The Rural We: Michael Brady
The Pittsfield psychotherapist has just released an album of music inspired by the work he and his clients do.
He’s been passionate about music “forever,” but full-time psychotherapist Michael Brady has now brought that zeal into the world with his first album, “Second Skin.” As a songwriter (working under the name M.Brady), the Pittsfield practitioner realized that “the honest and courageous work I see every day in my office is far more compelling than anything else I might write about.” His “concept album” reflects themes from his psychotherapy practice that are written from the (fictitious) first-person voice of his clients. The album was released last week and is available on streaming platforms. His journey is recounted in an essay recently published by The Journal of Expressive Writing.
I grew up in suburban DC and was a professional tennis player. I suffered an injury, which lead to my going to graduate school in Springfield College, where I could get degrees in psychology and sports psychology. My first job in the field was at the DeSisto School in Stockbridge, and I came to love the area.
Music always stopped and started in my life. I wasn’t able to give it as much time as I wanted until my twenties. But for reasons I state in my essay, my involvement with music ended. Six years ago, about 20 years after my panic attack episode, I began playing seriously and writing songs about psychotherapy. I was inspired by my clients; it was like an actor that entered into the character of my client, although of course fictional. They were compelling story lines, and I decided I was going to write from that perspective. A lot of songs came to the surface; I wrote 20 to 25 songs in that vein.
All of the songs on the album started off with me and the guitar. I started adding more layers and building them up. Other people — my brother and friends —fleshed out the songs. My late friend Steven May, the most creative human being I’ve ever met, wrote the instrumental section of three of the songs. All are played with live instruments for some portion of each song, usually guitar and piano and two tracks with live drums. All bass lines except one, other drums, strings, and electronic flourishes were played using sampled instruments from the music program Pro Logic.
I did the videos myself. I was a “wannabe” artist in my former life and wanted to bring that part of me into this project. I found some stock images and filmed some stuff. The track “Six Degrees” has my art and that of Berkshires artists. I also painted the album cover.
People have been receptive to my story, which is gratifying. The next thing I hope to conquer in this vulnerability project is to keep pushing through things that scare me, and to see if I can play live.
