Biography
After 8 years on the road with Chad Stokes and Pete Francis as Dispatch, the trio parked the van at the Hatch Shell in Boston where 110,000 fans from across the globe came to bid them farewell. Three years later, Dispatch rolled that van onto the floor at Madison Square Garden for three sold out benefit shows where all proceeds benefit organizations fighting disease, famine and social injustice in Zimbabwe.
Inspired by the international support for Dispatch and a friend’s testimony of the beaches abroad, Braddigan began traveling to Central America in 2004. The pace of life and philosophies he encountered there inspired his debut solo recording, Watchfires (released in 2005), which Eastern Surf Magazine described “as if one day Jack Johnson met Bob Dylan at Marley’s house for a jam session.” He toured nationwide with his friend Reinaldo De Jesus on percussion and continued spending time in Central America.
In 2006, Braddigan began to see another side of life in Central America. In April he met Tiago Machado and took his first ride through the city trash dump in Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua, where he was shocked at what he saw – people. With one foot in the US touring with the trio and one foot getting to know a community of people who live in a trash dump in Nicaragua, 2006 came to an end, and it left a calling on Braddigan’s heart.
In March of 2007, Braddigan founded the 501c3 non-profit organization Love, Light and Melody with the mission to understand and combat the physical, emotional and spiritual effects of extreme poverty in that community. The organization launched with an event called Dia De Luz (Day of Light). Over 500 "gringos" assembled at the gates of the trash dump, and in a seemingly unending line of small groups, they walked in, over and through the trash dump. They met the people of La Chureca where they were — in the trash where they were searching for recyclables, fixables, and food — and invited them to join the group on their walk through the vastness of the dump, to the School of Hope for an art show put on by the kids living there, ultimately ending at a make-shift soccer pitch (dirt, dirt, and dust!) for an epic concert.
The new record from Braddigan, The Captive, continues to invoke the optimistic and care-free mentality of Watchfires while exploring the darker side of life exemplified by his experiences in the trash. In fact, the song “Ileana” directly relates to the experiences that led to Love, Light and Melody’s creation. While Braddigan penned the lyrics from his journals, the Captive is his first truly collaborative musical writing experience since Dispatch. The trio embraced not only their heritages (both Portuguese and Spanish are featured on the record) but also the musical stylings of the cultures they have visited.
Braddigan will continue to keep one foot in his life as a musician, recording and touring with his bandmates, and will find balance with the other foot walking with the people of the trash dump. In his own words, “its never what you do in life, but the heart with which you do it.”
Instrumentation
Braddigan (from US): Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Percussion, Drums Vocals
Rey (from Puerto Rico): Percussion
Tiago (from Brazil): Bass, Cavaquinho, Guitars, Vocals
Discography
Braddigan: Take Two (2004 Third Surfer Music, Inc.)
Braddigan: Watchfires (2005 Third Surfer Music, Inc.)
Braddigan: Live at Goucher College (2006 Third Surfer Music, Inc.)
Braddigan: Side of the Road: A Braddigan Concert Documentary (DVD) (2007 Third Surfer Music, Inc.)
Braddigan: The Captive (2007 Third Surfer Music, Inc.)
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Dispatch: Silent Steeples (1996 Bomber Records; 2004 Bomber Records/Foundations Records/Universal Records)
Dispatch: Bang Bang (1997 Bomber Records; 2004 Bomber Records/Foundations Records/Universal Records)
Dispatch: Four Day Trials (1999 Bomber Records; 2004 Bomber Records/Foundations Records/Universal Records)
Dispatch: Who Are We Living For? (2000 Bomber Records; 2004 Bomber Records/Foundations Records/Universal Records)
Dispatch: Gut The Van (2001 Bomber Records; 2004 Bomber Records/Foundations Records/Universal Records)
Dispatch: Under The Radar (DVD/CD) (2002 Bomber Records/Hollywood Records)
Dispatch: All Points Bulletin (DVD/CD) (2004 Bomber Records/Foundations Records/Universal Records)
Dispatch: Dispatch Zimbabwe (DVD/CD) (2007 Bomber Records)
Links
| http://www.braddigan.com |