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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. Work began in 2004 on his debut record. 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 currently performs as a solo act, a duo, and with his electric band, "Brad Creel and the Reel Deel" whose members include: Sat Atma (guitar, mandolin), Mark Pedersen (drums), Ben Grosscup (bass), and Tom Frisch (keyboards)." Brad Creel and the Reel Deel can best be described as Johnny Cash meets John Prine meets the flying Burrito Brothers. This spring Brad will be going into Klickitat Band Camp Studios with the Reel Deel to record a new CD which will be available in the fall of 2010!
