<\/p>\n
When and how did you start playing guitar?<\/strong><\/p>\n I got a guitar at 10, but I was bummed that it wasn\u2019t an electric. I stuck a microphone in the sound hole! I took a few lessons at 11 and after I sent a tape (remember those) of myself playing to my dad in Hawaii, I got a white knockoff Stratocaster for my 12th birthday. I\u2019ve never wanted a \u201cthing\u201d more in my life and I still have that guitar.<\/p>\n What kind of musical influence did growing up in Hawaii and California have on you? <\/strong><\/p>\n Songs have a life of their own and in Hawaii, people didn\u2019t really separate genres when I was a kid. I thought \u201cBlackwater,\u201d \u201cBrown Eyed Girl\u201d and \u201cLay Down Sally\u201d were Hawaiian songs until I went away to college. My first tape was Ka’au Crater Boys \u201cValley Style.\u201d I listened to it so much that I can sing the ukulele solos and the words from memory. That uke player is one of the best improvisers I\u2019ve ever heard and I definitely stole some of his style for my guitar playing. I think his name is Troy Fernandez.<\/p>\n What would you say constitutes a great live performance? Has there been one performance that has stood out from the rest as the most memorable for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Great question. I do my best to really be with the audience. Looking into their eyes and make it about these songs and stories that connect us. It might sound hokey, but I don\u2019t care. We are only here for a small moment and if I’m up there singing these songs I wanna share the moment with the people listening. They pay their hard earned money and come out to enjoy themselves. I want to make sure that happens. I\u2019m grateful to share my songs with them.<\/p>\n I like to dance around and I love big dramatic shows but it\u2019s still all about the music. I was blown away at P!nk\u2019s show and ZZ top\u2019s show. P!nk flew through the air and ZZ top pretty much just stood there but both of them had great music at the foundation.<\/p>\n The first time I sang my own songs in public I was 17 with my punk band. It was on the football field at my high school in Kahuku and it stands out as the first moment where I thought, \u201cThis is it for me. This is what I\u2019m doing with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you have a favorite song that you have written?<\/strong><\/p>\n Usually the one I\u2019ve most recently written, but \u201cHollywood Endings\u201d stands out as being good on all levels — lyric, melody, form, emotion. I can\u2019t even remember writing it, it was like a gift that came from the air.<\/p>\n Who are some of your musical heroes and what do you love about them?<\/strong><\/p>\n I love the personality in the playing of Freddie King and Brian Setzer, but as a pure artist I look up to Jimi Hendrix a lot. Dick Cavitt asked him on TV one time about politics and Jimi said, \u201cpolitics is the art of lies, music is the truth.\u201d That resonates with me. I can see that all of us are the same at the core. Most of our opinions and beliefs have a tendency to separate us, but time and time again I see people with drastically different backgrounds and beliefs loving the same song. I know a guy who is so on the left that he constantly complains about the right, and I have a cousin who is very conservative. Both of these people can\u2019t resist singing along to \u201cAmarillo by Morning\u201d and both of them would do anything for their friends and family.<\/p>\n Tell me a little bit about the song \u201cThe Next Aldean Show\u201d that you and Justin Busch co-wrote. <\/strong><\/p>\n The day after the Route 91 tragedy, I was with Justin and his wife who had been there. We are all really close and we had so many friends there. I still struggle to understand why some people hurt others like that. Music has always been a way to process the hard moments in my life so that day we just wanted to do something for our country music family and all the people affected, so we wrote the song with the hope to bring us all together and empower country fans to get back out and enjoy the music and live shows. All the proceeds go to the National Compassion Fund and directly to the victims and their families.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/audiotheme.com\/content\/uploads\/ry-bradley-live-performance.jpg\")
<\/p>\n