David Bromberg’ss album Big Road may be new but the record starts from an old familiar place. Even now Bromberg, who was tutored by famed blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis while living in NYC in the 1960s, says “I listen to a lot of old blues,” when talking about his inspiration, but it stretches beyond that, D“I hear a lot of different things and when I wanna do something, I don’t see any reason not to, I don’t care what genre it is.”
Other sounds on the album mightbe familiar in a more specific way, with Bromberg re-recording songs like like “Diamond Lil”, which he felt needed to be redone to fit Bromberg’s current lifestyle.
His life has changed a lot since those earlier albums, as Bromberg actually took 20 years off from recording and performing. His career was going immensely well at the time, but sometimes too much of a good thing can be detrimental, as Bromberg began feeling the weight of constant touring,
“One of the reasons the career was going so well was I was working non-stop and I got burnt out but I was not smart enough to know I was burned out,” Bromberg said. “I didn’t want to be one of these guys who drags himself on stage and does a bitter imitation of what he used to love; there are enough of those! So, I decided I should find another way to live that I could enjoy.”
When he wasn’t making music, Bromberg took time off to find real passion again and invested himself in identifying violins. The time He took to himself allowed him to find joy again in his first love of music.
Bromberg now limits his live performances and will not play two gigs in a row anymore in order to keep each performance special and lively. Lucky for Charlottesville, Bromberg was still planning on performing for the community, just after the pandemic. Until it is safe for concerts to resume, fans will have to just listen to the band’s latest release, Big Road, which is out now.
