Brady is an L.A. based singer/songwriter who frequently performs in the Los Angeles area. The Texas born, former busker (London & Paris underground) has had his songs placed on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, featured in independent films, hand picked by screenwriter Joe Esterhaus (the song 'All of You Suck") and chosen by the rock band Collective Soul as "Best Rock Entry" (for the song "Sunday Shining") in the "Born on the WWW" song competition. He was also a critic's pick at the 1999 NXNW music conference. ln 1997, Brady released Next Door to Nowhere, which received fine critical notice and was followed by the "Bums of London Tour '98". Winter of '99 sees the release of his latest CD, Good Luck Stranger.

Instruments played: guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion

PRESS

Been crying in your beer lately? This heartfelt collection of boozy ballads could be the perfect companion in those lonely, soul-searching, self-pitying moments. Reflecting a life filled with shabby rooms, last calls and missing persons, Next Door to Nowhere is packed with subtly arranged folk-country-pop numbers. The shadow of Westerberg looms large here, although at times one detects a subtle hint of Johnny Thunders' more sensitive moments, as well as the Gram Parsons-era Stones. Standout tracks include the eerie, mournful "Ghost of You" and the slightly more upbeat "Bums of London"--a toast to the downtrodden kindred spirits Harris encountered in the Big Smoke.

- Arthur Brennan, BAM Magazine -
 

Ex-Solid Goldsteins frontman Brady Harris' lyrically insightful, solidly crafted solo debut Next Door to Nowhere trades his former band's Replacementsesque rumble for a more introspective singer/songwriterly direction, with lyrically smart and musically solid results.

- Scott Schinder, Pulse! Magazine -
 

Australian pop with a twang...Nashvllle by way of the Replacements.

- Los Angeles Times -
 

Fine folky/country pop-rock from this LA-based singer-songwriter, who played mostly all the music on his debut, taking help only from drummer Bill Savoie and guest guitarist Gary Griffin. Plenty of cross~ver potential here; wistful melodies and strumming will draw the VHi crowd, but Harris has enough edge in his voice and his songs to appeal to serious mck fans (assuming such a creature still exists in 1998). Worth checking out.

- JimSanto, Demo Universe (former writer for Alternative Press) -
 
 

Here's a Southern California-based singer-songwriter who writes fine folk material, with country and pop textures thrown in for good measure. There's often even a Stones vibe from the Let It Bleed-era that makes itself known through the acoustic-based compositions. We feel Harris has the talent to get a look from publishers, and perhaps even record labels.

- Music Connection Magazine -

AIDING & ABETTING
Jon Worley

Roots rock with just a bit of a moody country tinge to the sound. Reminds me a little of Chris Cacavas in the way that the songs always seem to trend darker and darker. Oh, there's also something about the ultra-sharp songwriting, too. Harris does know what he's doing. For example, even withoutthe note in the liners, it's obvious that "Anthrax Blues" is a tribute to Johnny Cash. The piece perfectly imitates Cash's walking blues s~le without copping anything oveutiy. And he's not too bad with the playing and producing, either. Harris has all the tools necessary for a wondrous career in music. All he needs is for a few folks with cash to pay attention. One of the finest albums I've heard this year. I could run through a list of superlatives, but really, that won't serve any purpose. This music is timeless. I don't think I can say much more than that.
 

Spin It!
Should-Be Hits in Heavy Rotation
by Melyssa A. Harmon

Brady Harris Good Luck Stranger
(Lampshade Records)
(Formats: Alternative/College/AC)

This Texas born singer/songwriter has already won the hearts of both the London and Paris undergroud as a former busker whose style of songwriting has found a rather successful home with major label moguls! Now based in Los Angeles, mix Paul Westerberg, The Replacements, John Lennon & Peter Case with a dash of David Bowie and you have Brady Harris. This familiar sounding yet unique collection of guitar-driven melodies makes for a solid selection of upbeat and equally sad sentimentalilty brilliantly displayed in "Sunday Shining" "Koreatown" & "Feeling Strangely Fine" (I am IN LOVE this song!) These are three sure-shot requesters for those willing to incorporate a sweeter sound into the modern rock mix. Gold star approvals from late night talk show guru Jay Leno, screen writer Joe Esterhaus and the band Collective Soul as Harris is a welcomed return to the style and sound that crafted the very format known as 'Alternative.' (John Easdale, this is a record for YOU!). 

Heart of Texas

Brady Harris
Good Luck Stranger
Lampshade Records

Brady Harris' early '90's outfit, the Solid Goldsteins, were compared to the Replacements so often that the compli ment probably turned itself inside out and felt more like a curse, each subse quent press clipping going up on the old dartboard. So we'll try to refrain from lazy musical cross-referencing, because Harris deserves better.

Besides, that old comparison doesn't really apply anymore anyway. Though his mix of melody and despair, upbeat pop shaded with lonely twang, some times sounds familiar, it's in a way that's comforting and has little to do with mimicry.

What's funny about Texas-bred Harris is that it wasn't until he moved to L.A. that he really began to show his roots. The Solid Goldsteins did sound like they came from that same Mid- western soil as that other band, the one we're not mentiomag. But on Good LuckStranger, the solo Harris, living in exile in Venice Beach, reveals all the trademarks of his home state. He reflects not only Texas' independent spirit but how the state literally, metaphorically, and musically serves as the gateway between the South and West. Harris' music travels the barely visible bridges that dot Teas' musical landscape, between country and blues, blues and rock, rock and folk, folk and pop, and all the other combinations thereof. Harris even shows off some of that dark southeast Texan humor on "Anthrax Blues," a catchy sing-along ("Chemicals and acids and gases that kill/ If those three don't get you/ Well, you know the smallpox will...it's too late for your gas mask/ You've got the antrax blues").

Harris digs into Los Angeles in "Koreatown." but it's not really a song about place as much as it is a song about how the ghost of a relationship can stain a location /"The sun goes down on Koreatown/ And i'm on my own...When the light comes shining in/ Your soul is mine to keep"). It's repetitive guitar lines drive home the feeling of a persistent memory. There's definiteley a strong California pop  thread running through the opener, "Sunday Shining," and there are other markers of his adopted residence dotting these tunes. His perception as an outsider on our sometimes desolate terrain is as Californian as the musings of that somewhat rare breed, the California native. Above all, though, these songs are about the emotional desert that really doesn't contain itself in space and how, sometimes, a really good song can make us feel that stark place at the very same time it raises us above it.

(Sabrina Kaleta)
January 27-February 2, 2000