Cleveland’s Brian Alan Hager Returns with Second ‘Rock and Soul’ Release

Local singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brian Alan Hager began his musical journey decades ago. He started playing guitar and keyboards at the age of 7, shortly after his mom passed away from diabetes and heart disease. Then, his dad bought an organ, and he played that. After dabbling on organ, Hager gravitated to guitar. His friend had one, and Hager would play it every time they hung out. His father bought him his own guitar, and he began seriously studying how to play the instrument.

Now a prolific solo artist who’s active on the local scene, Hager just released his new four-song EP, Rock and Soul (Side B), which follows last year’s four-song Rock and Soul (Side A). The disc serves as a tribute to the rock, blues and soul music that has influenced him over the years. The music represents a departure from the “exploratory” and mostly acoustic and synth-based sound of his 2022 release, The Condition of Things. A full 12-song Rock and Soul album will be released in the summer and feature another set of four songs and include the eight songs from Sides A and B.

Mainly a solo performer since the pandemic began in 2020, Brian Alan Hagar will debut his first full band in several years at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, at Broadview Brewing Company in Broadview Heights. The ensemble features Hager’s son, guitarist Jonah Hager, bassist Steve Millner, keyboardist Jonah Benchek and drummer Max Reynolds. His “jam band” will perform reinterpreted versions of his songs and will feature special guest appearances from other musicians from the Cleveland music scene.

“Everyone is constantly releasing stuff, so the EP is my way of getting stuff out more often,” Hager says one evening from the finished side of the basement of his Seven Hills home where he has a recording console set up. An Elvis Costello painting by the late local artist and musician David Kay Kraska hangs on the wall as does an old poster advertising a show by the Chromes, one of Hager’s bands. “My first release had a lot of songs that were slower tempo. I needed to do songs I could play out live at these places. People want more up-tempo stuff. I usually don’t write songs like that.”

But after listening to blues-based rock from acts like Tedeschi Trucks, Black Keys and the Record Company, he started to adopt his own blues-rock sound.

“I dig the stuff,” he says when asked about those influences. “It’s very throwback. It would work good for my live shows. That’s the concept. It’s rock and soul songs and some with a country flair.”

One album highlight, “I’m Alice in Wonderland,” a song with humming synths and a soaring guitar riff, recalls the Brit-pop of acts such as Oasis and Blur.

“That song is about a self-discovery moment I had when I was seeing colors,” says Hager when asked about the tune. “My feelings were changing every instant. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland. My feelings were going from sad to happy to scared. I was seeing colors. It created self-discovery and I thought about all my insecurities and what drives me. That’s what that song is about. That situation made me more self-aware.”

With synthesizers that recall the ones that Heart and Rush used in the ’70s, “Let Me Be Myself” has a proggy feel.

The alt-country-inspired “Cool It Down” goes for something twangier.

“That song is about my desire to have everyone get together like we used to through human interaction,” he says of “Cool It Down.” “We don’t connect with enough people.”

A song that opens with a muscular guitar riff and hard-hitting drums, “Don’t Bring Me Down Again” rocks hard and allows Hager to shred on guitar.

“The news brings me down; there is so much negativity and people who emulate negativity in daily life. That’s me saying, ‘I won’t let this bother me,'” Hager says of the track. “My wife likes to watch the news, and I watch it with her, but sometimes, I just can’t take it.”

Hager currently performs regionally as a solo artist at wineries, breweries, festivals and other venues, with regular visits to Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. He has more than 40 shows booked for 2024 (his next solo show takes place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at Fox Meadow Country Club in Medina), and he’s particularly excited to debut the band.

“We’re taking my songs, the new and the old ones, and re-interpreting them as a jam band,” he says. “These guys know music theory, and they can solo. We go around and do solos and extended versions. I always wanted to be in a jam band and loved Gov’t Mule and Derek Trucks, but I never had the players for it. Everyone in the band now is solid. I just need to get busy and network with people a little more. I’ve been solo for three years now, and I haven’t been in that circle of people as much as I would like to.”

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This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 13, 2024.