Getting to know Bradley Walker

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Joey + Rory fans will likely recognize their friend, vocalist Bradley Walker. Bradley was blessed with a beautiful baritone voice that made a fan of the country duo after hearing him on MySpace. From there, a friendship developed, even to the point that Bradley sang at Joey’s funeral. With his second album, Call Me Old-Fashioned (buy), on the way, we asked the bluegrass artist a few questions in an effort to get to know him more. (Click the “play” button above to watch his music video “Leave It There” on this page)

We’d love to start with your own background. What’s your earliest musical memory?
That would have to be singing “Why Me” on local television when I was about three-years-old. Then I sang the Oak Ridge Boys’ classic “Elvira” at age four in a local variety music show with a full band behind me. I knew at a very early age that music was going to be a huge part of my life.

How did you first meet Rory and Joey Feek?
We laugh and say that we met the “old-fashioned” way—on MySpace—and that is the truth! They had heard my bluegrass record and found me online. We exchanged e-mail messages, talked on the phone and I eventually made a trip to hear them sing and play at Marcy Jo’s. That night—the first night we ever met in person—we sat after their show and talked for three hours about life, songs, music and all the things we love. I left knowing I’d just met two people I wanted to keep in my life forever.

How meaningful was it for you to be asked to perform at her funeral?
Too meaningful to ever really be able to put into words. As a singer, I don’t think you can be honored much more than for someone you love so much—as a singer and as a dear friend—to request that you sing for her one last time. What an honor!

The new album is Call Me Old-Fashioned. What made this the right title for this set of songs?
I hope this set of songs will tell the listeners something about the man who’s singing them. I am old-fashioned—I take pride in being old-fashioned—loving the Lord, loving my family, being thankful for the people in my life and for all the many, many blessings I’ve been given and living a simple life and taking time to enjoy all of the simple things that make life worth living. Although they shouldn’t be, so much of these values are lost in today’s world, so hopefully these songs will make people want to bring some of that back.

What do you want readers to know about you and your music more than anything else?
How blessed I am to get to sing and make records full of great songs with stories about real, everyday life and all of the emotions that go with it. I hope folks can hear my music and know that it’s real…that it comes straight from my heart.