Produce manager sings ode to La. in country-flavored CD
Album recorded in Mandeville studio
By Richard Boyd
Featured on NOLA.com and in the Times Picayune


While he helps manage the produce section daily at Fresh Market grocery store in Mandeville, don't be surprised these days if Christopher Michael Bradley hums softly to the mangos and bananas some of the catchy melody line from the song, "Sweet Louisiana."

Bradley, 26, a native of Natchez, Miss., has just released a CD of country-flavored songs, all but one of the 12 originals for which he has written the lyrics, the music or, in several cases, both.

Leading off the album, which was recorded in November at the Center of Performing Arts at 1807 N. Causeway Blvd., is the song Bradley penned to a melody by Jerry Thomas, a Springfield, Mo., friend, called "Sweet Louisiana."

While it was written before Hurricane Katrina, it was not recorded until after the storm.

Its lyrics about soft breezes, warm nights, ample seafood and Cajun women sets a positive tone not only for the solid vocal performances by Bradley but also is a soothing salve for a region and state still recovering from the destruction in August.

Although always interested in music, Bradley said he did not write his first song until he was 18, a gospel tune called "On the Cross."

But it was three years later, when he was 21, that Bradley said he knew he wanted to be an entertainer.

"Up to then I had mostly ignored my friends and family who said I should be serious about a music career. I did not think I was good enough," he said.

But when he was 21, some friends, without his knowledge, entered him in a talent contest in Fayetteville, Ark., where he was living at the time.

"It was at a county fair and I decided to go through with it. I did a cover of a Garth Brooks song, 'Ain't Goin' Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up,' and looking down from the stage I spotted out front a girl, probably about 10 years old, dancing up a storm while I was singing and right then I realized there was a connection and that I wanted to share whatever talent I have," he said.

Bradley counts among his singing and songwriting influences Brooks and Alan Jackson among contemporary country superstars but also pays homage to legends such as Hank Williams and Patsy Cline.

And, in the delightful second song on his CD, "Average Joe," Bradley gives a strong nod to the unique vocal phrasing of country star Charley Pride.

His band of Mandeville-area musicians consists of Jonathan Sturcken on keyboards; Brian Bagur, acoustic guitar; David Crumhorn, bass; and Marc Holzenthal, drums.

They all appear in various musical capacities on his CD, along with noted area fiddle player and parish music teacher Christy West of Slidell, a longtime member of Hazel and The Delta Ramblers bluegrass band. On two of his original songs, "I'm Gonna Try," and "Flying High," Bradley teams in soaring vocal duets with local singers Lindsay Benitez and Becca Milligan.

The CD has another strong nod to Louisiana with the Bradley-penned song called "Bayou Teche."

The CD inside cover and sleeve with scenes of the Mandeville lakefront and a pastoral bayou was designed by Sturcken, son of the producer and one of the harmony vocalists, which also include Mandeville-area residents Erin Harris, Katherine Allen, Catie Willis and Adam Vanck.

Other St. Tammany musicians who participated include Matt Bauer, Collier Nichols, Mike Bradley, Jay Fiorello, John Mark Gray, Chris Bradley, Penny Bradley and Angie Behan.