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Artist
Brad Absher
11+ albums
bluesguitarsouthern solerhythm and blues
about
Brad Absher sounds like the places he’s been. In his warm, Southern soul music, you can hear Tulsa’s earthy dignity and the swampy carpe diem of Lake Charles. Thundering sax with plenty of swing calls up New Orleans, while gritty grooves nod to Houston, and more subdued moments of empathy hint at time spent much farther away. Like two old friends telling us a story, Absher and his electric guitar trade lines with lived-in familiarity that invites the rest of us to listen––and dance. “That’s where I feel most me––when I’m up on stage with a guitar,” Absher says. He’s home in Tulsa, reflecting on the path he’s taken to his new album, Tulsa Tea. The eighth album of Absher’s career, it’s also his first with producer Chris Combs, a virtuosic jazz musician with a knack for pulling the best out of Tulsa’s well-documented embarrassment of artistic riches. The pair decided to record live at Paradise Studio, which Leon Russell built on nearby Grand Lake in the 70s. JJ Cale, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Freddie King, Phoebe Snow, and of course, Russell himself––plus so many more––recorded there. "It just looks like a big metal building you’d find on a farm, but then, you walk inside, and it’s like, ‘Bam!’” Absher says. “It’s a huge room, which I wanted. The way I like to make records––it’s hard to find studios where you can do it anymore. I’m old school. Everybody’s got to be playing at once.” For Absher, the result is a triumphant eight-song collection that knows when to roar, when to ro
