BBBR Bassist Matty Gerken talking about the music project "Of Great and Mortal Men" wherein Matty and Christian Kiefer and Jefferson Pitcher wrote songs about all the presidents, on Sacramento's NPR affiliate "Capitol Public Radio" KXJZ program "Insight" on Sept 15, 2008 -- BBBR singer Dean sings on "The Sherman Act Doesn't Care" track 26 :)  the album has guests from Wilco's Nels Kline, Bill Callahan, and others -https://jeffersonpitcher.bandcamp.com/album/of-great-and-mortal-men  --  https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12386-of-great-and-mortal-men-43-songs-for-43-us-presidencies/

Of Great and Mortal Men 43 Presidencies Songs BBBR Bassist J. Matthew Gerken Insight KXJZ 9-15-08

“The worlds he creates with his lyrics are so crystal clear and beautiful, it's as if someone put Kurt Vonnegut stories to music.”  -- Christopher Bell, NY Musician at https://www.facebook.com/thechrisbellcello

"...Haakenson's a giant, heavily sweating, bearded man who belts out the songs with a kind of desperation that makes it difficult to turn away, and his music is both interesting and emotional, riding the edge between dynamic complexity and straightforward rock. When the band was at its best (which was often at the show) the sound was something akin to the Counting Crows covering Frank Zappa, or like Calexico performing the collected works of Les Claypool... This is good music, and you should hear it."   -- Christian Kiefer, Sacramento News and Review, and Novelist at http://www.xiankiefer.com/

"I thought you guys sounded great as usual. and you're the most creative lyricist in town, perhaps in California, perhaps in the English speaking world. you have humor and trouble all intertwined. very good stuff."  -- Gabe Nelson (Bassist of Cake, and his band Bellygunner)

"Acoustic-folk popsters Be Brave Bold Robot make amusing music.  Whether it's Dean Haakenson spitting out humorous tongue-twisting lyrics or the imagery those lyrics provide (the description of the traditional minivan family in "Gridlocked" is subtly hysterical) - there is much to enjoy.  The group's wordplay is also quite clever: The potentially provocative rhyming opportunities on "Take a deep breath" veer in unexpected directions.  combining folk pop with viola and banjo, these guys create engaging tunes."  -- Brian Palmer, Sacramento News and Review

"BE BRAVE BOLD ROBOT are the sort of band who make me reconsider throwing in the towel every time I listen to their inventive pop masterpiece ‘Take A Deep Breath’. There are few occasions when you hear a band for the first time and know implicitly that you are going to love everything that they do. This is one of those bands."  -- daydreamgeneration.com

"The band fuses folk rock with spoken-wordlike storytelling, epic arrangements and indie-choral tendencies, one-upping the casual singer-songwriter fare."  -- Nick Miller, Sacramento News and Review

"The thing Be Brave Bold Robot has that few other bands have is a killer sense of chemistry.  Dean Haakenson sings in a wavering, unsure voice—full nerves and intellect—as Brian Jackson (keys) watches him, trying to figure out what the hell he’s going to do next. Is Haakenson going to sing the next verse like a regular musician, or will he stop playing altogether and start in on a neurotic diatribe like a man with a microphone and too much on his mind? Either way is fine with the audience. As Haakenson rambles happily through fully-endearing, mostly expository songs, Heather Phillips sings in the background while seemingly trying to choke back laughter. With each BBBR show, one gets the feeling it must be hard to concentrate with Haakenson in your band. But that’s not to say BBBR isn’t serious; in fact, it’s their lack of seriousness that makes them so damned earnest. Their jovial personal interplay carries over into the communication of their instruments, which is at once playful and complex; watching BBBR is akin to watching a group of drunk hummingbirds. And Haakenson, under a thin sheet of madness, displays an interesting voice and a profound set of lyrics—whether sung, muttered or screamed out loud—that resonates. Think Dave Matthews with a few espressos and a glorious sense of humor. As a whole, there’s a certain laziness to BBBR songs, yet they don't slouch; they’re simply reserved and they know how to make light of any situation. And all that earnest joy balances quite nicely, especially in a room full of very serious people."  -- Josh Fernandez, Sacramento News and Review

"Nearly impossible to pigeonhole, this cleverly poignant CD of uber-original songs might be best described as 21st century existential folk rock. The apparent result of what happens when you put a fiercely intelligent, playful, creative, optimistic, vulnerable and honest human life form in a dreary windowless cubicle for 40 hours a week, add a 5-piece folk rock band, and mix with equal parts of angst, love, despair, hope, irony, humor and confusion, this lyrically lush smorgasbord of crazy-smart tone-poetic thought experiments continues to intrigue after many listenings. If you like quirky, unpredictable songs with modern themes that yield surprises with each play, get this."  --Review of "Be Brave Bold Robot" self titled LP, by Michael Doughton for RetailRadio.biz

"Paul Simon, Iggy Pop and the Bloodhound Gang on an all-night acoustic bender."

"Tales of psychedelic camaraderie, long-lost connections and the anguish of everyday conversation."

"Your Music makes we want to kiss my wife."  -- Professor Jason Roberts

New tracks tagged #be brave bold robot