Bob Bradshaw— Call It What You Will

It is hard to call Bob Bradshaw a folkie but even the rockers on American Echoes scream folk. Bob Bradshaw must be one of the musicians who forced the whole Americana genre— those who fit into various categories depending upon song because he certainly does not fit a mold. Forget that his voice and writing styles reflect a cross between Jeff Finlin and Paul Curreri, two singer/songwriters of immense talent. Forget that he delves into territory seldom entered— that of emotional and lyrical gold. Forget that he is from Cork, Ireland but sounds much more like he is from Boston, a city he has lived in since 2003. Forget everything. You listen to American Echoes and you hear Bob Bradshaw, musician/poet, and for those moments, that’s all you need.

Bradshaw has a hand in every song on the album but only claims the opener and closer for himself: “Exotic Dancers Wanted,” a look at the dark personal side of strippers and their followers, so to speak, and “Old Soldiers” who never die because they just fade away. Sandwiched between those songs are ten written in collaboration with others, a few which could easily be called classic. “Call It What You Will” (video above), a moody, bumpy, rhythmic ride through the chafe of relationships; “The Assumptions We Make,” a mixture of folk and rock produced to perfection; “Working On My Protest Song,” a bit of jazzy folk dissonance between major chord progressions (a song well within the Paul Curreri wheelhouse); “Weight of the World,” the one real rocker on the album (pure rock ‘n’ roll); “My Double and I,” a slinky, jazzy and humorous comparison of doppelganger personalities (very Randy Newman); and “Oh Brother,” a song I am still processing and a song I am loving while doing it.

I could see this one slipping through the cracks just because Bradshaw is so varied in his approach to each song, but it could also easily be a Sleeper. One of those albums you never give its just due until you realize that you have been playing it more than anything else in your collection. I give it the status of Paul Curreri’s The Big Shitty, a collection of songs so unique I doubt I will ever hear their like again. Some of Bradshaw’s songs are immediate classics in my mind. The kind of songs songwriters and musicians listen to. The kind of songs which become part of your DNA.  

Songwriting: A+. Performance: A. Production: A. That goes for everyone involved.