An Irish immigrant playing Americana music? Meet Bob Bradshaw
One of the most consistently inventive songwriters in the Americana music genre is a native of Cork, Ireland. That would be Jamaica Plain resident Bob Bradshaw, who is celebrating his 10th album, “The Art of Feeling Blue,” with a show at The Lizard Lounge on Saturday night (June 17).
The Lizard Lounge is at 1667 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, just north of Harvard Square, and the show starts at 9 p.m. with the stellar duo of mandolinist Jimmy Ryan and Hanson saxophonist Dana Colley, a Morphine alumnus, opening. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. (Check Eventbrite.com for more information.)
Bradshaw’s new album isn’t a collection of blues songs, and in fact the title cut pokes good-natured fun at his habit of finding the potential downside of almost every situation. The emotion in the vocal is leavened by that self-deprecating humor, but it also a thoughtful self-examination, over an arrangement that might evoke warm memories of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe or Squeeze. Obviously, those comparisons don’t exactly indicate "Americana" to most fans, but Bradshaw delights in providing variety.
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New record is personal
“I try to be funny with some parts of this record,” said Bradshaw last week. “It is personal, but I don’t want it to be really all about my feelings. I’d rather tell the kind of stories that anyone can enter and see themselves or someone they know in them.”
Bradshaw came to the United States in 1989, studied composition at Berklee College of Music, and after a short time in New York City, spent a decade in San Francisco. He’s written short stories, attempted a novel and meanwhile stayed very busy playing Irish music for Americans. As he noted in a 2019 interview with us, he reached a point where he didn’t want to keep “playing the same 30 songs every night,” and began writing his own songs, in a kind of rootsy, heartland rock style.
Bradshaw's 2019 album “Queen of the West” was a sort of concept album about a surreal woman of the last century – “a Western romance as done by Fellini,” as we described it then. In 2021, “The Ghost Light” featured another unique set of characters scrambling to get through life.
“I love Nick Lowe’s music,” said Bradshaw, pointing to some influences. “I love the way Nick Lowe reinvents himself on all his albums. And John Hiatt: his (1988) ‘Bring the Family’ album really brings it all together for me, the storytelling and the Americana musical style. I’ve tried different kinds of writing, even a novel, which was firmly rejected. But I like songs that reflect on other times, and albums where the songs seem to talk to each other. I may seem prolific, but really, all I’m doing is a dozen songs every two years or so, which doesn’t seem like a lot to me.”
Bradshaw’s new album features wonderfully evocative guitar tones throughout, with guitar aces Andrew Stern and Andy Santospago joining him, along with Mike Connors on drums and John Sheran on bass, with guests Kris Delmhorst on vocals, Chad Manning on fiddle and James Rohr on keyboards.
In many places, such as the eerie “Thought I Had a Problem,” or the haunting “Somebody Told Me a Lie,” or the ethereal “Let Sleeping Gods Lie,” Bradshaw’s tunes achieve a Chris Isaak-type effect. The lyrics by themselves seem to mean one thing, but with the moody guitar tones enveloping them, they take on an ever more mysterious aura. It’s an effect Isaak perfected on his biggest hit, “Wicked Game.”
Trying to write his own 'Wicked Game'
“Ah, ‘Wicked Game,’ yes!” said Bradshaw. “That’s one I’ve been trying to rewrite for 20 years. I had two great guitarists working with me, and we went to a lot of trouble to get the sound just right. The only problem with my band is that they are all bandleaders themselves, so it is hard to coordinate all our schedules, which is why this Lizard Lounge date is so special.”
As a storyteller, Bradshaw loves the idea of an album format, and also the chance to make videos that enhance the songs and their tales. That might make him a bit of a throwback, but he’s adamant.
“For ‘Silk Road Caravan’ we just finished a video, an animated one set in the desert,” Bradshaw explained. “The basic idea is that there was an ancient trail for refugees from China to Australia, and the tune is about that and the fellow travelers you meet along the way. I miss the days of musicians having good videos to illustrate the songs – they’re a great promotional item, but I also like them for their own sake.”
As an immigrant himself, Bradshaw can empathize with today’s problems around the Mexican border, and “Rosa” tells a tale about that in a fast-paced four minutes, with several distinct movements, and a mood that goes from quiet mystery to chaos. Jacob Valenzuela of the band Calexico guests on trumpet.
“We wrote that like a little suite, and I always shoot for songs that are cinematic,” said Bradshaw. “It came out of a little jam session, between Andrew Stern and me, and I hope the struggle and fear of those people came through.”
Wife's death a topic for later songs
There’s one subject Bradshaw hasn’t tried to tackle yet, but he knows he eventually will. His wife died last August, but it is still too difficult a subject. He does have another album all planned out, however.
“I can’t go for the songs that are too personal about my wife,” he said. “I can’t do serious writing about that yet, because it is so painful. But I do have another idea for an album, ‘Zona Diva,’ a populistic story about a woman from that border area, and I’m already mapping that out.”
There is also a vinyl version of “The Art of Feeling Blue” coming out, which will have a slightly different order of songs from the streaming and CD version.
Shemekia in Fall River
Shemekia Copeland, hot off winning this year’s Blues Music Award for best vocalist, and her band played a sizzling 105-minute set before about 425 fans at The Narrows Center last Saturday night. Copeland’s set was primarily focused on her most recent three albums, which are built around the kind of world she hopes to leave her son, Johnny, now 6 years old.
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With the summer concert schedules full of big-game guitarslingers, many headlining much bigger venues, Saturday’s show reminded us that music fans of any genre might be well advised to catch Copeland’s excellent band, which features two stellar guitarists.
Arthur Neilson has led her touring band for as long as we can recall, and is a player of immense emotional impact, while Willie Scandlyn is a perfect foil, adding his own shadings of funk here or keening slide accents there. With the tighter-than-tight rhythm section of bassist Kevin Jenkins and drummer Robin Gould, Copeland’s backing quartet is a formidable musical force.
Copeland herself is beyond compare as a powerful blues singer, and many of her tunes are actually as much rock ‘n’ roll as anything.
Her “Clothilda’s on Fire” subtly built to a fiery crescendo, as it depicted the story of the last slave ship. Her potent “Ain’t Got Time for Hate,” which might be seen as advice for her son, raised the roof with its rockin’ fervor. She noted she was a big fan of the late John Prine, and her cover of his “Great Rain” brought it into superbly dynamic rock territory.
The semiautobiographical “Fell In Love with a Honkie” was a fast, country two-step, and it was a nice personal note to hear her confide afterwards that her husband is actually a metal-head, and she has a Metallica concert in her immediate future.
A tune she’d done with Dr. John, “When a Woman’s Had Enough,” was a swampy, genre-crossing delight. The two guitars added a dazzling call-and-response section to “Has Anybody Seen My Man,” trading lightning licks in a blazing sprint.
The gospel romp “Big Brand New Religion” had most of the crowd on its feet and singing along. And the song from her dad, the late Johnny “Clyde” Copeland, “Ghetto Child,” was as always a spine-tingling display of her vocal power and ability to connect with fans of all kinds.
Copeland and her band are one of the most reliable, most powerful units playing at any level these days, a cathartic sojourn any music fan can appreciate.
Weekend festivals dominate local music scene
THURSDAY: Gaelic Storm’s new Irish music at Memorial Hall in Plymouth. Former Jethro Tull guitar ace Martin Barre celebrates their music at The Spire Center. Wishbone Ash rocks City Winery. Austin guitarist Jackie Venson debuts at The Narrows Center. The progressive bluegrass of Sicard Hollow at Soundcheck Studios. Fiddlehead rocks The House of Blues. The Mad Caddies call ‘fore!’ with their ska at Brighton Music Hall.
FRIDAY: Weekend festivals! Suffolk Downs is taken over by the Re-set Fest, with Steve Lacy headlining Friday, LCD Soundsystem on Saturday and boygenius on Sunday. Or check out the free music on the Cohasset Common as the South Shore Arts Fest kicks off with music all weekend, with headliners about 6 p.m. including Dalton & the Sheriffs on Friday, Ward Hayden & the Outliers on Saturday and the Aldous Collins Band on Sunday (4 p.m.). REO Speedwagon rocks The South Shore Music Circus (their Saturday show at Cape Cod Melody Tent is sold out). Catch the Waco Brothers’ alt-country at City Winery, with Pembroke’s Matt York opening. Entrain gets down at Soundcheck Studios. Irish singer Dermot Kennedy at MGM Music Hall. Cloud Nothings and Wavves, touring behind their collaborative album, headline The Paradise. Six metal and goth bands take over The C-Note, with Loserbird and Rocket Gods on the bill. Abigail Washburn (Mrs. Bela Fleck) plays banjo and Wu Fei plays guzheng – sort of a zither – and their duo is unique to say the least, at The Narrows Center. Road Trip: The Lowell Aud welcomes Christopher Cross and Justin Hayward of Moody Blues for a real oldies shindig.
SATURDAY: The Spire Center celebrates BeatlesFest, with Marshfield’s Joe Merrick and the band 67-70. The semi-legendary Fat City Band returns to The C-Note, where singer Paul Redmond provides hockey analysis between sets. The Dave Matthews Band at The Xfinity Center. Pop singer Bebe Rexha at The House of Blues. Hardcore punk rockers Bane open a two-night stand at Roadrunner. Hip-hop star Rick Ross at Big Night Live. Booty Vortex gets down at Soundcheck Studios. Country singer Brett Young’s debut album a few years back went platinum; find out why at The South Shore Music Circus. Southside Johnny at Indian Ranch in Webster (1 p.m.). American Idol (No. 16) alumna Catie Turner at Brighton Music Hall.
SUNDAY & BEYOND: The British R&B star James Hunter is at City Winery on Sunday night; Yo La Tengo brings its quirky pop to The Paradise for two nights; and Rhythm Room Afternoons offer Jason Ricci & the Bad Things, with Racky Thomas opening (1 to 6 p.m.) Monday, the Duppy Conquerors bring reggae to City Winery. Wednesday is packed, with Aldous Collins Band’s residency at Roht Marine underway; comic Brian Regan plays the Cape Cod Melody Tent; and jazz icon Herbie Hancock is at Beverly’s Cabot Theater. June 22 finds Keb Mo at The Cape Cod Melody Tent; Cold Chocolate’s bluegrass at The Spire Center; rock legend Jorma Kaukonen at The Narrows Center; and a Jennifer Coolidge-themed comedy and drag show at City Winery (the Norwell actress will not be there, but has approved the concept). June 23, Rhode Island’s sublime roots band The Silks at The C-Note. June 24, Memorial Hall in Plymouth welcomes Leonid & Friends, a Chicago tribute act consisting of all Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovian and Belarusian musicians. Don’t look now but the band War hits Lynn Auditorium, with The Rascals, on June 25.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Bob Bradshaw celebrates 'The Art of Feeling Blue' with Saturday show
