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The
arty, edgy Britton was last to join. Nurturing his own solo project,
he first met Hedges at a Simon Joyner show before playing a number
of acoustic nights with him at a West Omaha Godfather's pizza place
lovingly referred to as "The Joint."
"We were booked
at The 49'r for some solo stuff," Britton said. "I asked
Landon if he'd play guitar on my stuff, and he asked if I would
play in Little Brazil."
The original line-up
also included a violin, but it didn't work out as the band shifted
from a twangier style to straight-on rock.
"We turned up the
distortion pedals," Hedges explained.
"We started playing
two-minute rock songs," Maxwell added, saying that dropping
the violin "was a volume thing."
The volume was certainly
turned up at a recent Ranch Bowl gig, where the band exploded through
a short set of their harder material, culminating with little Landon
throwing down not one, but two electric guitars on stage in rockstar
gusto.
"That set was not
representative of what we do," Britton said. "We were
opening for Poison Control Center, and they're freaks. I didn't
even bring my keyboards."
"We wanted to get
on and off," Hedges said, adding that his guitar tossing was
entirely spontaneous. "The songs just speed up at the end of
the set and it's as if my arms are going out of their sockets. I
just want to get the guitar away from me."
Though rocking is their
obvious first love, almost everyone balances school or a career
with their music aspirations.
Britton, who works at
Delice, will earn a degree in general studies with an emphasis in
creative writing from UNO this summer. Maxwell, who landed a job
at USA Baby thanks to his friendship with Cursive's Tim Kasher (Kasher's
mother manages the place), is studying computer science at UNO,
while Browman is an accomplished glass blower, having learned the
trade attending Hastings College. He has his own studio and business,
which, he points out, doesn't include making bongs.
Hedges, who says he first
began writing music by making up his own lyrics to Shovelhead songs,
works at Cinnabons in the mall with his mother, and is the only
one without definite career plans. But he doesn't seem too concerned;
he knows all of his comrades want to make a living playing music
and think Little Brazil is their best shot.
"We're taking baby
steps," Hedges said. "We'll do a recording, get it mixed,
send it out, keep playing, get tighter, write more songs, get a
label, record, tour, come home, write, record, tour..."
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"The
songs just speed up at the end of the set and it's as if my
arms are going out of their sockets. I just want to get the
guitar away from me."
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