

He also has a new year's resolution to read more: "I didn't really focus in high school or college so there are a lot of things that I don't know. He's already gathering ideas for his second album, in which he'll be adding elements of country music in the style of Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash. She was a single mum, working 12 hours a day and making meals," says Bridges. "She inspired me to work hard and never complain about anything. When he realised the potential of the song, he re-wrote the lyrics to be about his mother. "Melody, phrasing, delivery - those are the most important things in a song for me," he says. He first came up with some chords, and wrote lyrics about crayons to go with it. One of his crowd favourites is a song called Lisa Sawyer. It wasn't until someone compared his music to Sam Cooke's that he began digging into classic soul music, and fell in love with its simple raw quality. Despite growing up with Usher's R&B music, his songs turned out to be more like his fashion sense: classy, mellow, and inspired by the past. "But when I put on a suit it makes me forget and takes away my insecurities," he tells Young Post in a phone interview.Ī dance student at college, Bridges bought his first guitar at the age of 22, and decided to start writing music to perform at open mic nights. It took me a while to get my style to what you see today," says Bridges, whose Instagram is filled with black and white photos of him in suits and hats iconic of the 1960s. "I wasn't supposed to, but I would take some stuff out there and bring it home and wear it. When he first adopted his retro style three years ago, it was a lot of scavenging at thrift shops to find the rare gem, but Bridges soon found a treasure trove of clothes in the costume shop of his college's theatre department. He also wrote the track So Long for the drama film Concussion, which stars Will Smith.Īs sleek as he looks now, Bridges didn't always have the money, or the guts, to wear vintage clothing. Recently, he appeared on Saturday Night Live, and performed with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at the American Music Awards. In June last year, he released his debut studio album, also titled Coming Home, which made it to the top ten in the US, UK and Australia. Labels flocked to him, and on December 2014 he signed with Columbia Records - the company behind artists such as Adele and Beyonce. Bridges' music was soon receiving regular airplay and Coming Home became one of Spotify's Top 10 Most Viral Tracks. They recorded eight tracks using vintage equipment, two of which - the mellow Coming Home and upbeat doo-wop piece Better Man - were soon featured on music blogs. Because Bridges didn't have a car, Jenkins picked him up after work and drove to the studio to record his music. Only later did Bridges realise that the man he was talking to was Austin Jenkins, guitarist of a Texan psych rock band called White Denim.Ī week later, Jenkins heard Bridges at a gig and offered to pay for studio space and session players. And this dramatic turnaround in his life was all thanks to a pair of high-waisted blue jeans.īridges was at a bar one night when a lady, who appreciated his slick style, approached him to introduce her boyfriend, who shared Bridges' love for quality denim. Today, the 26-year-old singer has been featured on music magazines like Billboard and NME, and is set to sway the world with his honeyed voice and old-school soul music. The other half is trying to figure out how to grow up myself.Eighteen months ago, Leon Bridges was washing dishes at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Texas, in the US.

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