Who is Professor B? Connecticut native Fred Brown has gone by
this moniker for years as keyboardist and founding member of a local reggae
band I.N.I.T.Y who are still performing after 14 years. Pushing forward with
positive results after a life threatening illness, Brown felt its time to step
up the game with an original act “Professor B and the Army of Love” and have a
mission that is quite obvious: through music, spread peace, love, and harmony,
all good vibes to their audience. You’d be hard pressed to find another artist
who is so whole-heartedly playing music for this reason.
Where does
all this love come from? You’ll find it in people who have gone through hard
times and come out on the other side. Fred Brown is a cancer survivor and
believes the best healer in life is music. “I am taking this opportunity of
life, gathering my experiences, and strictly focusing on my own original music
that has a positive, uplifting, universal vibe and moving it forward” says
Brown.
Born in New
Haven, Connecticut to a divorced blue-collar family, Brown’s mother won a
raffle of accordion lessons and gave them to his older sister. After her
disinterest, the 4-year-old Brown was next in line and it was there that the
musical spark was lit. Whether it was a guitar, piano, organ, or simply banging
on cardboard boxes, he wanted to get his hands on it. Throughout his childhood,
Brown was exposed to everything from Rock-Roll, Motown, and Country to the many
greats of the Classical era, and finally got the opportunity to join the drum
corps in elementary school. Although he never had any formal training, Brown
found himself always surrounded by musicians.
Like many
creative people, he dropped out of school at 16 and joined the Navy the
following year. Struggling to find balance after a divorce with 3 children,
Brown filled his time with going to live shows and really honing in on the
technique of the players he was watching. His chance finally came many years
later when he was invited to fill an act as a duo with a friend. From there,
another invite as 2nd guitarist in the local R&B band First Approach, which
landed Brown a permanent gig for a while. “Those guys got me out of sneakers,
and put me in shoes” says Brown.
Years of
live performances with many bands followed including fundraisers, TV
broadcasts, also an invitation from his friend Michael Mills, for an appearance
singing with a 1000 Voice Choir for the World Special Olympicsat Yale Field
that included in the audience, President of the United States Bill Clinton,
Hootie and the Blowfish, and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
After
suffering two bouts of cancer in 2011 and 2013, Brown declared “I know so many
people that need treatment of some kind, to waste this opportunity of life is a
sin against humanity. That’s when I decided I needed to go into battle.” With
support from his community and friends, two different benefitswere held in his
name and the outpouring of love was so overwhelming that it is his life’s
mission to continue to spread that love and harmony to others. Brown has since
joined forces with Vic Steffens and Horizon Music Groupto record his first LP
that has been a long time coming.
Promoting
music projects is always a difficult proposition, says Vic Steffens, There are
many artists vying for the public’s attention. But we feel both the music and
the experience of the Army of Love pack a big punch. Producer Vic Steffens of
Horizon Music Grouphas produced over 300 full length CDs and worked with may
notable artists. The music and the live show are truly inspirational.
Professor
B’s message of universal love and positivity has proven to have strong impact
in these troubled times: “I believe
that through self- awareness, we can better ourselves and have a more positive
impact on the world. We have many faces on this planet, and many issues at
hand. Until we reach a common respect with ourselves, and for each other, can
we begin to cure any issues that plague society.” ~ Professor B
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