BRIM — sign to Royal Oakie bearing glinting California Gold

Scintillating music from the San Joaquin Valley

From the heart of California comes gold. We can reveal that Brim has signed to Royal Oakie and their debut album California Gold is out now on digital. UK/Europe physical release due October 28th 2022.

Singer and songwriter Daniel Rice and bandmate Hayden Doyel originally formed Brim as a rootsy side project to their psychedelic hard-rock band Slow Season, now known as Westing. Shortly afterwards, Daniel’s wife ReNelle Rice joined the fold, playing keys and enabling the three part harmonies.

Written and recorded in their hometown of Visalia, CA, the album is a paean to the dirt-road back streets and down-to-earth humanity of rural California's small towns and valleys...

California Gold:

Local friend and sound engineer Marc Dwelle recorded most of the album over the course of three summer days, and Royal Oakie's David Glasebrook mixed at his studio in Oakland, CA. The first few songs written for the album were inspired by Daniel’s experience with the growing pains of sobriety and the fading dreams of a rock ’n’ roll band. The next batch sprang from a meditation on greater and more lasting things. The kind of things you can pin your hopes and your dreams on.

The album recalls the lonesome pedal steel of Bakersfield country, Gram Parson’s stories of sin and salvation, and Neil Young's loose and dusty years. Inspired by the unassuming fellow feeling of the farm towns in the San Joaquin Valley, Daniel Rice looked to his core and wrote about the overlooked nooks and crannies of California flyover territories, as a sort of metaphor for finding beauty in the simple things of life. Not the postcard views of Malibu sunsets and sandy beaches, but the California of walnut orchards, rolling hills, and tule fog.

He calls it California Gold.

Album credits

Daniel Rice - Vocals, guitars, keys percussion
ReNelle Rice - Keys, backing vocals
Hayden Doyel - Bass guitar, guitar
Justin Snell - Drums, percussion, backing vocals
Mark Ala - Pedal steel
Caleb Melo - Pedal Steel
Engineered by Marc Dwelle
Mixed by David Glasebrook
Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering
Front cover by Merciful Stranger
Layout by Mark Aceves
Dedicated to Huell Howser and the people of rural California

Brim's current lineup

Daniel Rice - Vocals, guitars, keys
ReNelle Rice - Keys and vocals
Hayden Doyel - Bass and guitar
Brian Bakalian - Drums
Micah Rice - Vocals and percussion

Single releases

California Gold - single release - April 15th 2022 - Digital
Oleander - single release - May 6th 2022 - Digital

Album release

US/Canada: Brim - California Gold - May 20th 2022 - CD, Cassette, Digital
UK/Europe: Brim - California Gold - May 20th 2022 - Digital only
UK/Europe: Brim - California Gold - CD release October 28th 2022
Track notes and video is here
Bandcamp: https://brimband.bandcamp.com
Label: Royal Oakie