An 8 a.m. telephone interview with Sam Bradley — 2 in the afternoon for him — sounded OK when his publicist said that was the time he was available. Little did I know that I’d be working on other assignments for the paper until 2:30 a.m. the day of the interview, or that I wouldn’t be able to sleep until almost 4.
I was at my desk at 8 a.m. as agreed, but felt like death warmed over.
I placed the call. “How are you?” Sam asked politely. I decided he deserved the truth.
“I’m a little tired as well,” he replied. From that moment on it was like talking with an old friend.
“I’m in a car, traveling to St. Louis,” he added, getting those preliminaries out of the way. The trip was going to take four hours, so we had plenty of time for an interview.
Bradley, a native of London who’s best known for “Too Far Gone,” the song he co-wrote with Robert Pattinson of “Twilight” fame, is in town this weekend for two solo acoustic shows at the-Venue.
Though he’s been doing a lot of work recently with a small band, he said, “the acoustic thing is definitely something that I am very comfortable with and want to explore more as well.”
“I hope it’s touching people when it’s supposed to … (but) I’m not taking myself too seriously. That is something that I really think is coming across; it’s something I’m really happy about,” he said.
As of this week Bradley had performed in 48 of the 50 states. Now he can add Hawaii to the list.
He’s bringing CDs with him. Much of his work to date has been available only as digital downloads, but “Zuni,” released last November, is a traditional CD, with five first-time recordings plus remastered versions of three songs from a 2009 self-titled debut project.
BRADLEY’S “Twilight” song, “Too Far Gone,” appeared on the “Twilight” soundtrack album as “Never Think.” Pattinson was the vocalist, but Bradley’s career has been accelerating ever since.
His fan base is international, and a concert tour of the Philippines made in the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy was documented in a digital film.
Writing “Too Far Gone” didn’t feel like work, he said: “I definitely work on songs, but that one was extremely organic in its approach in that I was drunk and so was the other writer, and we were just chilling out. … It just so happened that that song really boosted my career.”
Some artists hit big with a song that isn’t really representative of what they do — Don Ho and “Tiny Bubbles,” for example. Bradley is comfortable for the moment with “Too Far Gone” being his best-known work.
“I skip lightly across a few genres, so that’s a ballad and I’ve definitely got more of those, (but) I try to be as eclectic as possible, or as my acoustic guitar
allows.”
“My writing for the most part is from personal experience. I do have some story-based songs, but that still comes from personal experience or from me being affected by something I’ve read or watched.”
His experiences have not been conventional. At 16 he left school in London, then moved to Vancouver with his mother.
“It bought me some time to figure things out,” he said. “If I’d stayed in London, I’d have had to get a job immediately. I ended up going to high school (in Canada) for a couple of months, just to meet people, really; it wasn’t for education purposes,” he said. “I met someone and she became my girlfriend.”
Girlfriend aside, Bradley “couldn’t really fit in” in Vancouver and returned to London. He “hopped between places, doing odd jobs and odd things” while he explored different options.
“That was kind of when I started playing guitar, too,” he noted, “so I hopped around and started writing.”
Soon, Bradley made a complete commitment to music as a career.
The commitment paid off, and at 24 he’s an internationally known artist.
“The biggest payoff for me is being able to travel and meet people,” he said. “That’s something that I’ve always loved doing, ever since I can remember, and the fact that I get to do it through something I completely love and am completely committed to is pretty special.”
SAM BRADLEY
Where: The Venue, 1144 Bethel St.
When: 8:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow (doors open at 7:30)
Cost: $20 at the door
Info: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/ or http://www.sambradley.com/
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