The Silent Partner

Brad Shaw: Award-winning songwriter to deliver two Lubbock concerts
By Sarah Nightingale | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Story last updated at 10/9/2009 - 1:31 am
Linke to story: http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/100809/fea_502668329.shtml/


When singer-songwriter Brad Shaw plays in Lubbock, a guy named "Fritz" will be on drums.

"I don't think I ever asked his last name," the California-based artist said. "I mean I know him. Not great, but well enough. He's a friend of a friend."

That's about as intimate as Shaw, 27, likes his accompanying artists.

Nothing too close, like best friends from college, for example.

He already tried that.

"I started off in a band, called Kirkwood. We played a ton of shows and made some money," he said. About a year and a half into it, though, it fizzled out.

"It's kind of like a relationship," he said. "Sometimes it's meant to be and sometimes it's not."

Instead of hooking up with a group or two on the rebound, Shaw, first and foremost a piano player, stayed musically single. The "silent partner" listed on his Web site (www.thesilent-partner.com) is the studio band who helped him record his debut album, Fall Away.

"It's 'Brad Shaw slash the Silent Partner'," he said, adding "I'm trying to lean more toward the 'Brad Shaw'."

Being a one-man-band, he said, sort of makes him an all-man-band.

Shaw writes his own tunes, produces his own CDs, and will probably tell Fritz exactly how he wants the percussion to sound. If he had a couple of extra arms, he might just do that too.

"When you're solo, you have to mix it up a bit to keep it interesting and exciting. You have to say 'here's a different sound'," Shaw said of the numerous instruments he dabbles with. "I'll be bringing my ukuleke and my banjo."

Those who turn out to see Shaw - he'll be playing 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Sugar Brown's Coffee and again at 8 p.m. Tuesday at La Diosa Cellars - will also hear a sprinkling of the harmonica-encrusted tunes featured on his new EP, called "Random."

And there are three other EPs in the works, Shaw said: "Thoughts" (featuring the banjo), "Reality" (featuring the guitar) and "Show" (featuring the piano).

"I'll take the most popular songs from the four EPs and turn them into my new album," he said.

While Shaw describes the "indie" music on this first CD as "somber realization with a really strong glimmer of hope," he said his recent chords are a little more upbeat.

"The new stuff is based on the good things that have happened over the last few years," he said. "It's still truthful. I'm always truthful in songs."

After the "Random Thoughts from a Reality Show" CD, Shaw said he'll turn his talent to something "different."

"Artistically, I've always had a dream of doing an album that's different but good," he said. "Something that's really quite eye-opening."

And Shaw, who is not from a musical family, doesn't have a degree in music and doesn't have a band, might just pull it off.

After all, he wrote his first piano instrumental when he was "9 or 10" (he still remembers it ... he might even play it if you ask nicely) and has been nominated for two Los Angeles Music Awards.

He also survived a near collision with a career in business, which occurred after he graduated from Indiana University with a degree in "computer information systems management."

"I was recruited by a consulting firm and I thought I might end up taking that job," he said, adding, "then there was a hiring freeze and, you know, some things happen for a reason."

So he turned to what he's always wanted to do anyway: write music.

"I always knew that's what I wanted to do, but it's really hard to make it work," he said.

And soon he'll quit his backup job - a sailing instructor near his Redondo Beach, Calif. home - and see where the musical tide takes him.

Which, until Nov. 14 will see him in playing more than 30 gigs in seven states.

And that's just fine by Shaw.

"There's no better way to see a city than meet its people," he said. "When I'm playing, I get to meet those people. I get to live a little bit of the city rather than seeing the sights."


- Avalanche Journal - Sarah Nightingale

The Silent Partner’s debut release, “Fall Away” can best be described as hard driving power piano rock combined with strong melodies and graceful arrangements. The marriage of lyrical vocals, piano as the focal instrument, and harder alternative music have molded what is a unique and energy driven style.

Front man and writer Brad Shaw has a great sense of developing a song from beginning to end as though it is a story being told. His lyrics are no exception. In the title track of the album, “Fall Away”, you can hear Shaw’s vocals and lyrics coming at you with power. That and an exceptionally catchy melody makes me believe you might just hear this one on the radio. Additionally, the entire album’s production is top notch, much to the caliber of the artists that Shaw has shared the stage with (including Jason Mraz, Michelle Penn and the Go Go’s)

For an Indie artist, this album is a diamond in the rough. Seldom will you see such great production and songwriting incorporated together. If piano and alternative rock are your thing, I suggest you get your hands on this album when it comes out later this year.

-James Ellis (Nov. 2004)

- Shake Magazine - Nashville, TN

If this is the kind of music I can expect to hear from the rest of Bradford Shaw's album, then I'm going to be a faithful visitor to his site until he finally releases it. "Fall Away" is earcatching, melodic and altogether enthralling. Five minutes and I was singing along . . . in harmony! The perfect song to liven up a bad day, "Fall Away" is one you can listen to time and again and find something new to enjoy.

In the grand tradition of piano pop artists like Ben Folds, one of the primary draws of songs like this is the lyrical content. Shaw's music is no exception, as he combines heartfelt lyrics with his ultimate melodic hook, to create a great pop gem. "So much to do, so much to say, so little time to fear / what is to come and what will not stay / It falls away from here always / Always falls away for somebody," he sings in the chorus, and with his voice hitting you at full strength, you can literally feel the emotion coming through.

The production on this track is exceptional. Shaw's attention to detail verges on perfectionist, but I can't fault him that. It just means that when you DO get to hear something new out of him, it's going to be the best he can possibly be putting out. Produced at the level of many of the artists he's toured with (including Jason Mraz, Michelle Penn, Brian Setzer and the Go Go's) "Fall Away" proves once and for all that an indie musician can perform material as well as anyone else, no major label required.

Give him a few years and major labels will be wondering why they never found Bradford Shaw sooner. You heard it here first!

-Written by Jonathan Sanders (Sept. 2003)
- Gods Of Music