Originally published at http://texasmusicjournal.com/texas-music-genres/country/brandon-adams-watches-popularity-of-single-rise/
Less than a month after its release to radio, the first single from the self-titled debut album of West Texas Original Country band Brandon Adams and The Sad Bastards — “Radiate,” an original love-conquers-all love song that speeds along in tempo and lyrics, rocks with guitars and drums, and hums with country fiddle — is proving it has the legs to climb the charts.
Immediately praised by a radio station manager in Lubbock, where Adams and the band are well-known, as “a crowd and listener favorite and will absolutely get your listeners calling in,” the song has jumped onto The Texas Music Chart.
JSI Top 21.com fairly raves about the band and the album: “When Brandon Adams says of his music that it’s ‘West Texan,’ … what he means is a music informed by country traditions, local and otherwise, but takes cues equally from the place itself. Dark and brooding in tone and lyrical arrangement, Adams seems to be walking alone in the Lubbock twilight when staggering violin and electric guitar solos bowl him over with the ferocity of sunset on the high desert. The best tracks on this record recall the cow-punk impulse of Drive By Truckers or Hank III but with a tendency for showmanship and bravado that is uniquely Texan.”
The band — songwriter Brandon Adams on vocals and guitar; Shad Daugherty on rhythm and lead guitar and lap steel; JP Downey on fiddle and harmony vocals; Zack Davis on drums; and Josh Brandenburg on bass and harmony vocals — applies its own brand of rock TNT to classic country themes and vibe: full sound, great playing, smart and seasoned lyrics.
“Radiate” is just one track on BRANDON ADAMS AND THE SAD BASTARDS (Melodic Undertone; Jan. 18, 2011), and one of many originals the band is taking on the road for shows to support the album.
