Last Sunday, New England Country Music was fortunate to have two team members at Danielle Bradbery’s show at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den. So we have compiled both of Tim Farmer’s and Jim Stearns’ thoughts from the show. Check out what they have to say and let us know what you thought of Danielle’s performance in the comments below!
By Tim Farmer.
The very talented Danielle Bradbery made 2 stops in Connecticut this past weekend, Friday at the Brooklyn Fair and Sunday at the Wolf Den. I was at the Sunday show and was amazed by the 18 year old The Voice winner’s poise on stage. Bradbery commanded the stage like a seasoned veteran and definitely was very poised.
Bradbery drew a very large, diverse crowd, ranging from the Wolf Den’s country show regulars, to excited fans who knew her from The Voice. During her set she complimented the venue stating “I think this set up is so awesome. It’s so pretty in here.”
The set featured a mix of covers and original songs. On her social media pages she has the #DBRequestLine promotion where fans can request songs for her to cover each week. She performed some of these songs including P!nk’s 2012 hit ‘Try’ which you can hear below. This was her and her band’s second time playing the song live. She said that the song really touched her heart and found the lyrics “absolutely beautiful.”
After this, she performed ‘Never Like This’ off her self-titled debut album and then she slowed it down for a bit, playing the next couple songs accompanied by only two acoustic guitars. The first of these slower song’s was a cover of Carrie Underwood’s ‘So Small’ which was the first song Bardbery played for The Voice producers, long before the dramatic chair turning audition. I always find it interesting when artists give bits of ‘behind-the-scenes’ information during their sets. Danielle took a little time to explain how her initial Voice audition was in Dallas, TX with 6,000 other people there auditioning. They were brought into a room 10 at a time and then sang a verse and a chorus. She chose this song and if she did half the job she did Sunday night, there is no doubt as to why they chose her to move on.
On her last album, she did not write any songs, but has begun writing recently. She talked about the importance of having songs that not only she, but also the audience, could relate to. She performed ‘Daughter of a Working Man,’ which is a song that she wrote. She talked about being a “daddy’s girl” and got a loud cheer when she asked if anyone else in the audience was.
After this original she talked about how much her Voice coach, Blake Shelton, means to her and what a great relationship she has with both him and his wife, Miranda Lambert. She brought the whole band back out and preformed Blake’s song ‘Over’ which she recently added to her set as a tribute to how much he has helped her.
Up next was the song ‘Endless Summer.’ When Danielle recorded the song she had just gotten off tour with Hunter Hayes and he actually came into the studio and recorded the guitar part for her. It make sense as the upbeat, picking, style of the song reminds me of Hunter’s ‘I Want Crazy.’ After this song, Danielle performed, ‘Yellin’ from the Rooftop,’ another upbeat song. Bradbery described the song as being a “windows down kinda song.” I couldn’t agree more with her description.
After this song she played a cover of Katy Perry’s song ‘Roar.’ Many of the songs in her set featured uplifting, inspirational, messages. With artists like Miley Cyrus out there, it’s great to see a young woman in music doing her best to and put out music which is a positive influence ‘in her fan’s lives.
Bradbery ended her regular set with her current single Young in America.’ I really liked the song. Like many of her other originals, it just reminds me of songs by artists like Dixie Chicks and Tricia Yearwood. Just feel good, easy going songs sung by females with awesome voices.
After leaving the stage her and her band came back out for an encore. First up was her second cover of a song called ‘Try.’ This time it was Colbie Caillat’s, another song with a great message and amazing vocals. Danielle ended her amazing show with her biggest hit to date, ‘The Heart of Dixie.’
I’ll be honest when I say I wasn’t a huge Danielle Bradbery fan before Sunday night. I didn’t watch The Voice and while I like ‘Heart of Dixie,’ its not my favorite song either. However, after hearing some more of her original music, and just her voice in general, I can say I am a fan. If she continues down the road she is on I expect years of success from her. Until I saw her tweets about the VMAs after the show, I forgot that she just turned 18 last month. She commands the stage as if she’s been doing this for a decade.
To keep up with Danielle you can follow her on Twittter or check out her Facebook page. She will be back in Connecticut with Scotty McCreery December 4th at the Oakdale in Wallingford for what is sure to be a great show.
The Wolf Den is growing in popularity but still seems to be a hidden gem. Each night of the week they have awesome free shows, and lately have been featuring a lot of country acts. The whole schedule can be found here. I hope to see a lot of you this Thursday for Cassadee Pope.
By Jim Stearns Jr.
This weekend, country singer and season 4 of TV’s The Voice, Danielle Bradbery, made two stops to Connecticut- performing Friday night at the oldest fair in America, the Brooklyn fair, and in the Mohegan Sun Wolf Den on Sunday night. Bradbery is the most successful singer that The Voice has produced based on iTunes downloads of her 2013 debut self-titled album, and the droves of people that came out on a Sunday night proved just that with a full capacity show.
Danielle hails from Cyprus, Texas, and came onto the scene at auditions for The Voice in spring of 2013 at 16 years old. After winning over the judges in the audition round, she decided on the spot to choose top tier country singer Blake Shelton as her coach for the show, catapulting her to become the shows youngest winner to date and launch her into a country music career.
Danielle mixed the show up with originals such as ‘Talk About Love,’ ‘Wild Boy,’ Never Like This,’ ‘Daughter of a Working Man,’ ‘Endless Summer,’ and her latest single, ‘Young in America,’ as well as throwing in covers like Adele’s ‘Set Fire to the Rain,’ Carrie Underwood’s ‘So Small,’ Katy Perry’s ‘Roar, and ‘Over You’ by her The Voice coach, Blake Shelton, who she admitted on stage has become a great role model and friend. After a short break she came out with encore performances of ‘Try,’ a Pink cover, and her top 20 country radio single ‘Heart of Dixie.’
If you were unable to catch either Connecticut show this weekend, you can get another chance to catch this rising star December 4th, at the Toyota presents Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, CT, and if you’d like to catch more free country shows from up and coming stars to classic legends, the Wolf Den offers great country performances at least once or twice a week.