Wheelhouse
Brian Whelan is striking out on his own with Wheelhouse after having previously been the bass player in Merge Records band The Broken West and also performing as an accomplished sideman with numerous L.A. musicians. His versatile, skillful guitar and bass prowess could previously be witnessed alongside contemporary country rock heroes like Mike Stinson, Randy Weeks and the incredible Tony Gilkyson. Brian also played a number of gigs with L.A. singer-songwriter Kip Boardman, in a band that also featured Wheelhouse bassist Rob Douglas (who has also played quite a bit with Stinson, Weeks, Gilkyson and other artists, including Charlie Louvin) and drummer Derrick Brown. Both Douglas and Brown were in the Vapor Records band Everest for a while. Whelan has moved over to guitar and within the past few months, and in less than a dozen gigs with his new band, he’s shown that he’s a new force on the scene, a true West Coast renaissance man and a vibrant songwriter with a lot of musical interests and influences, including straight-up rock ‘n’ roll, pub rock and outlaw country.
