Creativity Quote by Brian Setzer

Ear-bending is the point here, and Brian Setzer knows it. He’s talking about chord substitutions - a jazz musician’s favorite way to smuggle surprise into familiar shapes - dropped into the sturdy, three-chords-and-the-truth frame of a country song. That little act of harmonic trespassing explains both the reaction (“bent people’s ears”) and the payoff: you can feel the audience recalibrating in real time, recognizing the song’s genre silhouette while catching these sly, sophisticated swerves underneath.

Setzer’s intent isn’t to flex technique; it’s to defend taste. “It’s not how fast you play” reads like a quiet rebuke to guitar culture’s obsession with athleticism, the idea that speed equals substance. He’s positioning himself in a lineage of players who value voicing, swing, and color over fireworks - the kind of musicians who’d rather raise an eyebrow than raise a BPM. The subtext is confidence without smugness: he’s not chasing purity, he’s curating collision.

Context matters because Setzer’s whole career is a case study in hybridizing American roots music: rockabilly attitude, big-band polish, greaser cool, and yes, jazz harmony. Country plus jazz isn’t a gimmick for him; it’s a signature, a way to make retro forms feel alive instead of museum-grade. “My favorites are the unique ones” isn’t just about songs - it’s about identity. In a marketplace that rewards genre branding, he’s proudest of the moments that resist easy labeling, the musical equivalent of refusing to wear just one uniform.