Evoking images of late-night highway drives under the Milky Way, just reaching the edge of town as dawn breaks.  Just the kind of place where childhood dreams clash with adult realities. That's the space in which Kip Bradley creates.

Runaway Train

Moon Threw The Trees

Minimum Wage

Limped Back Home

Lights Out

Gone South

Hunky Diamond

Evoking images of late-night highway drives under the Milky Way, just reaching the edge of town as dawn breaks.  Just the kind of place where childhood dreams clash with adult realities. That's the space in which Kip Bradley creates.


Good Man

Clementine

Split Wide

Kip Bradley has a voice that will make your blood run cold. At times he sings with a mercurial warble, at others with the shriek of a bird of prey, but always with electricity. It's rare to run across such a powerful voice that retains melodiousness at its most intense. The Tennessee- based singer/songwriter uses his instrument to stunning effect via an unique brand of Americana that doesn't eschew the influence of the classic-rock radio that every southern kid grew up with. And there is a childlike wonder that runs through the ten songs of Hunky Diamond, Bradley's debut album. From woodsy, acoustic fingerpicking to primal rock, with starry atmospherics and gorgeous slide guitar in tow, the album evokes images of late-night highway drives under the Milky Way, just reaching the edge of town as dawn breaks. From woodsy, acoustic fingerpicking to primal rock, with starry atmospherics and gorgeous slide guitar in tow, the album evokes images of late-night highway drives under the Milky Way and making it into town just as dawn breaks. Just the kind of place where childhood dreams clash with adult realities.

These songs were written and recorded mostly at nighttime, after Bradley worked long days at his construction job. The lyrics reflect this "I use my hands," Bradley recorded all the instruments (except drums, which were played by Tim Newton) on an outdated computer with ragtag equipment in any place he could find. The results are breathtaking. Bradley's arrangements brim over with creative flourish--they are constantly surprising and often stunningly beautiful. Bradley has learned the craft of recording well, and developed an exquisite taste for dynamics. His resume includes a stint at Sweet Tea Studios in Oxford, MS, where Modest Mouse recorded Good News for People Who Love Bad News, as well as time in the offices of Fat Possum and Domino Records.

Born in the middle of five brothers in a church-going North Georgia family, Kip grew up singing James Taylor songs in the car with his father, and it was on a borrowed guitar from church that he learned to play his first chords. When he reached adulthood he went out to Oregon, Mississippi, North Carolina and New York City before landing back near home in Chattanooga, TN, nursing a broken heart. There, on the shores of the Tennessee River, he rose from his ashes, forming the rock group, SharkWeek, that has toured extensively throughout the Southeast and become well- loved there. Since then he has made an extremely compelling statement with these "songs about tearing yourself down and seeking redemption." He plans to tour all around the United States in 2015, playing both acoustically and with a full electric ensemble.

By- Clark Williams


Kip Bradley

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