Friend a Day – Geoffrey Brown

Photo by Peter Verrant

I met Geoffrey at the Siouxland Renaissance Festival about five or six years ago.  At the time, he was playing with The Lost Boys and after watching one of our sets in which we sang “Zombies in the Shire” and “If I had a Million Chickens,” he asked why we didn’t have a song about zombie chickens.

A fair question that led to the song “Brawk Brawk Brains.”

My point, I guess, is Geoffrey has been an inspiration from the get go.

Since Geoffrey joined the Dregs, I’ve had the privilege to get to know him a great deal more and I’m better because of it.

Geoffrey has become a valued collaborator when it comes to writing music.  He does a good job polishing lyrics and can come up with very catch guitar riffs in just a few minutes.  When the two of us get together to write, we can bang out a song every hour or so.  Not every one is brilliant but there are more hits than misses.

I’ve used Geoffrey for all of my Big Fun Radio Funtime shows and often hand him extra bits to do at the last minute specifically because I know he can handle anything I throw at him with very little preparation.

I like to hang out with him outside of “band time” because he’s got a hearty laugh and a sharp wit.

Every time we perform together, he thanks me (and everyone else he performed with).  That genuine gratitude for being able to share a stage with other people is endearing and a good reminder to tell other people you are grateful for the time they spend with you.

He works very hard to be involved in his daughter’s life, even though she is a long way away most of the time.  I think that it is admirable how important that bond is to him and how hard he works to maintain it.

Geoffrey has taught me to be grateful for those around me and for that I’m grateful to him.