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Z2 Entertainment Presents:Brigitte Calls Me Baby
with Third Ward
at The Coast
The Coast
254 Linden St
Fort Collins, CO 80524
Tuesday October 1, 2024
Doors 7pm, Show 8pm
The music of Brigitte Calls Me Baby is equal parts elegant time warp and up-close exploration of our modern-day neuroses.
The Chicago-based band ingeniously spans genres and eras, merging the lavish romanticism of mid-century pop with the
frenetic energy and spiky intensity of early millennium indie-rock. Centered on Leavins' hypnotically crooning vocal work, the
result is a rare convergence of sophistication and style and unabashed sincerity.
As shown on their debut EP This House Is Made Of Corners -- a five-song project made with nine-time Grammy
Award-winning producer Dave Cobb -- Brigitte Calls Me Baby possess a singular musicality informed by Leavins' eclectic
upbringing. Originally from the Southeast Texas town of Port Arthur, he grew up listening to Roy Orbison records at his
grandparents' house next door, while his parents played him new-wave bands like The Cars and his friends turned him onto
Radiohead and The Strokes. At age 13, Leavins took up guitar and began writing songs of his own, quickly discovering his
distinct vocal style. "At first I didn't like the way I sang and couldn't really do anything about it, but as I got older I started to
appreciate it more," he reveals. "My whole inclination toward music came from being in this small town in Texas with
nowhere to go and nothing to do, and wanting to be understood without having to say anything."
Upon moving to Chicago in 2016, Leavins immersed himself in the local music scene and soon linked up with guitarists Jack
Fluegel and Trevor Lynch, bassist Devin Wessels, and drummer Jeremy Benshish, who joined him in co-founding Brigitte
Calls Me Baby. As the band built up their catalog, Leavins was tapped to take part in recreating a series of Elvis Presley
songs for Baz Luhrmann's 2022 biopic Elvis, a turn of events that found him crossing paths with Cobb. "Dave and I hit it off
right away and started talking about the music we loved, and when we reconnected later he asked me to send him some of
the songs I'd been working on," Leavins recalls. Soon after sharing a batch of demos with Cobb (whose credits include
modern classics like Jason Isbell's Southeastern and Sturgill Simpson's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music), Brigitte
Calls Me Baby headed to Nashville to record their debut body of work at the legendary RCA Studio A.
Co-produced by Cobb and Brigitte Calls Me Baby and mostly recorded live, This House Is Made Of Corners opens on a lush
and cinematic track called "The Future is Our Way Out," a prime introduction to the EP's heightened yet palpably genuine
emotionality. "I want to be earnest even when it's uncomfortable, and write unapologetically about things like my intense fear
of death," says Leavins. "'The Future is Our Way Out' is about that fear, but it's also about hoping there might be something
beyond death, a way out of all the mess and the sadness that plagues us in life." On "Impressively Average," pounding
rhythms and shimmering guitar tones form the backdrop to what Leavins refers to as a "a bit of a self-loathing song, about
trying to cope with someone's very high expectations of you." And on "Eddie My Love," Brigitte Calls Me Baby present a
gorgeously aching portrait of obsession and despair. "'Eddie My Love' paved the way for all the songs that would come after
it," says Leavins, who first penned the track as a ballad. "It felt so vulnerable from the jump, and made me realize that
there's no point in being anything but vulnerable in what we do."
Newly signed to ATO Records after a much-buzzed-about set at SXSW 2023, with their full-length debut due out in 2024,
Brigitte Calls Me Baby remain intent on striking a balance between refined musicianship and absolute devotion to emotional
truth. "In so much music there's a desire to be perceived as someone who's got it all figured out, but I never want to paint a
picture that isn't true," says Leavins. "I know that when I was younger I was looking for something to latch onto that I could
connect with and feel a part of, so I'd hope that our music could provide that for others. I want to create something that helps
people feel more alive, and that will last long after we're gone!
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Coast, 254 Linden St, Fort Collins, CO 80524-2424, United States,Fort Collins, Colorado
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