ACACIA EVAN
You may recognize Danielle Bradbery as the season 4 winner of the hit show The Voice, but make no mistake, Bradbery is not the same 16-year-old who first entered the industry.
All grown up – and honing her unique sound rooted in country and blended with elements of pop, R&B, and more – Bradbery has come into her own both personally and as an artist. Her career evolution has earned her plenty of industry recognition along the way, including multiple ACM and CMT Awards nominations, and collaborations with some of music’s biggest names.
Now, with her first album in over six years and her first-ever independent record, Bradbery is back and better than ever. Out a few weeks back on September 6, her new album Danielle lives up to its name as a deeply personal project that captures the emotional journey of heartbreak and healing. With honest lyrics showcasing who Bradbery is today, and all she has gone through to come out stronger on the other side, it’s an album well worth the wait.
Lifelong Love: I have always loved music, and I grew up around so many different types of music with my family. We just loved dancing and singing to music. My dad always played the guitar and sang, and he actually has a beautiful voice, but didn’t really do anything with it. He was shy when it came to singing. My grandmother liked playing the piano and singing; that was always around me as well. It was weaved in and out of my life in every way you could think of. I always sang as a little girl, but I gained kind of this shyness as I got older, hitting middle school and high school, and singing became more of a therapy to me than anything. School was never for me. I never made good grades. I got bullied. I knew everybody, and I was nice to everybody, but I was not the popular girl. So, coming home and going straight to my room and singing, that’s how I found my passion and love for music. It was my getaway; it was my therapy. I never had a moment where I was like “I can really do something with this.” I always watched The Voice and other shows that had singing, and I would think, “Oh, it’d be so cool to be up there,” but I never thought I would actually try and do it because, at the time, my shyness just took over. I was perfectly fine singing and performing in my room.
TV Debut: I just turned 28 and looking back at being on The Voice at 30 such a young age, it was kind of a gray area. I just couldn’t believe I was even doing that at that age. Since I was a minor, I had my mom with me, I had to do school on set, I had a curfew. The whole thing was such an experience. But I think being that young helped me get through the show. I was so naive; I didn’t have any idea what the music industry was like. Auditioning was my mom’s idea, like, “Hey, we’re going to go do this because I hear you sing in your room all the time and I feel bad just sitting down here listening to you and we need to do something about it.” Singing was my getaway, and now it’s a whole new level that I had no idea about. Fast forward to growing up in the industry, it was fun but there were also tough parts of it. People always questioned my age [and] picked apart my looks. And for a while, that’s the only way they saw me – a 16-year-old winner of The Voice. They don’t want to see you grow up. I feel like I got a little tiny crumb of what the Disney stars experienced, when people watch you grow up before their eyes. But it’s been very special to just find who I am.
Finding Herself: It’s been a little over six years since my last album. Some days, when I think about it, I’m frustrated. But then I remind myself that I’m grateful for this time I’ve had. My mom and my family have been super supportive and encouraged me to lay low and not rush into things. I had been going a mile a minute since I won The Voice, and I took time to really find myself. For this album, I’ve lived a lot of different situations and experienced highs and lows of life. This time has allowed me to live a bit more, and you’ll hear that in this album. I’m really looking forward to putting it out.
On Her Own Terms: My first independent album; it’s still a crazy thing to say. It definitely feels like a different journey leading up to this album. But it’s something I had to do, and the process was an adjustment. It’s been really cool because I’ve been so close to the creative control. I was super hands-on. I learned so much as I was learning the industry and working with a label, but it has been really cool to flex these new muscles and see how much I’ve grown as an artist in this process. I loved being able to take time to experiment, to full throttle it being totally Danielle Bradbery. It’s been a challenge, but an exciting one with a new approach. I’ve had a lot of fun with this.
Strength in Vulnerability: I always want full honesty, and I’ve always wanted to be fully transparent with my fans. This album is full of real things that I’ve gone through in life. Honestly, the biggest inspiration for me was going through some very, very hard highs and lows of relationships. Some days, I couldn’t get out of bed, and I would cancel things and I was losing so much weight because I had my anxiety and stress taking over my whole body. My mental health journey is also in there. It’s all in there: finding love, losing it, and living life.
Message to Fans: When people listen to this album, I hope they realize they aren’t alone. I’m such a caretaker and I love making sure everybody is OK. I want people to leave with a feeling that they are heard and seen. I want people to listen to this and feel like I’m right there with them. I feel like when you hear stuff, or hear of someone else going through something, people feel
a kind of relief. There is something special about making music that feels like a hug. I hope we’ve achieved that here. I also hope people hear this music and think, “Oh, that’s Danielle.” Whether it’s old fans or people newly discovering my music, I hope they feel like they know the real Danielle Bradbery.
Bradbery has an album release show on Friday, September 27 at The Basement East. Information and tickets can be found here.