Spokane’s Blake Braley to release debut album

It isn’t uncommon to see Blake Braley playing the keys at local venues or on the road with Chewelah native Allen Stone – just as he was while opening for Chris Stapleton in Nashville last weekend. But in the background, Braley has slowly but surely been chugging away at his own debut record.

In preparation for “Live at J Bones,” his early 2024 live album recorded at the East Mallon Avenue music studio, Braley wrote and polished a number of unreleased songs that were not on his two EPs, “Better” from 2019 and a self-titled project released in 2020. In March last year, he began to record those songs and fully flesh out a number of others as well.

Over the course of a few months, they were pieced together in Braley’s own home or at the home studio of his good friend Drew Brereton – one of Braley’s guitar players and member of many local bands like Timeworm, the Bedheads and Mister Sister. The result was a 10-track debut record, “Feels Alright.”

“It feels really cool, I definitely feel like I’ve been working up to this point for a bit,” Braley said. “Being able to do this full-length record as well as mix it on my own and record it in-house with the guys at one of our home studios, it was really cool and very fulfilling.”

The project was, quite literally, put together piece by piece. Alongside Braley and his multi-instrumental abilities, an array of musicians performed on the album. Often times, songs are recorded by a full band in real time, but with “Feels Alright,” many parts were recorded separately and pieced together afterwards.

“It takes longer, for sure,” Braley said. “Doing it yourself and not having enough inputs on the interface to record everything at the same time was kind of the main reason why we did that, and it worked great for us doing it that way but there’s so many different ways to go about recording music.”

Sonically, Braley would describe the project as a soul record first and foremost. Although tracks like “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” distinctly prove this point with its moody guitar licks and stacked harmonies, others like “Midnight” show off some classic, backbeat groove funk while those like “Love Song” provide a silky-smooth R&B flare.

“The genre thing is always kind of tough for me,” Braley said. “It kind of bounces all over the place a little bit.”

There are a handful of overarching themes throughout the record ranging from love and the complications of romantic relationships to grief and mental health. The song “Imposter Syndrome” directly deals with Braley’s struggles with anxiety and self-confidence.

“I tried to get a little more deep than the unrequited love stuff I’m pretty used to doing,” Braley said.

Although each track has a place in Braley’s heart, his favorite might just be the first song on the record, “Everything.” Written about his partner, the song tackles Braley’s life as a musician on the road, often being away from the one he loves most. He also played all the guitar on the song, something he hasn’t done since his first EP.

“Being a musician, you’re gone for an extended period of time and doing what you love,” Braley said. “But not having the person you love … right there with you, in-person, as you’re doing the thing you love.”

To celebrate the record’s release on June 5, Braley will hold a full-band performance Thursday at the Chameleon. Although he’s excited to finally show these songs off, Braley is also excited to watch Timeworm open the concert.

“They’re my favorite band in Spokane,” Braley said. “They’re so good. It’s going to be a party.

“We all worked our ass off on this thing and I’m just like excited to show people and celebrate with our folks.”