About Darrin Bradbury's Newark
Darrin Bradbury is an American satirist and ANTI- Records’ newest signing, with songs that celebrate the humor and heartbreak of everyday American life. “I was born in Union City, New Jersey and I thought a lot about leaving as a kid,” Bradbury explained. “I think it is in the water where I’m from – the impulse to run for it. I eventually did.”
“By the time I was 22 I’d seen 38 of the 48 continental United States,” Bradbury continued. “It was the 2000’s, you couldn’t filter the world the way you do now. It was flip-phones and printed out MapQuest directions. Nobody checked in – so I checked out.” Bradbury has spent the past decade traveling his way across the country, making pit stops at dive bars, listening rooms, punk houses, and world-class theaters along the way. Now based in East Nashville, "Newark," Bradbury’s love letter to his New Jersey hometown is available now.
““Newark” is a song I didn’t like at first. I don’t often write with so much on my sleeve; not at least without a healthy dose of cynicism and self-deprecation along with it,” Bradbury explained. “There’s an earnestness to the northeast that I tried to capture with this song; a hopefulness that persists despite inevitable odds. In short, I was homesick. So I wrote something that I felt would hit close to home.”
The places and people Bradbury has met during his cross-country trips all find their way into his music — the seedy characters filling America’s underbelly, the corporate elite working out of corner offices, the blue-collar "everymen" who refill our coffee cups and ring up our purchases at Office Depot — which follow in the offbeat tradition of John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker & Todd Snider.
On signing to ANTI- Bradbury exclaimed, “Partnering with ANTI- Records is a dream come true. Their long history of championing innovative and offbeat artists is not only awe-inspiring as a listener but humbling as a writer. Their roster speaks loudly and without reservation for itself and I am honored to have the opportunity to contribute to it.”
Out on the road Darrin has previously had the honor of touring alongside some of Americana's past and future legends including Margo Price, Billy Joe Shaver, Elizabeth Cook, Ray Wylie Hubbard & Wanda Jackson.