By: Edir Coronado
On Saturday July 16th, Brendan Higgins, a project manager and local Fanwood resident, switched identities. He grabbed his acoustic guitar and called some of his longtime friends to Mara’s Café, located at 250 South Avenue in Fanwood. Mara’s a place where musicians come to play for the love of music. Indeed, Higgins plays because he has a genuine passion for writing and performing his own music. When asked what music provides for him, Higgins replied, “The joy of playing, bringing people together, meeting people, and the sense of doing something you were always meant to do.”
His musical journey started at young age, with a strong musical atmosphere radiating from his entire family, it is no wonder why he displays such musical talents. Higgins style of music is attributed to his older brothers, who had an allstar record collection of Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, and The Allman Brothers to name a few. “It’s now called ‘classic rock;’ however, at the time I was growing up, it was what was on the radio,” explained Higgins.
There is one band that caught Higgins ear in particular, The Beatles, “They are the band that made me want to play and become a musician,” Higgins further explains The Beatles not only influenced him musically, but also affected young Higgins lifestyle, attitude, and thoughts.
Subsequent to the combination of his older brothers’ record collection and the musical connection he made with Beatles, his younger brother was the moving force that drove Higgins to act on his musical aspirations. Higgins credits his younger brother for helping him sharpen his skills as a guitarist, by playing drums to Higgins guitar, and in later years pushing Higgins to pursue his musical ambitions.
While he is currently a project manager, Higgins still dedicates time to this childhood passion. Whether he is on the train creating lyrics for a new song or he waits after hours, when his family is asleep, Higgins is always looking for opportunities to create more music.
All this time and effort to produce original music, is fulfilled on his own time without compensation, but Higgins enjoys this, expressing, “Playing for free means you don’t need to meet anyone’s expectations,” he added, “If you are looking to make money, you tailor what you play and write to the current trends or someone else’s vision.”
Higgins is always looking for places to perform his original music. He’s scheduled to play again on Saturday, September 10th, at Mara’s Café and he currently has his original tracks on reverbnation.com, a site for artists to upload their music for fans and music producers to enjoy.
(above) Brendan Higgins(Middle) and fellow musicians.
