Afterleaving active duty, U.S. Air Force Reserve Col. Erik Brine didn’t know exactly what he would pursue next, but he was sure of two things.
“I wanted to stay involved in the veteran community without it being a full-time job, and I knew I wanted it to be music-based,” he said.
Brine, who has served multiple combat tours and held various roles, including strategic adviser at the Pentagon and positions in Congress and the State Department, in 2014 landed on the idea to launch a record label to produce a compilation album of music by veterans.
Since then, the organization, which Brine co-founded and named Operation Encore, has provided opportunities for dozens of veteran and active-duty singer-songwriters and musicians to take their music to the next level, offering artist development, professional recording and educational services for established musicians seeking a breakthrough.
Along with co-founder Rob “Trip” Raymond, a talented musician in his own right and fellow founding member of Los Gringos with Operation Encore board member Chris “Snooze” Kurek, Brine said the organization transitioned to a nonprofit in 2018 while he was stationed at the Naval War College in Newport.
Operation Encore collaborates with numerous corporate sponsors, concert promoters and veteran agencies to book concerts that showcase military veteran talent and connect them with industry professionals.
Brine said the organization’s initial mission was to provide opportunities “to hone and express musicianship” that typically take place during the formative years of a musician’s career but were missed due to serving abroad or on deployment.
But a consequence of ending the military draft is that today, there’s only a small percentage of the population that has any direct experience with the armed forces, which has led to two separate cultural worlds that Operation Encore seeks to bridge.
There are more than 18 million living military veterans in the United States, representing about 6% of the adult population, according to the Pew Research Center.
“In our grandparents’ generation, you likely knew someone in the military,” Brine said. “But now many people become uncomfortable around military members because they don’t know what to say.”
What began as an effort to help independent musicians produce their first song or gain visibility has evolved into a broader mission to help close the civilian-military divide, Brine said.
“Military members are just part of society,” he said. “They leave the military and become your neighbor, banker, or little league coach. They have interesting stories just like other musicians.”
Military-related songwriting goes beyond Creedance Clearwater Revival and Jimi Hendrix. Most people know Elvis Presley served in the military, Brine said, “but few realize that ‘fighter pilot’ is a genre of music.”
“It’s a really important part of the culture,” he said. “When you are deployed, there is always the guy or the girl that brings the guitar and sings around the campfire or squadron bar. It’s super important for the well-being of all the people there.”
Operation Encore primarily relies on private donations and some larger foundations for funding. Over the past five years, the organization has partnered with the Folk Foundation, resulting in a veteran artist performing at the Newport Folk Festival each year, including one slated for July.
“That’s a huge bucket list item if you’re in this business,” Brine said.
Additionally, the organization produces a podcast series titled “Soldiers, Stories and Songs” and operates a live radio station dedicated to playing music created by military veterans.
Guy Jaquier, Operation Encore board member and executive director, said the organization has helped artists record 60 to 80 songs this year.
While the organization does not have its own studio, it collaborates with Kent Wells, a Grammy-nominated producer known for working with Dolly Parton.
“He brings in all the A-list session musicians,” Jaquier said. “Technology has made recording more accessible, but you still want to work with professionals. When we need a fiddle player, [Kent] might call Garth Brooks’ fiddle player, or the lead guitarist from the Marshall Tucker Band might come in and play a couple of songs.”
Now with both Brine and Raymond settled in Jamestown, Operation Encore will officially move its headquarters to Rhode Island this year.
Jaquier believes the organization is making progress bridging the communication gap between veterans and civilians.
“So many people misinterpret veterans,” he said. “They think they are all right-wing guys. Most are just people playing folk music.”
It’s true that some of the music that has come out of Operation Encore speaks of the military experience, Brine said, and it’s the universal human notes that Operation Encore wants to share.
“Everyone experiences loss. Everybody gets lonely. We don’t own that,” Brine said. “Music is an incredible medium for sharing stories and feelings. So, we focus more on how we can get people to relate.”
