"Gifted with the pen, the punchline, and the guitar, Creel is a vulnerable performer with a deep sense of humor." -PORTLAND MERCURY......... Before Brad Creel began creating smart and funny folk music, he was churning out smart and funny cartoons. Like the music he would later write, Brad’s comics have a friendly immediacy, a punch-in-the shoulder freshness and a big dose of self-deprecation. Brad’s songs will make you laugh, shed a tear, and be glad to be where you are. Heartbreak drove Brad to turn to the uncharted waters of songwriting in 2000. Coping with a tough divorce, he found new meaning in the work of classic tears-in-your-beer country singers like Tom T. Hall, Merle Haggard, and Conway Twitty. He was moved by the way classic country songwriters tempered their sorrows with upbeat melodies, creating what he calls “dark music with a happy sound”. Inspired, Brad began hosting acoustic jam sessions and devouring the Portland Public Library’s collection of Americana music. He developed a body of narrative-based country, bluegrass and folk songs, balancing tongue-in-cheek lyrical fun with an undertone of complexity and raw emotion. As his listening expanded beyond his honky-tonk heroes, Brad’s music took on an additional, whimsical flavor reminiscent of cosmic jokers like John Prine, Loudon Wainwright III, and Todd Snider. Through his bustling musical social life, Creel found friends in the worlds of sound engineering and music production, and a team was born. Creel’s music attracted some of the best musicians in Portland to contribute, including session maven Tim Ellis on guitar, Three Leg Torso’s Béla Balogh on fiddle, local legend Peter Schwimmer on banjo, Eric West on pedal steel and Higher Ground leader Alan Glickenhaus on mandolin. Producer Vicki Ambinder also enlisted fiddle legend Darol Anger (Yonder Mountain, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck). Brad’s wheels are hitting the ground hard in 2009 as he released his CD in 2008 at a sold out Mississippi Studios. Brad currently performs as a solo act, a duo, and with his country band, the "Reel Deel".
Brad Creel and the Reel Deel's Friend Space (Top 8)
thank you Brad :) I thought that was you... your mustasche... it's so big now i barely recognized ya! thanks for coming out, man, im really glad you got a chance to check the band. Not bad for 5 months in together, eh? Peace and blessings and hope to see you around the way soon.
hi it was great to meet you too we still plan on coming by your show on Thursday! moving some things around to make sure we can get there for an hour or so :) see you then! Amanda and Jenni
A "Greatest Hits" package wouldn't be complete without a proper version of "The Good Idea Company". Do you think the fans can handle my switch from Rock to Hawaiian???
We have 2 great shows coming up. Hope you can make it out! ~~Thanks. C ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, Feb. 6th - FREE! The Twilight Room - 5242 N. Lombard 3 Full sets of Pan-ian goodness! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Friday, Feb. 13th - FREE! The Kenton Club - 2025 N Kilpatrick St. with Lucky Tigers and Right On John ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
not sure if ben commented back, but thanks for your kind words, brad - and thank YOU for your support and your music. we had an awesome time at the white eagle. - t. & b.
I've been enjoying your CD amidst way too much Christmas music. Classy classical music but Christmas music nonetheless. Yours is a welcome respite. My sis-in-law, Sarah Holmberg (who you may know) turned me on to it. Some great talent on that disc. Danke fur adden.
Pistol River went great! I played with Perry Devine and he says that the two of you drank whiskey and shot-up the town of Bend at a songwriter's jerkle-circ many moons ago. Happy Hollandaise!
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