H.O.T. Records

****1/2

One thing’s certain, Texan Garrett Bradford sounds like a well-developed original musician from the first notes of this follow-up album. Is it revolutionary? No. Is it something you never heard before? No. What’s provided here is a clean, energetic, lean grass-roots country that’s about as buried deep and rich as truffles. Only these fungi bring a suave beat, with powerfully flavoured melodies and everything that made traditional honky-tonk music so ass-kickingly original. It has been a total pleasure watching and listening to Garrett’s career unfold as it should. It’s all there—the songs, the voice, the entertaining stage presence. Garrett made a big impact when his breakout track, This Way Of Life was featured in the Yellowstone TV series and became the most Shazammed country song in America the day after it aired. Most of the time, there’s pressure on a new kid to prove they’re no one-hit-wonder—but when your hit is a classic like This Way Of Life, who sweats the pressure? This is a stellar collection of tunes that run the gamut through savoury music. Each song to a degree has a signature break, sound, or approach. Simply polished to a high shine. This guy is no wanna-be … he’s got Authenticity. Capital A.

His family’s own western backstory revolving around his father being a fourth generation Texas rancher and his mother making the move from Montana to Texas to train horses, contributes to that authenticity, but equally importantly, it adds a genuine sense of homegrown sentiment that tugs on the heartstrings, while also adding a true personal perspective to these tunes. The well-worn tales of a generation past reflect the region’s rich history, one that is accompanied by a steadfast devotion to the land, even as the rigours of Mother Nature, and the encroachment of the city folks and big corporations threaten their hardy resolve. Garrett’s investment in the material is obvious early on.  The songs trace the actual events that shaped that rugged region, and this set often comes across like an episode straight out of a Ken Burns documentary.

The album is book-ended by This Way Of Life. He opens with the stripped-back acoustic version used in Yellowstone and closes with a later radio-edit rendition. This song gets right to the heart and soul of how tough life as a farmer or rancher can be in this modern world. Unlike so many of the pseudo cowboys prancing the sidewalks of Nashville, this guy has lived it, and when he sings ‘a hundred years of roots run deep’ it comes from the soul. Then, on cut two, instead of duplicating this type of tune for momentum, he goes into the toe-tapping Comanche Moon, a track that could have been unearthed from a long lost 1978 Chris LeDoux cassette. Then he goes into ballad mode with subtle sound and lyrics on Firefly that resonates with finely picked mandolin and guitar. A steady melancholy beat with potent lyrics about the changing landscape in the endless pursuit of progress; this song really hits home.

Then there are standard suited songs like She Loves Horses, with the answer ‘but she hates me,’ an emotional break-up song or One Two Step, a danceable love song that swirls around your head as well as the dancefloor. He shows he’s definitely not a one-trick pony with the gently menacing, Trouble In The Pines, a brutal revenge song with a shot of ominous lyrics of murder in the dark lands. Garrett Bradford dispenses a truckload of well-written original rootsy music on what could be this year’s most adventurous mainstream country album. The musicians drop right inside each tune with ease and add their stylistically diverse stamp to enhance his rich and vibrant vocals.

https://garrettbradford.com

May 2025