Leonard ‘Lowdown’ Brown

Street Party

Music Maker Foundation

Leonard ‘Lowdown’ Brown was raised in Gary, Indiana, in a house full of  music. He spent his childhood singing in traveling gospel choirs and  learning to play the guitar. By his early twenties, he was playing regularly with gospel and quartet groups in nearby Chicago. A desire to explore other styles of music led him to the blues, and he never looked back.  When his day job with General Electric sent him to Houston in 1980, Brown found a community in the city’s many music clubs, earning his nickname ‘Lowdown’ at the Benson and Hedges Houston Blues Festival and quickly becoming a mainstay of the city’s blues scene. Brown  connected with the Music Maker Foundation several years ago, and  released his 2023 debut album “Blues Is Calling Me”, to critical acclaim. “Street Party” Brown’s second album for Music Maker was recorded in August 2024 at their recording studio in Fountain, North Carolina. The  album is produced by “The Squirrel Nut Zippers” Jimbo Mathis with his band the “Creatures of the Southern Wild”. Mathis plays piano and guitar, and is joined by guitarist Scott ‘Paco’ Goolsby; bassist John Kveen; and drummer Kirk Russell. All of the songs are written by Brown.

The opening track is “Theme” an instrumental except for two words as Brown chants ‘Lowdown, Lowdown’, with some great percussion from Russell. On the title track “Street Party” Brown chimes “is everybody ready ?…people are dancin’ in the street…havin’ a street party tonight… everybody in the neighborhood, havin’ a party tonight and the music  seems so right, bring your own chair or you can sit on the ground”.

“I’m Gonna Take Care of You” contains the lyric “Don’t worry baby, I’m gonna take care of you, as long as you live, no matter what you say or do, I’m gonna take care of you, you gotta problem baby, don’t think for one minute baby, I would ever leave your side, I got my eyes on you,  I’m gonna take care of you”. On “I Need Help” Brown sings “when I first came into this world, I found out real fast, I couldn’t make it by myself,  I need help”.

“Don’t Wanna Get Up” features Brown as he moans “early this morning,  I got the don’t wanna get up blues”. On “Mojo Bag” Brown groans “My  baby went down to Mississippi to get me a Mojo bag, I didn’t know what was in it, it was the first one I ever had, I looked into the bag to see what was there…she said you don’t have to fear, it’s just a souvenir”.

“Gotta Leave This Town” Brown belts out “I gotta leave this town, I gotta go and find some places, perhaps out in the country, going to another place and time…I gotta leave this old town…get your troubles off my mind, go to another place and time”, with some great bass and piano. On  “News With Blues” Brown cries “every morning when I wake up, I listen  to the morning news, all I hear is bad luck and trouble, it’s another day  for the blues”.

“Houston Bound” features Brown as he bursts “I had to leave Chicago in 1981, my boss says times are tight, I have to fire everyone…I said I need the paper to try and find my way around, I found some of the  best blues clubs in town”. On the closer, “Big Blues Show”, Brown  croons “the word on the street that’s goin ’round, big blues show  comin’ to town, better get there, you don’t want to mess around… big blues show, well it’s comin to your town”.

Tim Duffy, co-founder and Executive Director at the Music Maker Foundation states ” all the while as we were working away at  building the new Studios in Fountain, I was listening to this new wonderful demo of songs that Leonard ‘Lowdown’ Brown had sent to me…when the studio opened I knew that Brown was one  of the initial sessions we should sponsor”. I’m sure you’ll agree as this is a highly recommended recording.

Richard Ludmerer
Contributing Editor/Making A Scene

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