Song Premiere: Brendan Hines, “Could’ve Sworn”

Who is Brendan Hines? According to his bio, he’s a “singer/songwriter/actor/guitar player who was raised in Baltimore to a former nun and a former priest who fled God and Brooklyn to marry and teach Philosophy.” Alternately, he’s the actor who portrayed Eli Loker on the Fox crime series Lie To Me. But this actor can sing.

Listen to the gorgeous “Could’ve Sworn,” from his upcoming album Small Mistakes.

“I wrote this song on a plane,” Hines tells American Songwriter. “Aside from bars, planes are my favorite place to write lyrics. Being so physically close to hundreds strangers although not interacting with them, is a kind of meditation. When you throw in the altitude, and the fact that you can’t use your guitar as a distraction or a crutch, you’ve got a intensely weird environment in which to write.

“‘Could’ve Sworn’ turned out to be the first real love song I’d ever written. Unlike many of my songs, it’s not written after-the-fact. There’s no bitterness or recrimination in it – just anticipation and a impulse to improve. Now that I think about it, this song really ended up setting the tone for the rest of the Small Mistakes album.”

ON TOUR:

August 14 – Hotel Cafe – Los Angeles, CA
September 7 – The Space – Hamden, CT
September 11 – Night Cat – Easton, MD
September 12 – The Southern – Charlottesville, VA*
September 13 – The Casbah – Durham, NC*
September 16 – The Altamont – Asheville, NC*
September 18 – Beachland Tavern – Cleveland, OH*
September 19 – Bug Jar – Rochester, NY*
September 20 – The Drake – Toronto, ONT*
September 22 – Iron Horse Music Hall – Northampton, MA*
September 23 – Higher Ground – Burlington, VT*
September 24 – Club Passim – Cambridge, MA*
September 25 – Empire – Portland, ME*
September 27 – 92YTribeca – New York, NY*

* indicates shows with The Milk Carton Kids