Brian McKnight is set to take the stage at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, June 18th at 8:00 p.m. A multi-instrumentalist who is known for his distinct voice and strong falsetto, he has been nominated for 16 Grammy Awards and gained international recognition over the course of his 30+ year career.
Brian came into the music industry as a writer, receiving his first publishing deal at age 17. He said that as he was sending demos out for songs that he thought would be performed by other artists, all the record companies wanted to know who the artist singing was, sparking the beginning of his journey.
He discussed his early influences, noting that his family has been one of his biggest inspirations as they are all singers and artists themselves. But professionally, he said he believes he would fall somewhere equidistant from Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan. Brian says, “I am a sponge for every piece of music I’ve ever heard.”
Brian has charted in almost every genre with the exception of rock. He has a wide variety of hits ranging from pop to R&B to country and more. He says that with the streaming world of music now there are more categories than there have ever been, but that he would consider himself a singer/songwriter if he were to classify his style.
Brian articulates that, “I’m unique because I’m influenced by so many different things. I don’t want any record to sound the same. Because I’m a multi-instrumentalist I can delve into guitar vocals and piano vocals and different genres of music, but I think the common denominator is my voice.” He is well-recognized for his falsetto and high belting range, noting, “If I do say so myself, I think my voice is unique as any voice has ever been. When you hear me sing you know that it’s me.”
Brian’s favorite creations have been anything he has done since meeting his wife. He expressed that he never had that sort of inspiration before and that everything he had written had been based on songs he had heard or movies he’d seen, and said that “although they were huge hits, I was basically writing other peoples’ stories.” He went on to say, “Since meeting my wife, these songs are meaningful because they’re coming from a place of true meaning and understanding. I finally have the thing that I’ve written about my whole life. I’ve written about love since the beginning of my career not knowing that it actually existed, and I’m writing from a completely different place now.”
Brian’s latest single “Faithfully” is the continuing love story between him and his wife. He says, “All I have to do is look at her and a song will appear. It may sound cliché but cliches are what they are for a reason, and I fall deeper in love with her every day.”
Brian is grateful that he has been able to create music that people around the world continue to listen to and connect with, saying, “More than the immediate success and monetary fame and rewards, you want to be remembered. That’s what continues to baffle my mind about my music is that people are still coming out to hear my songs, most of which are over 20 years old.”
This will be his very first performance at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. He spoke about this being a special event because he’s never played here before. He’d always heard about the venue and said that it’s rare for him to play somewhere he’s never played out of all the shows he’s done around the world, and he is glad to have this opportunity.
Brian noted that attendees can always expect their best effort. “We want to be as awesome as people expect and then some,” he said. “We’ll take them through a myriad of emotions from happy to songs that can be quite sad and nostalgic. So, it’s going to be a Brian McKnight night of nostalgia for sure.”
Brian concluded by saying that as far as what’s next for him in the music world he’s just taking it a day at a time. They have many more shows planned for the rest of this year, and he mentioned how grateful he is for all the support throughout his career. He said, “No artist can be an artist without the folks who support them, so I’m thankful for all the folks who keep coming out to see me and support me.”
The Saturday night show at WHBPAC is sure to be a moving performance by a true standout artist!
To purchase tickets head to https://whbpac.org. Brian’s latest single “Faithfully” can be found on YouTube.
