Leon Bridges plays solo acoustic songs at The Current
by Jade
September 20, 2018
Leon Bridges is in town Thursday and Friday, Sept. 20 and 21, playing two shows at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, Minn. Before Thursday's show, Bridges stopped over at The Current for an in-studio session hosted by Jade and broadcast live.
Bridges put out the Grammy-nominated Coming Home in 2015, and it introduced the world to Bridges' velvety voice and soulful sound that conjured comparisons to Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. On May 4, 2018, Bridges released Good Thing, an album that continues to showcase his warm and intimate vocals while exploring a wider variety of musical influences. "A lot of these songs, the lyrical concept throughout the whole album was almost an afterthought," Bridges says. "We started everything just like working some melodies in, and then it was like, 'OK, so this song is going to be about this'."
The in-studio session featured Bridges performing two songs from Good Thing on solo acoustic guitar. Between songs, Bridges opened up to Jade about his songwriting process, about his Texas pride and more.
Listen to the complete session using the audio player above, and read interview highlights below.
Interview Highlights
On the inspiration behind the song, "Beyond"
This particular song is about a gal I met in Los Angeles, and one day, she was like, "I love you." I'd never had a woman tell me that, besides my mother.
It was one of those things where I told her I wasn't ready to pursue a relationship, and so that's kind of what the whole song is about.
On who he'd love to work with in the studio
It would be fun to do something with Drake. [He's] like No. 1 on my list of collaborations.
On what it means to be Texan
For me, I really take pride in Texas and being from Texas. It's just about being bold and pushing the envelope.
On playing at Beto O'Rourke's campaign benefit concert
Beto invited me. … Honestly, I've never really been a huge political person. I feel that the government can be flawed when you put a human being in position to bring order to the country, but the problems aren't going to be fixed by just ignoring that. I feel he's going to be able to do something positive for the community and Texas and beyond that.
On the lyric in his song, "Georgia to Texas," that goes, "I learned in school I didn't measure up / I fell short of what true blackness was"
That comes from my experience in high school, from how my peers viewed me; to them, I didn't fit the standard of what blackness was, and that definitely hurt me and also left me confused about my identity. But of course, I'm totally confident now with who I am.
Songs Performed
"Beyond"
"River"
The first song is from Leon Bridges' 2018 album, Good Thing, and the second is from Bridges' 2015 debut, Coming Home, both available on Columbia Records.
Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael Demark and Brandon Smith
Portraits by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor
External Link
Leon Bridges - official site
