales about staying out too late as in “Too Many Nights In A Roadhouse” or his biggest hit “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead.” He’s also composed dreamy, steely guitar for television including “SpongeBob Squarepants,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and “Better Call Saul” which exemplify his range.

But don’t let the cowboy hat fool you — Junior Brown is a Connecticut native. Born in Wilton, his grandfather was a commercial artist with a studio in Westport. Brown’s father taught at various American universities. Growing up he was exposed to the popular music of the 1960s.

“The college kids had the cool records, the bubblegum stuff, Blues records and deep folk. Those records really helped my guitar playing. There was no Internet. You’d have to find the records,” Brown said.

Brown’s life journey took him from Texas to Oklahoma to Missouri, where he lives today.

While he absorbed all of those influences, he was always drawn to country music.

“I have a big heart for country music. I thought it would be interesting to play country or play rock,” he said.

Brown toured with fellow guitarmaster Bo Diddley, who, like Brown, also toured with his wife. He also had the chance to play with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

“I played with them at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle, which is a tribute to Jimi. So I am ‘experienced.’ Subconsciously, you repeat things you heard that you like. Sometimes, you’re not aware of where you get stuff,” he said.

In a tender moment during his show at Infinity Hall, Brown paid tribute to the recently deceased musical genius Brian Wilson. Brown told the audience about recording with the Beach Boys on their “Stars and Stripes Vol 1.” album before launching into their song “409.” A studio performance can be seen on YouTube.

These days, Brown doesn’t have any plans to record new music of his own. Instead, he’s stepping aside to give his wife more moments in the limelight.

“The next project is gonna be Tanya’s. She’s got one called ‘Meet the Misses.’ It’s available on our website. She’s just great,” he said.

With several Grammy, Academy of Country Music, and Country Music Association Awards, Brown has received well- deserved accolades. But he has to be seen live to fully comprehend his incredible talent.