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A reflection on being brown in the wake of the (far too) many national incidents of police brutality in recent years.  

I am brown
I keep my hands up
I am brown
I keep my hands up

I am brown
Coming for more
I am brown
Lock your door

And just the color of your eyes
Through which you’ll see me come in
DOA
I am your first breath of fear
DOA

I am brown
I keep my hands up
I am brown
I keep my hands up

I am a gut
Reaction
I am flaw:
A human perfection

And just the color of your hair
Which you pull
DOA
I am the last gasp of society – cry
DOA

Now we know how a badge beats on the street soldier
Now we have another empty mother

We are brown
We keep our hands up
We are brown
We keep our hands up

We are all what we allow
We are the end of the countdown


I Am Brown

Erstwhile Public Defender in Brooklyn, N.Y. songwriter Andy Palmer performs solo and leads the band, Grub Street Writer. Three years of living and working in the trenches of Brooklyn's underbelly, clearly provide fodder for his lyrics and raw sound, which might be qualified as folk rock with an alternative edge.  His vocal quality has been compared to Cat Stevens, Ian Anderson, Tom Waits and others, but has always been very much his own making, emerging from long periods of solitude and silence. 

Palmer's debut and sophomore CDs received rave reviews, including being honored by being listed by Westword Magazine as "best of local releases 2011'.  The band was also nominated for Denver's best roots rock band.  Recently, he and his band accepted an invitation to close the TEDx event in Boulder on Sept. 21.  Palmer's music has been featured in multiple independent films.  

Palmer was adopted at a young age and raised in the rural northeast on a small family farm. He has spent six winter months in near solitude in a yurt in Maine. He's lived on and volunteered at a Buddhist meditation retreat for many more months of silent meditation. He is a professionally trained massage therapist, river raft guide, and a licensed attorney.  Many of his songs capture and share these experiences through a blend of storytelling and poetry.  While Palmer’s professional path has been broad, at his core, he is an artist. Through his music, he attempts to highlight the conflicts that commonly occur within the human spirit.  Palmer’s performances engage the audience’s emotion and yet allow the listener the freedom of interpretation.


I Am Brown

Andy Palmer Music

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Andy Palmer Music

Andy Palmer Music

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