"Nomadic Journeys" Music Events
If you are interested in booking one, please email to inquire about how to bring one of these performances to your area
Starting in the summer of 2022, I began to get the itch to perform again. But I had no intention to perform in the ways I had been performing up to now. I don’t get to sit with pianos or keyboards very often these days, and when I do, I don’t want to practice or work on pieces that I may or may not get to perform. Instead, when I am behind a piano or keyboard, I will just start touching the keys, make a sound or few and see what happens. Sometimes I get very random organized sounds, but often a song or piece I remember naturally just happens. I then have a tendency to build on that musical memory and often something brand new comes out of that. This is just so much more satisfying when I have such a limited time behind an instrument.
These concerts are designed to demand spontaneity, creativity, reaction, and provide a very open structure so the that the audience and me are embarking on a musical journey together. So far, there are 3 programs that have been organized to share a specific aspect of what my nomadic journey has been; unforeseen and quick decision-making; accepting uncertainty and anticipation as constant struggles; learning the art of giving up. Each of these programs is set up with different parameters in place so there is some sense of direction happening at all times. But these parameters allow for lots of freedom, play, and choices to react to the audience and/or pre-determined decisions that will be made for me at certain points in the program.
These types of performance events feel like the most honest way I can share what my life journey is to take this very idea of how much the idea of memory has been leading my own personal creative nomadic journey.
The Josh Bradford Piano Music Archives
Out of the over 200 original compositions, and 100+ arrangements, around half of these are piano or keyboard works, and most of these are solo performances. By the end of 2024, my goal is for all of my solo piano works to have professional recordings that will be released over the course of the next 3-5 years. In addition, I am also working with others to digitize older recordings of performances that are only on cassette for now for my own archival collections so that I am able to share my full process and progress with others.
These pieces and recordings span over 35 years, and although I’m happy that many of these pieces have some kind of audio recording available, many of these pieces have never received professional quality recordings, and only 7 of the works have received any attempt at a wide release. This is a project that I can continue to pursue no matter where I am, and can produce in chunks at a time, allowing for multiple releases over the next several years.
There are many ways to contribute to this project including sales of CDs and digital recordings, a Patreon or Patreon-like subscription, different crowdfunding campaigns for specific collections of pieces, and incentives for contributors who wish to produce or fund a specific recording.