Into a Boston singer/songwriter scene, seemingly saturated with independent artists bearing guitar strap calluses, Brian wandered north from his hometown of Atlanta, GA, where he had shared stages with future well-knowns such as Shawn Mullins, Josh Joplin, India Arie and Angie Aparo. He quickly rose to the top, albeit in his own gracious, accommodating, anything-but-arrogant manner. After only a handful of months in beantown (unbeknownst to Brian) you could hear the buzz for an hour before his twinkle-eyed grin would appear on the horizon. But rather than scramble for the spotlight, Brian made it his mission to bolster the cornucopia of talent in which he found himself engulfed. He initiated "indie-guys night" - with a hat tipped to its indie-grrl predecessors - in conjunction with Club Passim and other well-known Boston-area clubs. He joined numerous song-circles and performed in the round with local songwriters for an array of worthy causes. Music, for Brian, is culture, community, passion - not competition...that is reserved for the basketball court. That said, we hope he'll forgive us for moving on now to what sets Brian apart. (For there must be a reason why the biggest student-run college radio station in Boston, WERS, plays his new album almost obsessively - they even made a despondent, on-air announcement one morning when they could not find his CD!) Before every show, Brian readies himself to expect only 3 people to turn out. He takes the stage with the certainty that he is there because he loves to play. Therefore, it's a perpetual pleasant surprise when lots of people turn out to witness it--he takes nothing for granted. But really, it's the audience (which consistently numbers well over three) that receives the pleasant surprise when Brian takes the stage. Imagine if Jackson Browne (looks and talent all-inclusive) had been born in the mid-seventies, raised with his father's radio tuned to The Police, Billy Joel, and Genesis, and then went through fervid Sarah McLachlan and Ani DiFranco phases, thanks to his mostly-female, mostly-ahead-of-the-curve, circle of friends...add a dose of Southern charm (with just a trace of an accent) and you have a framework for Brian Webb. Catchy pop hooks? Mournful love (lost) songs? Soulful gospel rock? Stirring vocals? Sense of humor? He's got 'em, and an easy stage presence to boot. Now all that is left is for you to listen to his record, "Broken Folk," and see what the heck everyone is talking about. [Note to skimpers: some of the most precious gems are buried deep in the track list.] We hope to see you at a show soon.