Don Brownrigg is a Canadian singer-songwriter from

Codroy Valley The Codroy Valley is a valley in the southwestern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Codroy Valley is a glacial valley formed in the Anguille Mountains, a sub-range of the Long Range ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. and has spent much of his career based in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. He has released 3 full length albums, several singles, many collaborations, and has worked in theatre and puppetry. The Coast, Halifax's

alt-weekly An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting l ...

, said Brownrigg is "''instrumental to the Haligonian arts community''".

Early life

Brownrigg was raised in Upper Ferry in

. He is part of the MacArthur Family who settled in the area in the 19th century. His paternal great-grandfather is Henry J. Brownrigg.

Career

In 2007, Brownrigg self-produced and released his debut full-length album, ''Wander Songs''. The album features

Jenn Grant Jenn Grant (born August 20, 1980) is a Canadian folk pop singer-songwriter based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Career Grant performed as a musician for a time in her early teens, but stopped due to a bout of stage fright. She did not return to pe ...

, Jim Bryson, and a duet with poet Tanya Davis. In 2008, (

weewerk Weewerk, stylized as (weewerk), is an independent folk, roots, bluegrass, country record label and artist-management company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2002 as an art-and-music salon series in the apartment of Teenage USA ...

) re-released the album and it went on to receive rave reviews and accomplishments and Brownrigg was nominated for the 'Best New Artist' and 'Best Folk Album' categories at the 2008

East Coast Music Awards The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the music industry in the Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music Awards (formerly the Maritime Music A ...

. In 2013, Brownrigg released his second full-length album, ''It Takes All Kinds (to make this world, I find)'', with Maple Music. The album was produced by

Daniel Ledwell Daniel Ledwell is a Canadian record producer and multi-instrumentalist. Music career In 2008 Ledwell produced his debut solo album, ''Two Over Seven'' in his home studio."", ''Chart'', January 16, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2014. It was releas ...

and its songs went on to be featured in

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...

, and The Fosters. The lead-single 'Sweet Dream Sleeper' had chart and playlist success and the song 'Just Breathe' became one of the 'Most Shazam-ed TV Songs' as compiled by

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

and Neilson Music In 2019, Brownrigg released his third full-length album, ''Fireworks''. Besides drums and violin/viola, all of the instrumentation on the album is provided by Brownrigg and the album's producer, Daniel Ledwell. The album features a cover of

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

's ''

Tom's Diner "Tom's Diner" is a song by American singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega. Written in 1981 or 1982, it was first released as a track on the January 1984 issue of '' Fast Folk Musical Magazine''. Originally featured on her second studio album, '' S ...

''. Brownrigg was tied for the most nominations at the 2019 Nova Scotia Music Awards and received an

East Coast Music Award The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the Music of Canada's Maritimes, music industry in the Canada, Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music ...

nomination for ''Music Video of the Year'' for co-directing 'Room for Me', the video for the album's lead single. In 2022, Brownrigg released the singles 'The Same Time', 'The Same Time (Remix)', and 'Sweet Dream Sleeper (Remix)'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownrigg, Don Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from Newfoundland and Labrador