Summary: A common thread among most successful Musical artists is that the inspiration to become great arrived at a young age, and the early history of rhythm and blues guitarist Demitris Edwards Brown was no different. Growing up in Detroit, MI, Brown, the youngest of three children, was exposed to the smooth sounds of jazz as he listened to the legendary recordings of his father’s favorite artists; Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus, Les McCann, Cannonball Adderly, King Pleasure and Charles Christian. When jazz albums weren’t spinning under the family’s turn-table needle, the popular tunes from Motown would resonate from the speakers as Brown’s mother would lay down music from The Four Tops, The Miracles, The Jackson 5 and James Brown. Thus, Brown’s overall musical aptitude would broaden to unlimited heights. A defining moment in Brown’s musical career occurred as early as when a elementary school classmate demonstrated an ability to play back a song heard on the radio with his guitar. Brown, fascinated and inspired, would eventually receive his first guitar as a Christmas present from his Grandmother, and immediately took lessons, hoping to become the next B.B. King. By the time Brown was in high school, he was a polished artist, and formed the group Foreplay. After earning a solid reputation while playing at venues in Detroit, Foreplay drew the attention of producer Quincy Jones, who offered the group a record deal, but Brown declined because of a professional difference of opinion of how the group’s image would be projected by the public. And now the rest is History. Contact Information: deebrownmusic@yahoo.com
