About the artist
Folk-Grunge. Alt-country. Garage Americana. Whatever you call it, BRETT NEWSKI has carved his own lane at the crossroads of scrappy rock n roll, freak folk and comedic storytelling.
Out May 1, 2026, Newski returns with a new album (and companion pocket book) Have a Thing, Miss Your Moment, Wait for the Revival, arriving via Nomad Union. “Recording to tape is the only way to keep music purely human,” says Newski. “You can’t fake a tape recording. Currently, AI has no way to get onto analog tape. The book/music will NOT be on Amazon. The title track will NOT be on any streaming.
Have a Thing blends 60’s era Bob Dylan’s freewheeling lyricism with the crunch, grit, and melodic bite of 90s alternative rock, showcasing NEWSKI’s production style of a lost Velvet Underground tape. “In Love With Everything Except People” features Lou Reed’s band leader, Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies, Violent Femmes) on piano. Recorded straight to cassette in Milwaukee, WI, the project leans into the imperfections that make analog charm so enduring. “Have a Thing’ is Brett Newski at his most unsparing- the cynical eye and unflinching perspective that have always defined him, now stripped back to their indie folk core.” -Twangville
Alongside his band BRETT NEWSKI & the Bad Inventions, BRETT NEWSKI has been regarded as one of the most relentlessly touring DIY artists of the decade. He’s spent a decade touring the backroads and underground venues of Europe, South Africa, North America, and even less-trodden circuits like Vietnam, Japan, Iceland.
Performing alongside bands like Pixies, Violent Femmes, Courtney Barnett, Gin Blossoms, Manchester Orchestra, Better than Ezra, Barenaked Ladies, Guster, Toad the Wet Sprocket & Nada Surf, Newski heads back on the road with Steve “Mr Bicep” Vorass on drums, Sean “Bad Man” Anderson on bass and Chris Haise on piano. His 2024 book Piss in the Wind, tells tales of his weirdest shows across Vietnam, Thailand, and Hong Kong before moving to Saigon, Vietnam for two years. A must-read for fans of Hunter S Thompson, Chuck Klosterman, or Henry Rollins. Newski also authored humor-meets-mental-health book Its Hard to be a Person; Defeating Anxiety, Surviving the World, & Having More Fun, receiving international acclaim & landing on CBS, NBC, NPR, American Songwriter, SiriusXM, & Billboard.
