Multitalented musician Brian Mitchell has gained considerable notoriety in music industry circles and beyond for both his solo career and his high-profile collaborations. He has recorded and performed with some of music’s most respected artists including Levon Helm, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Dolly Parton, B.B. King, Little Feat, The Allman Brothers, Allen Toussaint, Willie Deville & David Johansen. His versatility on piano, Hammond B-3 organ, various vintage keyboards and accordion plus his distinct vocal stylings have firmly established him as one of New York City’s most sought after musicians. He has played on 5 grammy award winning records such as Levon Helm’s “Dirt Farmer”, “Electric Dirt” “Ramble at The Ryman” plus B.B. King & Friends:”80” and Les Paul & Friends: “American Made World Played”
Brian has toured extensively around the world, from The Apollo in Harlem, Tipitina’s in New Orleans, to Ronnie Scott’s in London and the Blue Note in Japan. He has appeared in concert halls and at festivals including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Beacon Theater, Radio City Music Hall in New York, plus The Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy.
He has made frequent TV appearances including performances on “The Late Show with David Letterman”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brian”, “The Tonight Show” and“Austin City Limits”. Brian’s accordion can be heard throughout Bob Dylan’s version of the Dean Martin chestnut “Return To Me” on a episode of “The Soprano’s” on HBO. Other special TV appearances include appearing on the soap opera “One Life To Live” as a piano player in a hotel bar . He also accompanied Christopher Walken on accordion in the movie “Search and Destroy” and played piano with Amy Helm in the Vera Farmiga film “Higher Ground” He was featured on “Levon Helm at The Ryman” and “The Love For Levon” specials on PBS. Brian was recently in the house band at the 2024 Bruce Springsteen American Music Honors awards ceremony backing up Bruce, Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Mavis Staples, Darlene Love & Dion.
Brian’s work as a composer has been featured in TV, film, and theatre. His original music recorded by the band “House Of Diablo” was featured in the Robert Altman movie “Tanner On Tanner”. His blues piano stylings were used in the Bill Sims score for August Wilson’s Broadway play “8 Pianos” Brian cowrote songs that were featured in the AMC TV series “Hell On Wheels” and Brian and Christine Santelli co-wrote the song “Step Away” for Bettye LaVette’s Grammy nominated CD “Worthy”. His original music with “Fatboy Kanootch” was recently featured in the film “Dead Mom Card” by Steve Perkins shown on Amazon.
A native New Yorker, born in The Bronx, he is now living in Woodstock New York. In addition to his various incarnations of “Brian Mitchell & Friends” he also tours with The Weight Band throughout the United States as well as Europe and Japan. He also regularly performs with James Maddock as a duo throughout Italy & Spain. He recently has recently released 2 new records. “Digging The Roots” & “Music From Big Blue” that were both recorded in Woodstock featuring such locals as Larry Campbell, John Sebastian, Cindy Cashdollar, Jim Weider, Amy Helm & Catherine Russell.
A list of artists that Brian has recorded or performed with over the years….
The Allman Brothers
Ayo
William Bell
Steven Bernstein & Diaspora Soul
Mary J Blige
Sugar Blue
David Bromberg
Jackson Browne
Jeff Buckley
Solomon Burke
Larry Campbell
Rosanne Cash
Joe Claussell
Marc Cohn
Elvis Costello
Willie Deville
Dion
Bob Dylan
Pee wee Ellis
Gloria Estevan
Donald Fagan (Steely Dan)
Peter Frampton
Clark Gayton & Fatboy Kanootch
Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
Jimmy Dale Gilmore
Al Green
Emmylou Harris
Levon Helm
Little Feat
Los Lobos
Garland Jeffries
David Johansen
Dr. John
Norah Jones
Salif Keita
BB King
Earl King
Femi Kuti
Betty Lavette
Lulu
John Lurie & The Lounge Lizards
James Maddock
Mojo Mancini
John Mayer
John Mellencamp
Zigaboo Modeliste (The Meters)
Mountain
Maria Muldaur
Willen Nile
Leo Nocentelli (The Meters)
Joan Osborne
Dolly Parton
Les Paul
Buster Poindexter
Hugh Pool
Billy Preston
Todd Rundgren
Irma Thomas
Allen Toussaint
Christine Santelli
John Sebastion
Carly Simon
Bill Sims
Nina Simone (dance remix)
Bruce Springsteen
Mavis Staples
Hubert Sumlin
The Uptown Horns
Walter Wolfman Washington
Peter Wolf (J Geils Band)
Christopher Walken
Joe Walsh
Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)
Jim Weider
Leslie West
The Wild Magnolias
Hal Willner
Peter Wolf (J Geils)
Dwight Yoakum
Zucherro Fornaciari




