A stunning debut album from the Liverpool based guitar virtuoso Danny Bradley. Prepare to be charmed and astounded…
Release Date: Out now
Label: Self Release
Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital
SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL INDEED
Welcome to Small Talk Songs, the debut album from the Liverpool basedguitarist, singer and songwriter. He’s currently generating a tsunami of waves and causing jaws to drop in provincial towns all over the country accompanying Fairport Convention on their 2025 Winter Tour. We’re used to hearing accomplished debut albums from accomplished new artists but Small Talk Songs is something very special indeed.
Fairport Convention have, of course, built a formidable reputation when it comes to introducing their followers to excellent, innovative and supremely talented musical performers. Ones who make an indelible impression upon those fortunate enough to hear them. Danny Bradley is the latest addition to a list that already includes the likes of Plumhall, Hannah Sanders and Ben Savage, Smith & Brewer, annA rydeR, Edwina Hayes, Luke Jackson and so many, many more.
GUITAR BOTHERING
Winner of the Liverpool Acoustic Judges’ Award, 2021, Danny is a finger-style guitarist extraordinaire. Even before setting off on his adventures with Fairport he’d built quite a reputation for himself with opening slots for Martin Carthy, Tony McManus, Jon Gomm and Jeffrey Foucault. On the Fairport tour, he’s already astounded the ATB team with his fluid fingerpicking and his use of guitar-percussion and harmonics. Even Simon Nicol – himself no slouch when it comes to picking an acoustic guitar – has been observed to stand back in wonder, referring to Danny’s prowess as “guitar bothering.”
It isn’t just Danny’s extraordinary guitar skills that have been turning heads, either. He writes songs that are well-crafted, with observational, thought-provoking and enigmatic lyrics. His non-original material – mainly blues standards and traditional ballads – is chosen with outstanding taste and empathy. He then delivers his songs with a crystal clear voice that’s capable of sending shudders down the spine of a statue.
Small Talk Songs is a collection that reflects his live repertoire. The songs are predominantly his own, with a few outstanding blues covers and a traditional song thrown in for good measure. The album was recorded at home, in his Liverpool city centre flat using three microphones. During the recording process, he opened the door to his little fifth-floor balcony so that the songs of the local seagulls could be heard, lilting quietly in the background as he sang and played. The result? An enchanting album, crammed with enchanting songs and oodles of the best acoustic guitar playing that you’ll ever, ever hear. Small Talk Songs is a triumph.
OBSERVATIONS AND SWEET INTENSITY
Those Scouse seagulls are in evidence right from the outset. Danny launches into the bluesy If He Ever Blinks and the listener is moved to agree that there’s absolutely no exaggeration in the praise that’s been heaped upon his guitar skills, his songwriting and his voice. The blues gets its first outing with Danny’s interpretation of Memphis Minnie’s Kissing In The Dark. His percussive guitar work is well-rationed as he takes the song to places never before imagined and his vocal delivery is wholly authentic. The English accent helping, rather than hindering his sincerity.
Danny’s been featuring the magnificent All Over The Floor in his set on the current tour and it’s a wise selection. His fingerpicking would probably make even Richard Thompson sit up and take notice. Lyrics like: “Yesterday’s war is all over the floor; plastic cups on the ground, outlasting all the ups and downs” are an astute summary of the aftermath – the litter and the vague memories – of a raucous night out in Liverpool’s Cavern Quarter. Astute observations are also the order of the day for Michelin Star. Four-and-a-bit minutes’ worth of sweet intensity as Danny describes his endurance of shattered dreams through the eyes of a third party.
The fascinating, challenging lyrics to Pulling Free – particularly their Dylan Thomas reference – compel the listener to study and penetrate. The literary references continue into the gutsy blues of Fire & Muse. The song opens its tongue-in-cheek tale of doom and rejection with a quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet. If you were puzzled by the earlier reference to guitar-percussion, you’ll get the message when you hear him alternately pick and slap his guitar to achieve maximum bluesy impact.
SEAGULLS AND A FAMILIAR TUNE
The seagulls are back for the gentle, Celtic-flavoured Balcony Birds. Indeed, the seagulls ARE the Balcony Birds of the song’s title. It’s a charming song, with lyrics that reflect Danny’s feelings of isolation and inadequacy when he’s alone in his flat. And, if the introspection is getting to you, don’t worry. The mood lightens a little for Company Paper. A fast-paced song that isn’t quite a rag, but comes pretty damned close.
The atmospheric Bargain provides another taste of life when things aren’t going too well. Danny saves his guitar heroics for the amazing fills, to give himself a little space to tell his sad story. “I’ve been told I’m a risk of flight – but I’ve not got a dime for the fine daylight. I know I won’t be going home…”
The traditional Shady Grove is sung to a tune that Bradley converts from the Fairport tour will find utterly familiar. You’ll have to buy the album to find out why. It’s a Danny Bradley guitar showpiece, and he sings it beautifully, before he shows us exactly what he’s capable of doing with a blues standard. As he tackles Chester Burnett’s Sittin’ On Top Of The World, the result is, quite possibly, the best interpretation that I’ve ever heard of this well-known song. It’s deft, it’s respectful and it’s irresistibly engaging. Listeners will marvel at Danny’s guitar work and revel in his vocal delivery. A delivery which switches from a resigned whisper to a passionate howl, as the lyrics require.
BLUES AS IT SHOULD BE PLAYED
There’s a touch of ‘production’ to I’m Gone, I’m Gone. Danny’s co-conspirator Dylan Cassin has added a few soothing chimes of electric guitar and some reassuring backing vocals to sit alongside Danny’s voice and his flowing guitar. The impact is outstanding. But it’s a final blast of the blues that brings this excellent album to its close. Once again, Danny comes up with what I’d consider to be a ‘newly-definitive’ version, when he tackles Willie Dixon’s 29 Ways. Just listen to that pattering along his guitar fretboard and to his pleading vocals. That’s how the blues should be performed.
Danny Bradley is new name to me but, as Small Talk Songs repeatedly demonstrates, he’s a major talent-in-waiting. Mark my words. He’s an artist that you MUST see, hear, understand and embrace.
Watch the official video to I’m Gone, I’m Gone – a track from the album – here:
Danny Bradley online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube
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