BRAD COLERICK LEAVES HIS LEGACY WITH When I’m Gone
California Troubadour’s Third CD Is One For The Ages
“I don’t want to die in Nashville” – the opening lyric on Brad Colerick’s latest CD, When I’m Gone, isn’t about Colerick’s distaste for the Tennessee town. “The song is really about facing my fear of being an artist again,” a role Colerick jumped back into after 19 years producing music for ads. Since that leap in 2006 with the release of Cottonwood and a year later with Lines In The Dirt, Colerick has turned many heads in the roots music world. He landed in the top 5 of the Folk-DJ and Euro-Americana charts, was a finalist in singer-songwriter competitions at Kerrville, Falcon Ridge, and Sisters Folk Festivals, and debuted on hallowed stages across the country – from McCabes and Freight & Salvage to the Bluebird and Birchmere. Billboard Magazine called him “one of a baker’s dozen of acts to watch in the folk community around the world.”
The record features an impressive cast of west coast musicians – among them Kenny Edwards, Larry Klein, Herb Pedersen, and Dan Navarro. “I’ve wrestled for years with the idea of moving to Nashville but didn’t want to get lost in the sea of music row songwriters,” says Colerick, who has lived in Southern California since 1986 when he moved from his native Nebraska. “I’ve become close with so many wonderful players here in Los Angeles, it’s hard to imagine leaving.” Colerick’s work for Sears, Coca-Cola, and other top brands allowed him time to find his voice as an artist while working alongside such Music City royalty as Johnny Cash, Amy Grant, and Suzy Bogguss. His duet with Bogguss on 2007’s Lines In The Dirt lead to opening a number of her shows where they performed the song together.
Colerick is co-owner of DeepMix, a music supervision and production company based in Hollywood. “I love the contrast of being on the singer-songwriter circuit and returning to the hustle of Los Angeles. It’s a bit of a love/hate relationship – but mostly love.” The song “Crazy For Hollywood” captures that love/hate relationship in a tongue-in-cheek indictment of the Hollywood lifestyle and a few of its benefactors. It singles out Lisa Kudrow and her ‘friends’ as well as Billy Bob Thornton, all of whom Colerick has encountered in real life Hollywood.
He commutes on the train from his home in South Pasadena to his studio in Hollywood, a scene depicted in the cover photograph – a self-portrait taken with the MacBook Air computer that accompanies him on his daily commute. “My train time has become a very creative window for me. I get inspired watching and interacting with all different types of people on the subway.” The decision to utilize mass transit in a city not known for being particularly transit friendly was one Colerick made over ten years ago, prompted by environmental concerns. Those concerns come to the surface in “Leave It All Behind,” a haunting anthem which implores us to leave the world a better place ‘for our sons and daughters’.
The album features ten Colerick originals and one obscure cover about a drunk rooster by fellow troubadour Joe Crookston, whom Colerick met when they were both performing at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. “Anisia Valentina” is a song commissioned by a couple who adopted a little girl from Russia. Colerick sang at the couple’s wedding 25 years earlier but lost touch with them until a recent performance they attended. “What’s In Front Of Me”, co-written by Colerick, was used as a theme song in a podcast series that focused on raising awareness of America’s healthcare crisis. The song was covered by 17 different artists involved in the project including guitar great, Duane Jarvis, who recently died of colon cancer. “DJ had no health insurance as is the case with so many in the music community. It’s a broken system and it’s up to us to fix it.”
The superb musicianship of Colerick and his friends give these rich, lucid songs the top-notch presentation they deserve. The productions – many of which feature banjo in rather unconventional ways – never upstage the songs or Colerick’s voice, which are always the centerpiece. With When I’m Gone, Colerick need not fret about being buried in the cluttered vaults of Nashville: these tunes will continue to resonate in the hearts of those who appreciate great songs, well performed, long after he’s gone.
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