Rex Brown

Rex Brown
Brown in 2017
Background information
Birth name	Rex Robert Brown
Also known as	Rex Rocker (pre-1990)
Born	(1964-07-27) July 27, 1964
Origin	Graham, Texas
Genres	Heavy metal groove metal thrash metal sludge metal glam metal hard rock alternative metal Southern rock country rock
Occupation(s)	Musician songwriter
Instruments	Bass guitar guitars keyboards vocals tuba (as a child)[1]
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Roadrunner
Associated acts	Pantera Down Kill Devil Hill Rebel Meets Rebel Arms of the Sun Jerry Cantrell Crowbar

Rex Robert Brown (born July 27, 1964) is an American musician and author, who is best known as having been the longtime bassist for the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling, now defunct band Pantera (1982–2003). He is a former member of Down (2001–2011), and is currently the bassist for the band Kill Devil Hill.^[2] He released his debut solo album Smoke on This on July 28, 2017.^[3] For the first time in Brown's career, the work features him not only as a bassist but also as lead vocalist and guitarist.^[4]

Brown authored a book called Official Truth 101 Proof, which was released in April 2013. The book documents Pantera's formation, career, and disbandment.

Biography

Rex Robert Brown was born in Graham, Texas on July 27, 1964.^[5] His father was forty when Brown was born, and died in 1971.^[6] He was born the day after actress Sandra Bullock and the day before actress and Full House star Lori Loughlin were born. He was raised by his mother and sister. Brown was first introduced to music through his grandmother, who taught him to play the piano when he was a child, and turned him onto ragtime music and Scott Joplin. Brown was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.^[7] Brown became a fan of ZZ Top and Def Leppard as a youth, and started playing bass when he was twelve years old. He remains a fan of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and hardcore punk.^[6]

Brown performing In Nashville, TN, July 14th, 2017

Career

Rex Brown - ˝Smoke On This˝

Personal life

According to his autobiography, Brown met his future ex-wife Belinda through a mutual friend. The couple got engaged in 1994 and married in May 1995. They have twins born in 2000. Brown refuses to give any further information on his children in order to keep their privacy. The couple divorced in 2004 but reunited in 2007, and remained together until 2011. Brown does not "subscribe to any particular organized religion", though he says he believes in God and the Ten Commandments.^{[11][11][12][13]}

In August 2009, Brown was disincluded from the Down tour due to acute pancreatitis.^[14] He then had his gallbladder and polyps on his pancreas removed.^[14] "Rex has been through hell, man," said bandmate Pepper Keenan. "He was cut from rib to rib and they cleaned him out, but he's in top shape again. After twenty-five years on the road – drinking every day and whatnot… well, the old days are over, my friend."^[15]

Playing style and equipment

Brown was a jazz bassist and was offered a scholarship to the University of North Texas but declined.^[16] He often plays with a pick.

Brown was notable for often contributing walking basslines underneath Darrell's guitar solos. Standout tracks include "Floods", "Walk", "5 Minutes Alone", "Throes of Rejection", "Cowboys from Hell", "Living Through Me (Hells' Wrath)", "I Can't Hide", "Use My Third Arm", "Where You Come From", "This Love", "I'm Broken", and many others.

In Pantera's earliest days, Brown was witnessed playing an Ibanez Roadster bass. In the late 80s he switched to Charvel basses and played a white 5 string and a black 4 string model. He used these basses exclusively through the Cowboys From Hell and Vulgar Display of Power albums, before he briefly used a 4 and 5 string model Ernie Ball MusicMan Stingray bass during the Vulgar Display of Power tour as well as a Fernandes Telecaster shaped bass for the "Walk" music video. In 1993, Brown began endorsing Spector bass guitars, notably all his basses had humbuckers. He continues to use Spectors to this day, with his own signature model. Shaped somewhat similar to a Gibson Thunderbird, the Spector Rex Brown Signature bass comes in several different finishes and is available in 4 and 5 string models. In 2011, Spector released a new signature bass by Brown named the Spector RXT. The bass has the same electronics as his first signature bass but instead of a Thunderbird, it is shaped like a Telecaster. Although this was released to the market by Spector, it was originally intended to be released by ESP Guitars under the LTD banner. Several prototypes and pre-production models exist, some of which are owned by Brown and can be seen used while playing with Down in 2009. After over 20 years of using Spector basses, on July 6, 2015, he announced that he had left Spector and is now a Warwick artist, by showing a photo of his new Warwick bass.

Discography

References