Joel Brogon

  At the Rio Grande River overlook Sabal Palm Sanctuary Brownsville, Texas 2013 Please have a look at the video for "Here on the Rio Grande"  HERE You can listen to "Here on the Rio Grande" anywhere you stream music - you can find all the links on my  LINKTREE “Here on the Rio Grande” is my love letter to life along the river in deep South Texas. So often, the story told about this region is a negative one. But the place I know is one of stunning natural beauty, of deep peace and profound connection, where bonds of land, culture, and family endure and transcend borders. Sadly, my home is under constant strain, pressed by border wall construction, liquefied natural gas plant build-outs, the expansion of SpaceX, rapid population growth and development, and the looming promise of a massive oil refinery. Water is already scarce. Habitat loss is staggering, with less than five percent remaining. Endangered species who rely upon it face almost certain extinction. And now,...

  “Here on the Rio Grande” is my love letter to life along the river in deep South Texas. So often, the story told about this region is a negative one. But the place I know is one of stunning natural beauty, of deep peace and profound connection, where bonds of land, culture, and family endure and transcend borders. Sadly, my home is under constant strain, pressed by border wall construction, liquefied natural gas plant build-outs, the expansion of SpaceX, rapid population growth and development, and the looming promise of a massive oil refinery. Water is already scarce. Habitat loss is staggering, with less than five percent remaining. Endangered species who rely upon it face almost certain extinction. And now, many of my neighbors live in fear of being separated from their families and the only home they’ve ever known. This is the reality of life in the Rio Grande Valley in the 21st century, and it is heartbreaking. So, on this Earth Day I invite you to sit along the banks of the...

  "Everyone Welcome" by Joel Brogon Released Palm Sunday Weekend 3/27/26 This collection of six songs explores the long journey of healing from religious trauma. Growing up gay in hardline evangelical churches meant learning early on that parts of who I was were unwelcome in the very spaces meant to offer nurture and support. Like many who grew up feeling “different” in faith communities with little room for difference, I carry those quiet spiritual wounds. These songs were born from years spent searching for spaces where faith and authenticity could coexist—wrestling with belief, naming harm done in the name of faith, and slowly - sometimes defiantly - reclaiming hope. TRACKLIST: Church Signs (Everyone Welcome) The Shadow of the Cross Closer What They’ve Done (In Jesus Name) Father You Are Welcome (In God's Arms) Church Signs (Everyone Welcome) Listen to "Church Signs (Everyone Welcome)" It seems like every small town you drive through - especially in Texas - h...

Everyone Welcome the new EP from Joel Brogon Coming 3/27/26 Palm Sunday Weekend Growing up gay in hardline evangelical churches meant learning early on that parts of who I was were unwelcome in the very spaces I depended on for nurture and support. Hiding that truth left spiritual wounds that have taken years to heal—and, if I’m honest, still need tending from time to time. I know I’m not alone in this. These quiet wounds are carried by many who grew up feeling “different” in churches that left little room for difference of any kind. For some, that pain led them to walk away from church entirely. For others—myself included—the path has been more complicated: years spent searching for spaces where faith and authenticity could coexist, sometimes finding deep joy and spiritual refuge, and other times encountering new forms of the same old hurt. These six songs were born out of that journey—wrestling with belief, naming the harm done in the name of faith, and slowly, sometimes defiantly, r...

I've always wanted to release some of my more personal "coming of age in a strict religious background" songs, and this season I am finally taking the opportunity to do it. I am hoping that I can put together an EP/Album of all my similar songs and release by Good Friday, but we'll see. “The Shadow of the Cross” is an amalgamation of my stories of growing up in deeply conservative rural churches while quietly carrying truths I knew would always stand in tension with strict doctrines and tightly held traditions. (Here's a YouTube link, but you can find it anywhere and everywhere you stream music.) Joel Brogon's The Shadow of the Cross  

Releasing worldwide May 23, 2025! Put on a Happy Face - your favorite Joel Brogon song is being released! By far my most requested song at gigs, "Put on a Happy Face"  is a lighthearted take on dealing with days that just don't go as planned.  I've already released it on Bandcamp - here's the link! https://joelbrogon.bandcamp.com/track/put-on-a-happy-face-acoustic-version  

" Trust the Trees" is a collection of three nature-based songs by Joel Brogon coming May 1st, 2024. Intentionally timed for release amidst Spring and the celebration of Earth Day, this project is meant to be an ode to our intrinsic bond with nature and a profound willingness to surrender to its guiding essence. Stories behind the songs: “Trust the Trees” The words “Trust the Trees" had been rolling around in my head for a while after a friend said them to me at a Winter Solstice gathering in 2021. I hadn’t really put much work into crafting a song around it but the thought of it was living in my head. Then, Uvalde (school shooting) happened. I was so shaken I couldn’t really even talk about it or much of anything else for several days and spent a lot of time sitting in silence in our back garden. Then one evening the line “we cannot be trusted, it’s time to trust the trees” came to me and the rest flowed from there. It was one of those rare occasions when a song was comp...

Trust the Trees Coming May 1st, 2024 "Trust the Trees" is a collection of three nature-based songs by Joel Brogon. Intentionally timed for release amidst Spring and the celebration of Earth Day, this project is meant to be an ode to our intrinsic bond with nature and a profound willingness to surrender to its guiding essence. In a world rife with conflict, injustice, and despair, the title track "Trust the Trees" urges us to seek solace and wisdom in the silent teachings of the natural world, especially when the human realm consistently fails to present any lasting, meaningful solutions. "Flowers on the Road" (released as a single on March 15, 2024) serves as a gentle reminder to cherish the small moments along our journey of self-discovery. In our quest to find our place in the world, we may come to realize that we belong exactly where we are. "I Can’t See the Moon'' was composed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and is ultimately a posi...

My new single for Spring “Flowers on the Road" serves as a gentle reminder to cherish the small moments along our journey of self-discovery. In our quest to find our place in the world, we may come to realize that we belong exactly where we are. “Flowers on the Road” will also be included on my upcoming project, “Trust the Trees” slated for release later this year. S tory behind the song: Every Spring while growing up in the 80’s in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, my family would load up picnic baskets and ice chests and head north towards Kingsville for our annual “flower tour.” The wildflowers along Highway 77 were absolutely spectacular in those days. There were endless fields of bluebonnets, winecups, primroses and countless other types of wildflowers on either side of the road and the middle “island.” We’d drive along, stopping at the more impressive swaths of color until we wound up at an old picnic area near Riviera where we would stop for lunch.  This was the one rare occa...

My friends The Darren Holland Project have teamed up to bring you a new version of my song "Underneath the Trees." This dreamy re-imagining will be streaming everywhere as of February 1st! Come on the journey of "Re-imagined" (Underneath the Trees) - Underneath the Trees is an homage to young love but expresses how different it is for those who are LGBTQ+ and in circumstances where they must hide their feelings due to family, society, religious upbringing, or where they live. Pre-save on Spotify here:  Re-imagined (underneath the trees) by Joel Brogon and The Darren Holland Project

Now available on all the streaming sites! Songs of Family and Home: The Complete Collection contains Vol. I "Reunion" and  Vol. II. "Garden of Memories" of my Songs of Family and Home project.  The Complete Collection includes four bonus tracks that were not available  on streaming services, until now! Buy "Songs of Family and Home: The Complete Collection" HERE You can also purchase the CD by contacting me directly at brogonsmusic@gmail.com These are the stories behind the bonus tracks! “Whisper (1993” This is a 1993 recording of “Whisper” which was done at one of those tourist trap recording booths on Music Row in Nashville. While I have rewritten some words, added a new verse, and changed the melody a bit for the new version, I wanted to honor 17 year old me and preserve the original by including it here. “A Morning in Weslaco” I woke up early one morning after moving away from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and in the moments between sleep and awake I...

 Stories behind the songs Garden of Memories: Songs of Family and Home Vol. II Released in honor of Grandparent's Day 2023 Links to all streaming & purchase sites here: Track One: Garden of Memories "Garden of Memories" is an invitation to come visit some of the most intimate corners of my heart, some that are still healing. My hope is that sharing these stories will help you heal, too. Track Two: Welcome Home, Weary Traveler Though “Welcome Home, Weary Traveler” refers to  “my mountain Granny,” it was actually inspired by my great-aunt. She used many colloquial phrases she’d learned growing up in rural southern Missouri, along with lots of stories she was always anxious to tell. This song was written while envisioning what her life might have been like had she stayed in Missouri, rather than moving on to South Texas with her family.  Track 3: Down on Memory Lane I’ve only been to the old homeplace in Wisconsin once, where my father’s family farmed before moving to So...

  Songs of Family and Home           “Songs of Family and Home” has been a labor of love. All of the material on this project was written in the 1990’s, while I was in my early to late teens. (The only exception being “I Wonder” on Vol. I.) During that time I was dealing with the death of my grandfather, my grandmother’s descent into Alzheimer’s, and my great-aunt’s (who was very close to us) decline. I was hurt, angry, broken and bitter and these feelings were only exacerbated when my father decided to move us 10 hours away from them and our home in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. I was devastated, and I responded the only way I knew how - by expressing my emotions musically; pouring my heart out through raw, unpolished (and yes, somewhat naive) melodies and lyrics. I shared these songs with very few people, mainly family and close friends who understood what I was going through. Writing and sharing these songs with my mother also helped in her healin...