Though when speaking to songwriter Bob Bradshaw his brogue may be obvious, the singer’s voice is reminiscent of country and roots songwriters of years passed from the States. Somewhere between Randy Newman and Chris Isaak, there is a coolness, a smoothness and a definitive tone to his voice that is all Bradshaw.
And it has been that aesthetic of dusty roads and sepia tinged photographs of some place other than the Northeast that has defined much of the artist’s songs over the past few records. Its those spaces out in the wide open and the spots, perhaps, less traveled that influence the sound and feel of his work. “This is the music I love, listen to – Americana, Country, Country-folk, Country-blues“, Bradshaw told us, “And the country I love – the open spaces, dusty roads, diners, dive bars. The songs I write are the soundtrack for my journey through this landscape. I try to do the Urban thing too, like my song about New York City ‘Meet Me’, but that seems to require a retro treatment vibe-wise too. Not sure what that says about me.”
On the tune for this video, what I think it says about Bradshaw is he has a penchant for story telling, be it his narrative or one that is merely somewhat based on non-fiction and his own life.
The night that I drove south from Albuquerque
With the top of my convertible rolled down
I little dreamed by morning light I’d park me
In a sleepy, dusty, tranquil border town
“I have actually been to Albuquerque. But the main reason I picked Albuquerque and not, say ‘San Francisco’ (which would have scanned perfectly) is that I wanted a real border as well as an emotional border roughly a night’s drive from where this guy’s woman lives, he goes right up to the border but cannot cross over, cannot escape,” he explains. And its that artistic license that perhaps broadens the story to other folks, not necessarily in a particular geographic location, but an audience seeking out a story they either relate to or romanticize about. He continued, “”Escondido’ I made up. There’s one in California but not in New Mexico, at least that I know of.Escondido’ means ‘hidden away place’ in English, as well as matching Albuquerque perfectly in stresses. Also, I was trying to emulate the great Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell ‘place name’ songs, and tried to give the production the same kind of Countrypolitan qualities they would have use, retro flavors now….”
So its that influence mixed with a feeling or emotion derived from real life experience that seems to line the pages of his songbook.
“I’m trying to blend a ‘real life’ emotional journey with a sort of musical and geographical grid,” he says.
And, as has become a defining factor of Bob’s work, he gets only the best to help lend their brushes to his work. The musician list reads as a heavy hitters of Boston listing and when asked about the community and where he sees himself he told us, “Hmm. I don’t know. Is it obvious that we’re in a kind of Roots Music Golden Age here in the Boston area now? The players, the studios. Or could it be said one more time. That might make it seem like I’m placing myself firmly in the scene. I don’t feel I’m there yet.”
I’d say songs like this and others put out in recent years place Bob right, smack in the middle.