Blues/ Southern Rock/ Country Keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter from Tupelo, MS

Brian West Bio

Birthplace - Tupelo, Mississippi

Influences - Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Beach Boys, Wolf Man Jack, Uriah Heep, Jimmie Rodgers, Elvis, Kiss, George Jones, Ray West, Jewell Ausbon, Kirby Ausbon.

During the 3rd grade, Brian began studying classical piano under Ruth Johnston at Lawhon Elementary School, in Tupelo, Mississippi. In his late teens he studied classical guitar under Cass Patrick at Itawamba Community College, along with fine art courses and majoring in Music Business at The University of Memphis.

Brian began playing in clubs around the age of 15 with Jewell Ausbon's band performing mostly Country and Blues. He also started his own Metal band called Witching Hour which played all over the South and also won awards in competitions at the University of Mississippi and the Mid-South Fair in Memphis, TN. Then, around the age of eighteen, Brian began focusing more on keyboards than guitar and started a new career in music.

Through the years, he's played keys for many bands such as the classic rock group Prizm in (Tupelo, MS) which included his brother Kenneth Ray West, James Pirkle, Danny Gunter, Larry Shaw, and Nikkyle Wells. Other bands and projects included Yow (Memphis, TN), Shadow Cats (Monterey, CA), Paragon (Merced, CA), Sci Fi (Oakland, CA), Ruben Ramirez (San Jose, CA), The Silver Eagle Band (Tampa, FL), Poet - Nhan Le, Poet - Raven, DJ-80 (Jupiter Rising), The Mudflaps (LA), The Groove (San Jose), Freddie Hughes (Oakland), JumpStart (Bobby Metcalf, Tulsa, OK) Jimi Hendrix cousin - Tony Simon ( also backing group for the Drifters), Al Wilson, Memphis Exchange, MIR (San Francisco), Dusty Burke, The Dharma Bums, The Bell Brothers, Jackson Stone Band and Two Time Grammy Nominated Recording Artist Tim Murphy. Brian and his brother Kenneth Ray also formed the group WEST, later renamed TakeWest and toured the South and West Coast.

While playing with many bands across the U.S, Brian has shared the stage with acts such as Johnny Rivers, Johnny Wigginton, Los Lonely Boys, Chris Issacs, Rascal Flatts, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker, Ray Manzarek of the Doors, Montrose, The Fryed Brothers, Hank Williams Jr., Phil Vassar, Emerson Drive, Chris Cagle,
The Lemmon Heads, The Melvins, Rockie Lynne, JJ Cale, The Drifters, The Midnighters, Vern Gosdin, Johnny Gunn,
Jo Dee Mesina, Tracy Byrd and even The Dave Mathews Band. As a studio musician he's worked on many recording projects in Memphis, Nashville, San Francisco, LA and Tokyo.

Brian is currently busy playing with bands around San Jose, Memphis and Nashville, writing and recording new songs.


Brian is also always busy promoting songs for Kirby Publishing(BMI) and writing country and blues songs when ever he gets the chance. When he's not jamming with a band, fishing or writing new music you'll find him cruising down the coast in his Blue Convertible C5 Vette.:)