The Americana tag more often than not denotes good driving tunes designed for the trucker and troubadour that dwell somewhere within us all. Bob Bradshaw's sixth album is a prime example of the genre at its best.
Bradshaw grew up in Ireland but was educated in bars, clubs and honky tonks across the United States and at Boston's Berklee College of Music.
His roving spirit is plain to hear and means that he's equally happy cruising to the bluesy Losing You or ambling along on the noirish Crazy Heart.
On the journey he follows his hopes and dreams through twelve country-tinged tunes classily fleshed out with tasteful brass sections and well-judged string arrangements.
|
Along the way the mood ranges from the jaunty title track to the melancholy of Sad Songs and includes a reviving detour into the Western swing of Go Get Along where he duets with Annalise Emerick.
All in all it serves well as a soundtrack to an imaginary road movie about finding your true self that begins with a young boy running across open fields in The Start of Nothin’ and ends happily, if a little wistfully, with a The Long Ride Home.
Bob Bradshaw's website
|
