PHOTO: Amick Cutler “Accidentally Drunk” written by Ashley McBryde, Dan Smalley and Justin Ebach, available now!
Bradley Gaskin has some unfinished business. As the flagship artist for upstart independent 30A Life Records, the former major label artist’s soulful vocals and heartfelt lyrics, as featured in his lead single, “Accidentally Drunk,” will convince you his first new music in over a decade is well worth a listen. “Accidentally Drunk” [LISTEN HERE —off Gaskin’s forthcoming Keith Stegall–produced album, Unfinished Business—is available now on all platforms and officially goes for radio adds Monday, March 31.
The Duck Springs, Ala., native got his first break in 2011 after Gaskin’s wife encouraged him to post a rough demo of “Mr. Bartender,” a song he’d written and recorded. Two weeks later, John Rich called and invited Gaskin to enter a talent contest he was organizing. Gaskin won, and the next thing he knew, he was center stage in the iconic circle at the Grand Ole Opry.
Gaskin’s first deal with a major record label took shape soon after with a self-titled EP and “Mr. Bartender” as the lead single. Unfortunately, Gaskin was deemed a bit too traditional, and his album was shelved in a management shakeup at the label. That disheartening event sent Gaskin back to Duck Springs where he hung drywall, worked at a sawmill and served as a janitor at his daughter’s school.
Now, thanks to 30A Life Records co-founder Jack Cole, a fan and successful businessman turned independent label exec, Gaskin is back in the game. “Accidentally Drunk” is a beautiful, bittersweet ballad about a broken-hearted barstool fool shedding tequila tears—I was tired of waking up to another hangover/Trying to get high, ending up a little lower/Swearing it’s the last time, like every other Friday night—and continually losing his battle with sobriety:
Chorus
Till I started thinking ‘bout you
Wondering where you’re at
Jump in the truck, drive too fast
Don’t get far, end up at the bar
Put it in park, and that’s where it starts
With a two-finger pour
Telling this glass of tequila
I’m only drinking till I don’t need ya
But oh, next thing I know
The sun’s coming up
And I’m accidentally drunk
Written by Grammy Award–winning songwriter Ashley McBryde (“Never Wanted to Be that Girl,” McBryde/Pearce), artist Dan Smalley (The State of Country Music) and Justin Ebach (“Here Tonight,” Brett Young) “Accidentally Drunk” is performed by top Nashville musicians, with Brent Mason and Joel Key on guitar; Scotty Sanders on steel; bassist Glenn Worf; Mike Rojas on keys; drummer Tommy Harden and Stuart Duncan on fiddle.
“Keith and I were in his studio where I saw Grammy, CMA and ACM Awards,” Gaskin says, “so I asked him point blank, ‘You’ve worked with all these people and wrote all these songs. Why does a guy like you want to work with somebody like me?’ And he told me that the same way he believed in Alan Jackson and Randy Travis, he believed in me,” Gaskin relates, “and that’s when I felt a huge weight leave me.”
“Singers are a dime a dozen,” Stegall explains, “but exceptional artists aren’t. Make no mistake—Bradley Gaskin is an artist.”
Looking back, Gaskin says, “I’m stronger because of what I went through. Everything I loved, which was music, was killing me. It seemed like nobody wanted my stuff. I couldn’t get one of the biggest labels in the world to put out my record.” When you go through that, he muses, “It makes you tougher. There’s more to my story that we haven’t gotten to tell, and there’s a lot of unfinished business to take care of.”
Gaskin will hold an album release party at AJ’s Good Time Bar in Nashville, Thursday, April 3 at 4 p.m. with the album officially out at Midnight, April 4. For more information, check out his socials: TikTok | Instagram | Facebook.
PHOTO: Ron Modra
PHOTO: Ron Modra Unfinished Business street date Friday, April 4, available at midnight.
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