Kent Nickerson of the band Brother Kent stopped by Live & Local last week, following the release of the band’s new album “Fancy Stuff.”
Visit BrotherKent.com.
“It took almost a year,” Nickerson says of the album. “I think it was the 28th, last November, when we recorded the initial tracks. (But) I wasn’t really happy with my performance. So through the spring I went back into the studio: we did the recording down at Hondo Creek with Mike Nicholson, and I went back a couple times to work on stuff. (And) I decided I wanted a friend of mine from New York, Karen Dahlstrom, who’s a great singer-songwriter, to add some harmonies. So it was a process.”

The finished product is the band’s second full-length album, their first since 2023’s “What They Say Ain’t True.” The title may be “Fancy Stuff,” but the songs themselves are straight down the line, with Nickerson’s signature twang driving an Americana sound that Brother Kent accurately self-describes as “equal parts The National and The Band.”
“I just walk around and make up songs,” Nickerson modestly says of his writing process. “I do work a lot harder now on finishing them and editing, I think I’ve gotten a lot better at that.”
If you want to catch Brother Kent live, they’re playing at Yonder in Hillsborough at 8:00 p.m. Friday, November 21.
Click here for more information on Friday’s show.

Kent Nickerson of Brother Kent stopped by Live & Local to discuss the album. He also played one song live: the album’s closer, “Halfway Home.” Listen:
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