How Leon Bridges Went From Not Expecting To Be Signed To Impressing The Obamas
11 January 2019 | 5:05 pm
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Bryget Chrisfield
He considers Gene Kelly an inspiration "from a fashion standpoint as well" and Leon Bridges tells Bryget Chrisfield that after turning his mum's story into song ('Lisa Sawyer') he's now working on "a cool one" about his dad.
"So my mum first heard Lisa Sawyer because my friend brought it up one day while we were just hanging out at the house and she was like, 'Yo, you should play your mum that song you wrote about her'. And I don't know why I was holding back - you know, the song from her - but when I played it for her she, I mean, just started bawling! I think she was just proud that, you know, I covered things like, of course, her story but also my grandmother who I never really met, and so it was just about keeping my family within the music.
"Now my dad's askin' for a song!" Leon Bridges chuckles. "I'm actually writing one about him, yeah, it's a cool one."
Bridges is an extremely humble artist. After each question, he lets out an excited, "Yeah!" before responding in a thoughtful and sincere manner. When asked what his musical dreams were while he washed dishes at Del Frisco's Grille in Fort Worth, Texas - up until about four years ago - and performed at the odd open-mic night around town, Bridges offers, "Yeah! For me, you know, I wanted to be in a space where I could make music, play music and support myself. And so what I kinda aspired to do was, like, get good enough just to play around town and play a bunch of gigs and be able to support myself through that. I didn't really see myself doing music on the level, and in the capacity, that I'm doing right now... I wanted to get better at guitar, and writing, and get to the point where I could play music for a living.
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"It's really an overwhelming thing to think about, but, I mean, from day one, you know, I didn't expect to be signed. My whole career, it's just exceeded my expectations: everything from being signed to a major label - having great management and a great team - to playing SNL, meeting the president, having great touring success. you know, that kind of stuff doesn't happen for everyone so I'm blessed to have the opportunity."
Let's just rewind to 2016 and shine a spotlight on the fact that Bridges performed alongside Stevie Wonder, at the White House, as part of then-president Barack Obama's 55th birthday celebrations, shall we? "Oh, yeah!" he laughs. "Um, I went to the White House on two different occasions. Oh, man, it's one of those things that I don't think I've processed: the greatness of those moments... It's a thing that I wish my grandmother could have seen, you know, my grandmother lived in an era where she didn't have the right to vote, and there was a time when she had to sneak out of her mother's house to vote, and so it's amazing to have performed and met the first black president."
"My grandmother lived in an era where she didn't have the right to vote, and there was a time when she had to sneak out of her mother's house to vote, and so it's amazing to have performed and met the first black president."
On whether he considers Stevie Wonder a musical hero, Bridges gushes, "Oh, man, definitely. Like, my father — whenever we would roll around doing errands, and we would go around the city, he would have Stevie Wonder blasting. And so Stevie Wonder has definitely been a huge influence and it was so awesome to see him perform, just him and piano. The funny thing was, when he was singing everybody in the room was just chatting, chatting, chatting, chatting to the point where Michelle [Obama] had to get on the mic and tell everyone to shut up, and these are some of the most influential people in the world! I mean, you've got George Lucas and Gabrielle Union and, you know, it's like, 'Dayum, why you all talkin'?' [laughs]."
As well as impressing the Obamas, Bridges' debut Coming Home set resonated with fans and critics alike thanks to its traditional soul R&B and retro-romance themes. "It wasn't an intentional thing, but it was a project and in a style that not a lot of people were doing and it had success, which is awesome," Bridges acknowledges. But last year's follow-up record, Good Thing, deliberately changed tack, with Bridges exploring more modern pop/R&B. "Yeah! When I look at my second album - and I think it's fun, you know, there's some really awesome moments on there - but I also wanna create the same effect that I did when I released Coming Home [with the release of the next album]... So I'm going forward, I wanna dig deeper into some of my insecurities or, you know, the struggles in the black community. I wanna incorporate more jazz elements, more funk in that kinda way and so, yeah! I've been writing a little bit for it and I've got a bunch of songs that never made it on any of my albums that I'd like to see if I can throw towards the next project."
Does Bridges rap at all? "Haha, noooooooooo. I mean, the funny thing is, growing up, when me and my homies would hang out, we would always mess around and turn on a beat and all take turns freestyling, but that was in the past... I mean, the lovely thing about being a singer is that you can fill up so much of a bar with just, like, one word."
Given the more contemporary feel of Good Thing's material, we wonder whether Bridges has ever been in a club and heard the DJ drop one of these album tracks in the mix. "Yeah, I have, yeah," Bridges enthuses. "That's a rad thing, now that I have music that kinda sits within, I guess you would say, modern music and so, yeah! Recently I was in LA and the DJ dropped this, like, house mix of Bad Bad News and it was really rad to hear that." So did he hit the dancefloor? "Oh, yeah, I was trying to keep it cool, for sure," he laughs, "but, yeah! I definitely started bustin' out some dance moves when he dropped it."
We're tipping punters clocked Bridges dancing and immediately recognised him as the song's author. "No! Nah, nah," Bridges counters. "It's a really cool thing that when I'm out - depending on where I go - I don't really get recognised, which is great — for me to remain anonymous as long as I can. It's nice to have success, but also be able to maintain a normal life. 'Cause I feel bad for some artists who could never just go hang out at a dive bar anywhere, and I enjoy doin' all that kinda stuff, you know?"
His latest If It Feels Good (Then It Must Be) music video was choreographed by Darcy Wallace, an Australian freelance contemporary dance artist, choreographer and Ashtanga yoga teacher based in London. On preparing for the shoot, Bridges recalls, "It was a combination of learning her choreography and incorporating some of my movement as well, but it was a rad time. It was definitely almost a dream come true to be in Paris, and to dance in the streets of Paris; you know, I've wanted to do something a little bit more structured like that - as far as from a dance aspect - and so, yeah! It was a great time."
When asked who his all-time favourite dancers are, Bridges doesn't hesitate in singling out Gene Kelly as an inspiration "from a fashion standpoint as well". "He was just a classy guy and I love [how] he made it seem so effortless, for sure."
Those who have seen Bridges live probably already realise he comes from a dance background. "That was kinda what I initially started before the music thing and so in college I studied a little bit of modern dance and ballet, African and, yeah! All that stuff really prepared me for what I'm doing now in my career."
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