Tell us about yourself and your music
I have been playing guitar since I was 14 years old. I always had a great love for the Blues and British Rock, but growing up in South Louisiana there was a huge influence of local music, ranging from Swamp Pop, Cajun, and Zydeco, which over the years I played it all. Louisiana is just a large Gumbo of different styles of music all mixed, I was so fortunate to grow up in a musical atmosphere like this. I was very fortunate from early on to play with some of Louisiana’s greatest artist, ranging from “Lil’ Paul Buck Sinegal, Roscoe Chenier, which is both in the Blues Hall Of Fame and the Louisiana Hall Of Fame, Lee Allen Zeno is also a great friend that played base guitar along with “Lil’ Buck Sinegal and Greg Gordan which these guys played with the great Buckwheat Zydecoe. Music is my life, my hands seem empty without holding a guitar, no matter how bad of a day you have, music can change your mood in a moment! Roscoe Chenier had been trying to get me to record for years and sadly he didn’t live to see me put this album out and “Lil’ Buck Sinegal finally talked me into doing this project after hearing a couple of my original songs, so we got together in my home studio and recorded the album No More Blues, but “Lil Buck passed away before it was released, for as I know this was the last recording of “Lil’ Buck Sinegal. I plan to record another album soon and play where ever my music takes me!
Talk to us more about your latest release
My latest release No More Blues has 3 original songs and 3 cover songs. I wrote the 3 original songs as part of therapy, I was going through a divorce at the time so I just wrote from the heart, especially on the track No More Blues which is the title track. There is something for all Blues lovers on this disk, from low down blues to rocking foot-stomping blues to Swamp Blues! If you like guitar based Blues/Rock, you will enjoy this E P with some of Louisiana’s greatest artists backing me!
https://https://open.spotify.com/album/4l1VEkDOPvypdyg2lM4nkr?si=xTgxKpDySCOpLT462V0M9g
What inspired you to write this release?
Living life inspired me to write this release and the great musicians I played with over the years who believed in me.
Describe the writing and recording process
I write all the time with no set time to do it, I always have something nearby to write lyrics when it hits me. On this particular album, the music came first, others the lyrics. The recording was simple, recorded in my home studio. The band was tracked live with very few overdubs, it has a live raw sound which was exactly what we were after. We did our best to get an honest representation of what we sounded like a living, which isn’t easy to do in the studio, the only overdubs were the vocals, everything else was recorded in one shot!
Any plans to release a video?
Any plans to hit the road?
I wish at this time I could give tour dates, but with the COVID 19 Pandemic, all dates have been canceled, unfortunately. We do plan to start gigging as soon as the clubs and festivals open back up, many dates will have to be rescheduled, so just follow us and we will let everyone know when we start back up, more than likely the first dates will be in Louisiana and Mississippi, but time will tell!
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
Just being from South Louisiana is going to give me a different sound, we have so many different influences, one night you might be playing in a Zydeco band and the next night in a Blues band. It affects how you play subconsciously. Everything you hear and play, in the end, affects how you play. My sound is a mixture of Blues, Rock and Swamp Blues, and everything else in between. I am just a guitar player with a few words to say, trying to be soulful as possible.
Who have you been listening to lately?
I listen to just as many locals as I do to the bigger acts, but just to name a few: “Lil’ Paul Buck Senegal, Clifton Chenier, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, which I have been lucky enough to jam with his brother Benny Turner. I also listen to Cream, Joe Bonamassa, and Kirk Fletcher. There are many more, just too many to list.
Who are your biggest influences?
My biggest influences are probably Louisiana artist when I was growing up, Ronnie Vice who is a great guitar player and one of the best vocalist I have ever shared the stage with, was a huge influence on me and many more in the Acadiana area where I live. B. B. King was a great influence, studied him early on and still do, a great player with so much feeling, I had the pleasure of meeting him on two occasions, Love Eric Clapton, love the aggressiveness of Freddie King and you can’t leave out Stevie Ray Vaughan, seen him play before he made it on the world scene. Louisiana has its style of Blues, But so does Texas and the two states are next door to each other, so you always have influences just from proximity. If I could sound like anyone but myself, it would have to be Johnny Winter, the man was incredible!
Tell us about your passions
Music is my life, but I love my 1969 Corvette, riding my Harley, hunting, and camping in the great swamps of Louisiana!
What else is happening next in your world?
I just can’t wait to start gigging again after all this COVID19 is over with and already planning my next album which will have a more aggressive style of guitar, I am already writing songs for that next project but we will not record till the later part of the year. I am very much pushing to go on longer tours and possibly overseas but only the future will tell!
Thanks for an awesome interview, Brad James Swallow
Connect with Brad James Swallow
Website: https://bradjamesswallow.hearnow.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bradjamesswallow/?modal=admin_todo_tourYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdq1rZkjPj4dISQiJ6PKxXA
