Leon Bridges
My mom is a very religious woman. So when I began recording music, I was afraid she wouldn't accept it. But when I played her a song, she loved it.Collection: Mom
My whole life is a vacation.
I wrote my first song, 'Conversion', to this little hip-hop instrumental. I went to an open-mic, plugged my iPod into the P.A., and sang over the beat.
The heart of man will always be dark. There will always be evil people. The problem is that there is nothing we can humanly do to change them.
I've always had a very clear vision of what I wanted to do.
My music is more than me writing a flashy soul song. They're heartfelt songs about my family and true stories. I have also songs that aren't personal, but just painting a picture. I don't like being put under labels, but my music is going to continue to stay classic and timeless forever.
I like to groove a little bit!
I was 10 years old when I first heard Ginuwine. I remember being at a friend's house, and the music video came on. I was just like, 'What is that?' I was just kind of drawn from there.
The first time I heard Sam Cooke was in the 'Malcom X' film. I was with my father, and that's the first time I heard his song. I remember my father telling me the story of Sam Cooke.
I remember hanging out at Starbucks. There were these older guys who would sit around and play Crosby, Stills & Nash songs. I was just so in love with music. I would just go hang out with them, and I would try to sing and harmonize with them. I didn't even know the songs.
It's kind of weird - I get shy when I'm around new people, still, even when I'm onstage. I come from not really wanting to be in lights or known or in front of people.
I love the pioneers like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but when I write music, it comes out in my own way.
If I went crazy and tried to make pop music, my band wouldn't record it! I love them too much to do that.
I never really thought about my music being universal. When I set out to write, it was just a feeling that felt good to me. I never thought about being able to reach everybody.
In the beginning, I was so inspired by the music. I had the option to make something modern with classic undertones, but I wanted to make something that was exactly like that old sound.
I always wanted the world to hear my music, but I didn't know how I was gonna go about it.
I'm coming from a Ginuwine and Usher background: slow and smooth songs. And that's why I really connected to Sam Cooke, because he was just very smooth. It's not like the James Brown types, which is all great stuff, but he was totally set apart from those guys.
My father would play Stevie Wonder in the car, but that never sunk in.
I've just always been around great songwriters. To me, they were the standard.
Gospel music played a huge part of my life. I was too scared to audition for the choir, but through my own music, I was also able to find spirituality for myself.
People have this perception of soul music of somebody shouting.
I don't live in this soul music bubble. I love Young Thug, Drake, Kendrick Lamar. I even heard that Kendrick was a fan of my music. Hopefully there's a door open for us to do music together. He's one of my favorite artists. I love Jazmine Sullivan, Lianne la Havas, Usher, Ginuwine. It goes further than classic soul.
I believe that gospel is more than just a sound, it's a way of life. I don't really have any shame to talk about spirituality in my music. A lot of your favorite soul songs started out in gospel.
When I write, I talk about stories and things that are happening in my life. I come from the church. There was a time in my life when I actually had that transformation and relationship with God.
A lot of R&B cats are doing a lot of auto-tune. Tyrese went back to the basics. I love classic soul music and Ginuwine. Ginuwine and Usher laid the foundation back in the '90s. There's no one doing that anymore.
The thought of me not having to clock in for a job anymore is something that I can't really put into words, aside from 'amazing' and 'awesome.'
My mom is very excited for the fact that I got signed and, of course, being a mom, she's going to be a little worried.
I write based on how I feel.
From the core, I'm a shy person, but when I'm on stage, I know how to put it aside. Of course, I'm not perfect, but I've definitely grown as far as being comfortable on stage.
I think I'll always live in Fort Worth. It's great that I can now go anywhere I want to play music, but I love coming back here. I can roll down the streets and just reminisce.
There are a lot of bands who would get really big in Fort Worth and play shows on a Friday night that everybody would come out to. But I've never been really big in my hometown. My shows would have 10 or 15 people at them.
One time, when I was about eight, these guys started throwing water balloons at me. That really did ruin my summer.
I was washing dishes at Del Frisco's Grille and busing tables at a Tex-Mex place and writing songs the whole time. I did a lot of my writing at those jobs, thinking up melodies in my head.
I knew I had a gift. I wanted the world to hear my music, and I wanted it to be my career, but I didn't know how to go about it.
I've always had a great work ethic, even when I was washing dishes.
My mother and my great-aunt told me stories, like how when my grandfather first met my grandmother at a party, he noticed her long legs and was like, 'Woo woo!' I like to incorporate those stories into my music. They just seem to fit.
I want people to see an honesty within me. I'm not trying to be the next Sam Cooke or Otis Redding.
I'm not trying to compete with any other revival soul acts. It's just Leon Bridges, a kid from Fort Worth trying to be himself and give people hope. It's great music to dance to and just love.
My mom was very religious. She might have let me buy records, but I assumed that she wouldn't.
I'm very content to have great management and a great label. But for me, success started when my managers came to me and told me, 'Go ahead and quit your job.' I told them, 'As long as I don't have to wash dishes anymore, I'm good.'
Fame and all that type of stuff is inevitable, but I'm very content having a good band with no negativity, and everyone is on the same page.
Dance really built my confidence on stage. I'm still a shy person. But I have a lot more confidence than I did when I started.
When I started writing the music, I wanted everything to be consistent from the way I dressed to the way I presented myself online. I wanted everything to match what I was doing on stage.
I like to wear short-sleeved collared shirts and high-waist trousers with shiny shoes. And at night, when I'm playing, I'll often wear suits. But it started with my uncle's vintage clothes.
I got tired of depending on other people, and I had this strong desire to make music of my own. I decided to start writing my own tunes and just see what could happen.
When I started writing, I just wanted to do something different and creative. I first thought neo-soul was a good pathway for me, so I tried that out but realized I didn't want to be placed in that box.
I'm totally open to exploring different types of music. I just have to always remember to be true to who I am.
For me, making music just starts with a simple melody, and lyrics will come sometime after that.
When I first got into the music scene, I was inspired by different songwriters. I like to dress from the '50s and '60s. I like to paint a picture of that era through my music and clothes. I am inspired by a whole a lot of things, from doo-wop to gospel and soul music.
The first time I shared my music and style with my mom, she said, 'Boy, you look like you came right out of the 1950s.'