Songs For Young Executives by The Breakers

As The Breakers, the pair has formed a creative relationship that blends their broad range of musical influences, ranging from The Beatles and Led Zeppelin to Tower of Power and Miles Davis, with their years of experience recording and touring. To the outside observer, it may seem that Brian plays a small role in the creative process, but his influence on Doug over the years has been the spearhead to the evolution of his songwriting.

The Breakers were formed in 2003 out of the ashes of several other defunct St. Louis groups (Zito, Flynova, Nadine, and The LP Outsiders to name a few) to work on selected material from Doug’s recent demo projects. Shortly, they began recording these songs and playing live to a steadily growing fan base. This first line up of the group, which consisted of Doug on vocals/bass, Brian on drums/sampling, Joe Liedtke on keys/vocals, and Tony Esterly on guitars, quickly produced two EP’s. The first of which, The Bottleneck Sessions, twice earned them attention from the Memphis Regional Grammy Chapter along with some high profile national and international songwriting contests. It also caught the ear of those at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Sun Studio, most widely known as the studio that gave birth to Elvis, has been recording legends for years. Along with Elvis, the likes of BB King, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and more recently U2, Vertical Horizon, Maroon 5, Liz Phair, 3 Doors Down, The Calling, and Better Than Ezra have all recorded at there. The Breakers joined these ranks by invitation on the studio’s part as an effort of there’s to promote emerging artist. Both of these recordings were later combined into what became the 2005 release simply entitled “Sessions”.

The Breakers latest recording, Songs For Young Executives, is the group’s first full length album. Also, it is the long awaited follow-up to 2005’s “Sessions”, which earned them not only some well deserved industry recognition, but attention from fans around the country, and thanks to the power of the internet, from around the globe. So what is the best way to follow a well received independent debut EP? Why with a 13 song concept album of course!

Although an unconventional approach, Songs For Young Executives is by far a collection of the most honest and well crafted songs to ever come from songwriter Doug Byrkit. The album contains 13 tracks loosely based around the theme of corporate greed; a subject Doug had became all too familiar with while working in Corporate America before recently leaving to pursue a graduate music degree and to devote more time to The Breakers. The lyrical content gives a sometimes tongue-in-cheek and sometimes blatantly unapologetic slant on those negotiating the corporate jungle. Even though there are some heavy themes that run throughout, most of the songs are ambiguous enough to be interpreted multiple ways by the listener, thus making the album very easy for a broad range of fans to connect with. Aside from the obvious lyrical message of the record, Songs For Young Executives delivers the pinnacle of Doug’s musical evolution. The album is a mix of musical influences and real world playing experience, which along with the solid groove foundation provided by drummer Brian Zielie, merge into what can only be described as a true representation of the The Breakers own unique rock & roll sound.

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