ROBERT BRADLEY'S BLACKWATER SURPRISE
''NEW GROUND''
FEBRUARY 5 2002
48:29
1 /Train
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:36
2 /See Her
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:36
3 /Profile
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:55
4 /Lindy
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:45
5 /Feel the Fire
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/4:26
6 /Exist for Love
Robert Bradley/4:38
7 /Nightlife
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:06
8 /Willie Lee
Robert Bradley/2:42
9 /Ride My Wave
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/5:29
10 /Fast Lane
Robert Bradley/3:53
11 /Young Girls
Robert Bradley/3:38
12 /Born in America
Robert Bradley/5:45
Robert Bradley /Piano, Vocals
Bob Britt /Lap Steel Guitar
Etta Britt /Vocals (Background)
Vickie Carrico /Vocals (Background)
Jen Cohen /Vocals (Background)
Jeff Fowlkes /Drums, Vocals
Emma Grandillo /Vocals (Background)
Carl Hergesell /Keyboards
Jay Joyce /Guitar, Keyboards, Loops, Producer
Max The Dog /Vocals (Background)
Mickey Raphael /Harmonica
Giles Reaves /Keyboards
Matt Ruffino /Guitar
Randall Sly /Keyboards, Vocals
Maria Taylor /Vocals (Background)
Tommy Wilber /Bass
REVIEW
By Richie Unterberger
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise is essentially a bar band, distinguished quite a bit from innumerable similar acts by their lead singer. Bradley sings with an earnest slur that has more authentic echoes of blues and R&B than most such frontmen, landing in a sort of netherland twixt Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Ted Hawkins at times. His songs are earnest too, exuding a hard-won optimism and working-man's head-down forbearance. The production takes some unusual chances, with synthesizers that manage to assert themselves not as gratuitous concessions to modernity, but as reasonably effective counterpoints to the songs' coping-with-urban-tribulations vibe. "Profile" puts some funky hard backbeat and non-rap electronics to good use, and "See Her" would be a logical choice to push as a single with its upbeat soul groove. "Born in America" is the sort of non-ironic patriotism that you could expect to be hearing a lot of in the period immediately following late 2001, though it was actually written in 1979 on the first day after American hostages were taken in Iran. New Ground is nothing special, and not very new ground, but it's a respectable maximization of what this journeyman band has to offer.
BIOGRAPHY
By John Bush
An anachronism in the world of late-'90s rock & roll, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise consists of the group's namesake, a wizened Detroit street singer, plus three relatively fresh-faced alterna-kids as a backing band. Robert Bradley was born in Alabama, but gained musical experience and spirit by singing as a child at The Alabama School for the Blind, playing his acoustic guitar at coffeehouses, and piano in Baptist churches. He had spent several years in Detroit by 1994, performing occasionally on the street just to be heard, when guitarist Michael Nehra, bassist Andrew Nehra, and drummer Jeff Fowlkes (formerly in the Detroit band Second Self) overheard Bradley through an open window while rehearsing for a new project. After listening to Bradley sing for an hour, they invited him up to the studio to record several acoustic songs, then invited him to become their vocalist. 
The Nehra brothers' production experience (with Detroit locals Majesty Crush) helped out the group while recording their debut album, 1996's Blackwater Surprise. The band's eccentric background and energetic live show -- almost gospel in feel -- gained them many fans on frequent club dates as well as arena shows opening up for the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Widespread Panic, and Maceo Parker. Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise also did well on alternative radio and VH1. Keyboard player Tim Diaz joined up as well prior to the band's sophomore effort, 2000's Time to Discover. In 2002, they released New Ground, followed in 2003 by the softer, piano-based record Still Lovin' You. The next year Bradley starred as fictional bluesman Otis McClanahan in the HBO film Lackawanna Blues, also contributing to the soundtrack, and in 2006 the live two-disc album What About That: New Year's Eve in Bloomington came out, which was recorded during a 2005 concert at the Indiana city's club the Bluebird, one of Bradley's favorite venues.
''NEW GROUND''
FEBRUARY 5 2002
48:29
1 /Train
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:36
2 /See Her
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:36
3 /Profile
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:55
4 /Lindy
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:45
5 /Feel the Fire
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/4:26
6 /Exist for Love
Robert Bradley/4:38
7 /Nightlife
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/3:06
8 /Willie Lee
Robert Bradley/2:42
9 /Ride My Wave
Robert Bradley / Jay Joyce/5:29
10 /Fast Lane
Robert Bradley/3:53
11 /Young Girls
Robert Bradley/3:38
12 /Born in America
Robert Bradley/5:45
Robert Bradley /Piano, Vocals
Bob Britt /Lap Steel Guitar
Etta Britt /Vocals (Background)
Vickie Carrico /Vocals (Background)
Jen Cohen /Vocals (Background)
Jeff Fowlkes /Drums, Vocals
Emma Grandillo /Vocals (Background)
Carl Hergesell /Keyboards
Jay Joyce /Guitar, Keyboards, Loops, Producer
Max The Dog /Vocals (Background)
Mickey Raphael /Harmonica
Giles Reaves /Keyboards
Matt Ruffino /Guitar
Randall Sly /Keyboards, Vocals
Maria Taylor /Vocals (Background)
Tommy Wilber /Bass
REVIEW
By Richie Unterberger
Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise is essentially a bar band, distinguished quite a bit from innumerable similar acts by their lead singer. Bradley sings with an earnest slur that has more authentic echoes of blues and R&B than most such frontmen, landing in a sort of netherland twixt Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and Ted Hawkins at times. His songs are earnest too, exuding a hard-won optimism and working-man's head-down forbearance. The production takes some unusual chances, with synthesizers that manage to assert themselves not as gratuitous concessions to modernity, but as reasonably effective counterpoints to the songs' coping-with-urban-tribulations vibe. "Profile" puts some funky hard backbeat and non-rap electronics to good use, and "See Her" would be a logical choice to push as a single with its upbeat soul groove. "Born in America" is the sort of non-ironic patriotism that you could expect to be hearing a lot of in the period immediately following late 2001, though it was actually written in 1979 on the first day after American hostages were taken in Iran. New Ground is nothing special, and not very new ground, but it's a respectable maximization of what this journeyman band has to offer.
BIOGRAPHY
By John Bush
An anachronism in the world of late-'90s rock & roll, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise consists of the group's namesake, a wizened Detroit street singer, plus three relatively fresh-faced alterna-kids as a backing band. Robert Bradley was born in Alabama, but gained musical experience and spirit by singing as a child at The Alabama School for the Blind, playing his acoustic guitar at coffeehouses, and piano in Baptist churches. He had spent several years in Detroit by 1994, performing occasionally on the street just to be heard, when guitarist Michael Nehra, bassist Andrew Nehra, and drummer Jeff Fowlkes (formerly in the Detroit band Second Self) overheard Bradley through an open window while rehearsing for a new project. After listening to Bradley sing for an hour, they invited him up to the studio to record several acoustic songs, then invited him to become their vocalist.
The Nehra brothers' production experience (with Detroit locals Majesty Crush) helped out the group while recording their debut album, 1996's Blackwater Surprise. The band's eccentric background and energetic live show -- almost gospel in feel -- gained them many fans on frequent club dates as well as arena shows opening up for the likes of the Dave Matthews Band, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Widespread Panic, and Maceo Parker. Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise also did well on alternative radio and VH1. Keyboard player Tim Diaz joined up as well prior to the band's sophomore effort, 2000's Time to Discover. In 2002, they released New Ground, followed in 2003 by the softer, piano-based record Still Lovin' You. The next year Bradley starred as fictional bluesman Otis McClanahan in the HBO film Lackawanna Blues, also contributing to the soundtrack, and in 2006 the live two-disc album What About That: New Year's Eve in Bloomington came out, which was recorded during a 2005 concert at the Indiana city's club the Bluebird, one of Bradley's favorite venues.
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