b'would resonate with different demographics. NEW GENERATION HONES HER CRAFTThat studious, pragmatic approach to the business twinnedLeonor Bright recently earned a degree in broadcast and with the artistry of creating and recording the music. Evenelectronic communications. With her help, Fusi Pumper Records today, each of the partners will pick up a new instrument ashas expanded to embrace new ways of promoting the music. needed, figure it out and work it in to achieve just the rightNew technology including social media and services such as sound. They each play and sing. When working with otherYouTube are opening new ways to distribute, Johnston says.musicians, theyll attend to such details as the weight of theThe younger Bright is pushing the team, adding her own drumsticks and whether theyre the right tool in the hands oftouches: New cameras, light equipment and a smoke machine, the user. Cynthia and Leonor Bright contribute back-up vocals.for starters.Shes also been filming backstage for live acts in The creativity and the recording of it, thats what I love, Philconcert. As in any apprenticeship, shes gaining insights and Bright says. marketable skills, shaped by her dads education in the school of A BRIGHT PLACE IN DARK TIMES hard knocks.All that hard work, drive, focus and flexibility came withMeanwhile, Johnston and the elder Bright are keeping an them to Nevada County, and it came in handy when theeye on the digital streaming ecosystem, seeing where it goes COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. The partners had aand how their collection of music and people might find new unique opportunity: With performance venues shut down inaudiences.March that year and closed for months, most of the musiciansWhat remains unchanged is the love, the high standards and in their network lost their gigs. With the help of a federalthe openness to what could be.program to keep people working, the partners hired musiciansTheres no real reason for us to do it. It costs me money, in a creative flurry. Music and related videos melded swing andBright says ironically. But it all works together to make some soul, polka and pop, country and classic rock. crazy things happen.Their musician contacts from the old days include folks who had played with acts including Etta James, Linda Ronstadt, Jefferson Starship, Roger Waters, Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin,Aerosmith, John Lee Hooker, Train and Eddie Money. If they wanted a particular pedal steel sound or a soulful organ, they knew just who to call. Their studio in the woods became a hub, not just for recording, but of community and of hope.In addition to pulling from their own musical loves, histories and networks, the partners continue to find inspiration in their own lives. In 2022, Bright recorded College: The music and video evoke the familys journey when they took Leonor to San Francisco State University. College and more compositions went into creating seven records that Bright pressed under his Fusi Pumper label.The forest outside the studio still nourishes them in an otherwise high-tech, often high-stress and potentially high-drama field. Nature keeps our own peace of mind well-grounded, Johnston says.Top: Leonor Bright in the www.PfilBryte.com studio with singer, keyboardist, songwriter and producer Jesse Bradman, of Petaluma, Calif. He @fusipumperrecords has played with Eddie Money and Night Ranger, among other bands.@fusipumperrecords (Photo by Hanna Almuti).@fusipumperrecords Bottom: Leonor Bright in the studio with storied local musician Roy Rogers.(Photo by Cynthia Bright) 2025Nevada County Business Focus 13'