You could call Bradley Gaskin’s path to country music stardom unconventional, but this singer/songwriter is ready to prove himself worthy. The flagship artist for upstart 30A Life Records will release his Keith Stegall–produced new album, aptly titled Unfinished Business, Friday on all platforms [Listen HERE], while the lead single, “Accidentally Drunk”—an anthem for all the barstool fools shedding tears in their tequila—was "top 10 most added" yesterday.
A Duck Springs, Ala., native, Gaskin got his first break in Music City in 2008, after posting a rough demo of a song he’d written and recorded. Two weeks later, a country music executive heard it and invited Gaskin to enter a talent contest he was organizing. Gaskin won and was quickly signed to a publishing company, where his success as a writer ultimately lead to a major record deal. Despite landing in the Top 40 with his first single, Gaskin’s album was shelved in 2011 due to a label shakeup. A disheartened Gaskin headed home, where he hung drywall, worked at a sawmill and served as a janitor at his daughter’s school to provide for his young family.
But the desire was still there. “As a kid, I remember my granddad (LeBo) Hammac getting blistered on Budweiser and playing Haggard and Jones,” says Gaskin. “He had this crappy old guitar that he probably knew two chords on, yet he would try his very best to sing anything George did. I didn’t really know what he was singing about, but it made me want to dive into everything George Jones recorded.” Apparently, that feeling never really goes away.
Now, thanks to 30A Life Records co-founder Jack Cole—a fan and successful businessman turned independent label exec—Gaskin is back with a new album, including songs written by Grammy Award–winning songwriter Ashley McBryde (“Never Wanted to Be that Girl,” McBryde/Pearce) and hitmakers Ashley Gorley (“You Proof,” Morgan Wallen), Terry McBride (“Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” Brooks & Dunn) and Bill Luther (“My Best Friend,” Tim McGraw).
A 10-song mix of co-writes and expertly crafted outside cuts, each track of Unfinished Business reveals a bit more of Gaskin’s temperament as an artist, from the plaintive cries of the steel, electric and acoustic guitars creating a rich backdrop for Gaskin’s soaring vocals in “Without Her” (All my pain and emotion, like a storm on the ocean, drowns me out; I ain’t out of touch, with reality; Without her… I just ain’t me) to the rowdy, near-confident conviction of a man on a mission in “’Bout Damn Did” (’Bout damn stopped you from drivin’ tailightin’ into the night … ‘Bout damn talked you in to coming back to me … It ain’t the things I’ve done … It’s what I didn’t do). In between, Gaskin and Stegall interlace playful odes to the hard-working man and woman (“Bad Day To Be a Beer” and “Bumpin’ Buckles”) to the spiritual “Pray For God” (Gorley, Wade Kirby and Luther) revealing faith in God like only a child could have (When she says a little prayer for God… I know it takes a lot of love ... Taking care of all of us) with psalms of love and hope that lean autobiographical, particularly in the Gaskin co-write (with Stegall and Cole) “Stronger Than You Think.”
“When Keith told me he believed in me the same way he believed in Alan Jackson and Randy Travis,” Gaskin explains, “that’s when I knew I was finally getting somewhere.” Stegall adds: “Singers are a dime a dozen, but exceptional artists like Bradley are true music makers.”
Looking back, Gaskin muses, “I’m stronger because of what I went through; it makes you tougher. But there’s more to my story, which is why we’re calling the new album Unfinished Business.”
Gaskin will hold an album release party at AJ’s Good Time Bar in Nashville Thursday at 4 p.m. and is currently finalizing his fall tour. For more information, check out his socials: TikTok | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube.
About Bradley Gaskin
When Bradley Gaskin finally picked up his Gibson J45 after a decade of self-doubt, he was responding to an inexorable pull he could no longer resist. Gaskin had left Nashville behind but couldn’t quite shake the feeling there was something there for him. Upon garnering the attention of a Music Row exec in 2008 after posting a rough demo of a self-penned song, Gaskin quickly signed a publishing deal, then a record deal. Poised to release his debut album in 2011 once his first single became a Top 40 country hit, everything came to a halt when his label deemed him too traditional. After Gaskin was released from his contract, he packed away his guitar, picked up his toolbox and headed back to Duck Springs, AL, to resume real life—which is where Jack Cole, a seasoned businessman and longtime fan, eventually found him. Offered the deal of a lifetime, Gaskin jumped at the chance to get back in the studio with the promise of recording the kind of music he wanted to write. True to his word, Cole started 30A Life Records, signing Gaskin as his first artist and brokering a deal with legendary producer Keith Stegall to produce Gaskin’s new album.