From playing the bars around his hometown of Bakersfield, California, to international notoriety from his musical presence on such shows as What We Do In the Shadows, The Vampire Diaries and Californication, Bryan Paul Bell has stayed true to his belief that nothing is as satisfying as distorted guitars paired with stories of human foibles and failures.
coming soon! the new album
We're in the final stages of producing the first, full-length album from Bryan. Keep an eye open for the first singles to start dropping and then... the whole damned thing! If you join the mailing list, you'll get updates when songs are released.
Check out the EP While You Wait For New Music
New stuff will be out soon enough. Until then, check out the Bryan Paul Bell EP. I've included two of my favorite tracks from it below.
The first track, Devil's Gotta Dance, has been included in some TV shows including Showtime's series Californication and The Vampire Diaries.
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Bryan Paul Bell
Bryan learned to play on a stolen guitar. He was seven and his family lived in an old Ford delivery van. They traveled around the country, his dad selling homemade Christian-themed bumper stickers. Bryan wanted a guitar more than anything but the bumper sticker busness was barely keeping the family fed and there was no money for an instrument.
As fate would have it, they happened accross a badly damaged acoustic guitar someone had left next to a thrift store donation bin. His dad grabbed it, threw it into the truck and Bryan had his guitar.
It was on that guitar that Bryan discovered the joy of playing a blues progression.
In his early twenties, Bryan formed a band with a friend. Large Wooden Matches' first performance was at a Narcotics Anonymous event opening for a more established band in Bakersfield. The performance was so bad that the event planner unplugged their PA in the middle of their third song and sent them packing.
They stuck with it and before long their original rock became a draw in the bars and clubs in Bakersfield. The band’s only album, "13 Simple Songs," gained traction on college and independent radio stations and soon they were performing throughout California.
After surviving a head-on collision, Bryan decided he was ready to get out of Bakersfield and he moved to Hollywood. The band made a few trips down to shows in L.A. but it soon proved to be too much for them and the group broke up.
Now a solo act, Bryan recorded an EP at the legendary Village Recorder studios in West L.A. The standout track on that effort was "Devil's Gotta Dance" which caught the attention of a music supervisor who placed it in Showtime's series "Californication." The song was well received and has gone on to be featured in other shows such as "What We Do In The Shadows" and "The Vampire Diaries."
During the pandemic, Bryan began recording his first full-length album. It is set to be released in early 2023.