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• A Quickie With... Brandon T. Washington

From the theater doing plays to the bars rocking the stage, local artist Brandon T. Washington delivers quite an act ­— and still gets home in time to help with a hearty home-cooked supper. This fifth grade music teacher, experienced musician, longtime actor and food connoisseur has a schedule as packed as his shows (sardine tight, for those of you who haven’t had the chance to see him yet), but buzz was able to catch up with him to get a little personal:

buzz: So you’re a K-5 music teacher; do you play any of your songs for/with your students?

Washington: Well ... if they’re really good, I might ... No, actually, I play a couple of cuts off of Temple of Low Men’s Degree of Slither for my fifth graders every year, and one of my end-of-the-year rewards to all my classes is that Mr. Washington will play a song during class, which usually turns into a half-hour show in my classroom. I haven’t written anything for them ... yet.

buzz: What instruments do you play?

Washington: I am primarily a singer; I studied voice in college, but I also play guitar, I can fake my way around a bass and I am a confident drummer, but I haven’t played in a long time. Also, since I am a music teacher, I play piano (badly) every day. I played saxophone in high school but sold it for rent after college.

buzz: Who is your favorite musician, and why?

Washington: I listen to just about everything I can get my hands on, but the ones that have had the most impact on me have been Living Colour (I was a black teenager living in Kankakee who liked rock music and got made fun of for it). They were my salvation. Chris Whitley, Soundgarden, King’s X, A Tribe Called Quest, Peter Gabriel and De La Soul. More recently, The Raconteurs, Atmosphere, Mos Def and Queens of the Stone Age ... the commonality of all these artists to me is that I believe them. Their talent, the subject matter ... with all of the folks that I mentioned, they all sound to me to be speaking the truth as they see it. It’s refreshing to me.

buzz: Do you do a lot of collaborations?

Washington: Larry Gates, late of local legends Lorenzo Goetz has gotten me involved in a couple of projects, most notably his first release as Curb Service, Little Red Recovery Room. I was lucky enough to sing two hooks on Krukid’s African album last year. It was the first time that I had ever done anything like that for release, and it was a kick. As far as playing live, I’ve done a bunch of different stuff from singing the blues with the Impalas to subbing for Tom Grassman in The Brat Pack when his throat was acting up.

buzz: Your chili recipe off smilepolitely.com looks absolutely delicious. What’s your favorite food?

Washington: It changes pretty regularly ... my wife and I have been pulling recipes off of cooking shows and trying them out for a few years. (Alton Brown is the MAN!) Lately we’ve been doing a lot of homemade hot wings and cole slaw, but you can never go wrong with a homemade pizza!

buzz: What is your favorite venue to either play music or act in?

Washington: There is nothing like playing the Highdive or the Canopy with a full room. But if you’ve ever been onstage at the Great Hall in Krannert Center, the acoustics in that room can make your head spin. Beautiful ... Temple of Low Men were the first headliners to play at Cowboy Monkey when it opened, so that’ll always have a special place in my heart ... When I was in Soulstice and Funky Butt Drum Club, we played at the House of Blues in Chicago, and the backstage area there is unbelievable!