LENNY KAYE launches Dark Brown

In this rich and wide-ranging conversation, guest-host Donita Sparks welcomes the legendary Lenny Kaye—guitarist, historian, curator, and eternal champion of rock ‘n’ roll—to launch drummer and artist Bryan Lee Brown, also known as Dark Brown.

From the 50th anniversary tour of Horses with Patti Smith to the making of Lenny Kaye’s first-ever solo album Going Local, this episode explores what it means to stay creatively alive across decades. Lenny reflects on the joy of playing without expectation, the freedom of releasing music later in life, and why work itself is the reward.

The conversation dives deep into Lenny’s acclaimed book Lightning Striking, a cultural history of rock’s geographic “culture quakes”—from Memphis and New Orleans to Liverpool, Detroit, New York, London, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Along the way, he shares stories about Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, the origin of the groundbreaking Nuggets compilation, and the power of local scenes.

Finally, they turn the spotlight to launch Dark Brown and his track “Rhythm Surfer,” featuring surf guitar pioneer Dick Dale. Bryan shares the surreal story of meeting Dale at NAMM—and two days later heading to the Mojave Desert to jam before touring Europe with him.

This episode is a love letter to rock history, artistic longevity, and the electric present tense of making music.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

✅Why Lenny Kaye believes rock and roll has moved from its “innovative period” into its “interpretive period” — and why that excites him.

✅How local music scenes become cultural earthquakes that reshape history.

✅Why being a “worker” in music matters more than hype, expectations, or industry validation.

✅How Dark Brown’s American Instrument honors the drum set as a foundational force in American music — and how Dick Dale became part of the story.

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TIMESTAMPS:  

00:00 Donita introduces Lenny Kaye and the 50th anniversary of Horses

02:00 Playing Disney Hall & the lifeline of a 50-year-old record

05:17 Announcing Lenny’s first solo album Going Local

08:00 Living in the present tense of music

11:00 The pure joy of local bar gigs

17:48 Lightning Striking and the geography of rock revolutions

19:47 Memphis, New Orleans & the birth of rock

20:35 New York 1975, punk London, and metal Scandinavia

25:32 Writing, curating, and the legacy of Nuggets

27:00 Waylon Jennings, storytelling & the human behind the legend

35:15 SiriusXM and spinning the “platters that matter”

36:15 Dark Brown is launched

37:24 Working with Dick Dale

49:02 Dark Brown’s track, “Rhythm Surfer”

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

💎 Longevity comes from curiosity, not nostalgia. Kaye doesn’t cling to the past — he keeps playing, writing, and exploring because the act itself keeps him alive.

💎 The Local is sacred. Whether it’s Memphis in 1954 or a Wednesday night bar gig in New Jersey, scenes grow from small rooms into cultural revolutions.

💎 Music is a lifeline. From Horses to Nuggets to Going Local, Kaye sees music as an evolving conversation — not a finished monument.

💎 The process is the reward. Once a record is mastered, it no longer belongs to the artist. The joy is in the making.

ABOUT THE GUESTS: 

LENNY KAYE: As musician, writer, and record producer, Lenny Kaye has been intimately involved with the creative impulse that marks the music.  He is a founding member of Patti Smith and Her Band, dating from their first performance as a duo at St. Marks Church in New York’s East Village on February 10, 1971, and has worked with such artists as Suzanne Vega, Jim Carroll, Allen Ginsberg, Soul Asylum, and Jessi Colter.  His books include You Call It Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon (2004); Waylon: An Autobiography (1994); and the newly released Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock and Roll.  His seminal anthology of garage rock, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts of the First Psychedelic Era, is regarded as defining a genre and recently celebrated its golden anniversary.

DARK BROWN: 

Bryan Lee Brown is a Los Angeles-based composer and musician known for crafting immersive, rhythm-driven scores that blend abstract minimalism with melodic psychedelia. His work has been integral to Dave Grohl’s productions What Drives Us and HBO’s Emmy-winning Sonic Highways, for which Rolling Stone praised his score as "the show's unsung sonic element.”

A lifelong percussionist, Brown’s deep-rooted connection to rhythm shapes his compositions, layering hypnotic textures with cinematic energy. He first emerged as the powerhouse drummer for LA’s underground band Bluebird—signed to Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak Records—before expanding into TV and film as a sought-after session musician, recording with icons like Frank Black, Jerry Cantrell, and Duff McKagan. Most notably, his touring and recording with surf guitar legend Dick Dale have cemented his reputation as a dynamic and versatile musician.

Expanding beyond Sonic Highways and What Drives Us, Brown’s music resonates across a diverse range of projects, including CSI: Vegas, Unlocking The Truth, Jackass Forever, feature doc L7: Pretend We’re Dead, horror classic The Collection, and Stacy Peralta’s film Bones Brigade: An Autobiography.

Brown’s creative reach extends into contemporary art. His collaboration with acclaimed new media artist Jennifer Steinkamp on the video installation S.W.E.L.L. is now part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA)—a defining achievement for the Art Center College alum and a testament to his impact at the intersection of sound and visual innovation.

Bryan is currently in the studio recording drums with the Afghan Whigs and preparing for their upcoming 2026 tour.

RESOURCES:

LaunchLeft Podcast Smart Link

GUEST RESOURCES: 

Lenny Kaye: 

https://www.instagram.com/lenny_kaye

Photo Credit: Dina Regine

Dark Brown: 

https://www.instagram.com/darkbrownmusic

https://linktr.ee/darkbrown

https://darkbrown.bandcamp.com