Being Bradley Walker

Late this summer I was fortunate to produce a video piece about bluegrass newcomer Bradley Walker for his label, Rounder Records. I'd heard a bit about him and seen him sing once with his friend and label-mate Alecia Nugent, the subject of an earlier post. Bradley's an enormously talented singer from Athens, Alabama who internalized hard core country music at the earliest possible age. That he has Muscular Distrophy and has been in a wheelchair his entire life has had seemingly no inpact on his desire to sing seriously, except perhaps to bolster it. He's getting a lot of attention from fellow artists, and his CD release concert at the Ryman Auditorium kicking off the IBMA convention should have the entire bluegrass world talking. He was spectacular.

Our goal in telling Bradley's story on video was, to be sure, to capture the attention of major national media. So there are a few moments in this piece that feel like a traditional EPK (despite my complete aversion to that term), but basically I had in mind a documentary treatment of a compelling and talented guy whom I really came to enjoy and admire. There are no credits on this piece, so let's clarify here that this wouldn't have been possible without editing from Sarah Wood and technical assistance from John McPherson. John still talks about the chills he got hearing Bradley sing a capella on his porch. Thanks also to the folks at Rounder Records. Please pass word of this video along. I hope Bradley sells a lot of CDs. SEE THE VIDEO HERE. Feedback welcome.

Comments

[Brance]

Nice work Craig. I enjoyed it. Bradley is such a great singer, I hope the video does him some good and he can see his dreams come to reality.