Brother Elsey Brings The Family

Country music continues to serve as a primary conduit into rock ‘n’ roll in this third decade of the 21st century.

And the latest act to traverse this crossover is Brother Elsey, a trio of siblings born in Detroit but currently based out of Nashville.

Certainly you can hear the influence of both cities in their sound — a muscular spin on electric folk that dances dangerously close to all-out arena rock. The band is made up of twins Brady Stablein (vocals, guitar) and Beau Stablein (harmonies, bass), both 21, and their 23-year-old brother, Jack Stablein (harmonies, guitar).

Produced by Drew Long (KALEO, Judah & The Lion), Brother Elsey’s eponymoue debut finds the band tackling the power and pain that coincides with coming of age, from addressing the urge to self-sabotage (“Wrong Things”) to seeking comfort in an unwritten future (“Silver Tongue”).

People might want to compare these guys to Kings of Leon and Mumford & Sons, but Brother Elsey is way better than both those acts combined.

Rock & Roll Globe recently caught up with Brady Stablein to talk about the genesis of Brother Elsey, the great-grandpa they named the band after and why albums are still important.

 

What do you think it is about country and Americana that’s drawing more young acts than rock ‘n’ roll?

I think there’s a type of grit that comes from the honesty of Americana that rock might’ve lost over the years. There’s a real grit in the writing, true to everyday people that I think entices younger people because that’s what they’re living.

 

Your dad’s love for music was a big part of your band’s sound, from what I gather. How did he get you guys into it? Was it natural or did it take some convincing?

“Dad rock” didn’t live in our house, it was Springsteen and America and Jason Isbell and we didn’t really have to convince ourselves to like it. It spoke to us early on I think and that made it easier to use it as fuel in our come-up as musicians.

 

I’d love to hear more about your great grandfather who you named the band after. What was he like?

Elzie was a farmer from the hills of south eastern Kentucky, and with that comes a hard way of living and a real sense of life in a way. We never met him, but he started a family we have close ties to, and was the father to our grandfather who sparked the music in us early on. There’s a myth to Elzie, something that comes from the veins of Appalachia, and with the stories and the legends I think that’s what we want to accomplish with music. Creating something larger than ourselves like his stories and his children’s stories.

 

How does your homeland of Michigan factor into the music you created on this album?

I think that Michigan, and the Midwest as a whole, holds a certain work ethic and community that has really shaped us from the start. It’s kind of unspoken in a way, people get it done and they help each other out. I think that’s leaked into what we’ve wanted to write about and a lot of these songs hopefully can be tolls to help and a testament to the work put in.

 

VIDEO: Brother Elsey “Seeking”

How does living in Nashville impact the evolution of your music?

Nashville has a connotation sometimes, as being a hard place that’s too big and too loud to cut through. And that’s been a challenge, but with there being so much here going on, there comes opportunity that isn’t accessible anywhere else. It’s helped us find people that believe in us and cultivate a community that’s bold and solid and it’s made a massive difference in how things have played out so far.

“Silver Tongue” is a powerful song that speaks to finding some comfort in these times of uncertainty. What was the mindset going into the creation of this song, and how did you connect with Justin Osborne for the track?

Justin was connected through our management, but we became amazing friends since then. The song came to us as a middle finger to nihilism. There’s a lot of reasons you can buy into to make you not care about life and not find a reason, but it’s what you put your effort and love into that will ultimately hold meaning. And we found that together which is really special.

 

Please tell me about working on the album with Drew Long.

Drew Long is a messiah, he’s an artist to the truest extent. Every day working with him was a new adventure, and he took on our friction and bickering as brothers like a champ. We were able to express ourselves and jump down the rabbit hole with him every day for 2 years and it was a special thing to share that with him.

 

What’s it like to release a full-length album in 2025? Do full-lengths still matter?

It matters because we believe it matters. Yes, it’s not the most “effective” way of getting our music to be heard, but it’s what we feel matters most to us right now. We want to tell a story that’s unique to us and that’s what this record is going to do for us.

 

How does music guide you through these dark times?

It’s a light in the truest form. Something that can make sense of the senseless and the mess and there’s an optimism baked in there.

 

What’s touring going to look like for you guys this year?

Touring is in our blood, there will be shows. God willing biggest ever, but we’re going to be focusing on the craft of the music and building our fanbase in any way possible.