Gaven Brooks is an emerging, Louisiana-based singer/songwriter who recently released his new single, “Man That You See.” Gaven has released many songs combining country and pop styles, most notably, “Repeat,” which can be found on his EP, “All of Me.” He writes in a variety of styles, from creating upbeat pop tracks with artist Trippy Trev to writing acoustic, piano ballads that tug at the heart strings. Currently studying music at Louisiana State University, Gaven is focusing on expanding GT Brooks Productions, LLC and creating and producing a variety of music with his team.

Inspired by his Southern roots, “Man That You See” is about Gaven’s “honky tonk” dream to play his “six string” and see his name in “neon lights.” His classic, country twang sets the mood, along with his free-verse rhymes. Rather than setting a consistent pattern in his verses, Gaven nestles rhyming lyrics between free-verse ones, creating the raw, authentic style that is an essential part of country music. This interesting, yet subtle rhyme scheme, along with the acoustic guitar opening, creates a genuine and free style that seems to recur in all of Gaven’s music.

While Gaven uses stylistic elements to set this song’s mood, he also plays with a variety of subtly different textures. For example, around 1:34, the prominent, acoustic guitar part concludes its progression with a plagal cadence (moving from IV – I). To listeners, this concluding chord progression is commonly associated with the end of a piece. Gaven cleverly exploits this by allowing the sound to completely fade away right before beginning a new verse. It’s subtle moments like these that keep listeners guessing, “What’s next?” and make Gaven’s song fun to listen to.  When the verse begins, Gaven adds a higher electric guitar line that accents the syncopation in the acoustic guitar’s strumming pattern. This slight variation in timbre is just another example of the subtle ways Gaven keeps his audience “on their toes.”

Gaven uses many different songwriting techniques to create intrigue in this track, but the most obvious thing that makes Gaven stand out is his voice. His clear, vibrant tone is perfect for the story-telling nature of this song; it’s like he’s having a conversation with his audience. However, as soon as he arrives at the chorus, Gaven’s flawless, octave leaps create the most climactic moments in the song. They are most prominent at 3:21 when, after a break down, Gaven’s vocal leaps are accompanied by a big hit, creating the climax of the entire song.

“Man That You See” contains a great story, attention-grabbing vocals, and subtle surprises that will have you hooked. If you like it, you can find more of Gaven’s music at https://gavenbrooksmusic.net/ or on his Youtube channel. You’ll definitely want to take a listen and support the “man that you see!”

This is Gaven’s first fully produced Ep. Everything one can hear from the lyrics to the music were written and produced by Gaven himself! Gaven says that he is very excited to release his first Ep and also adds that this was a great learning experience for him as he has learned a lot from this project.

Link to All of Me: https://music.apple.com/us/album/all-of-me-ep/1476170939