From the first aching thrum of “Ginseng Daddy,” the opening track off his latest record, Thus Spoke the Fool, he’s inviting us back to that beautiful, haunted place, his homeplace, to visit again.
Similar to his previous two offerings, the tracks on Thus Spoke the Fool feel less like songs you hear, and more like places you go, odes to the land and language of Appalachia, lyrical topographies paying faithful homage to the region where Bradshaw put down roots nearly two decades ago. The songs are lush with mountain laurel and tobacco leaves, taking listeners to mill towns, and American Legions, and Mineral Bluff. They’re flushed with the flood of the Coosa and Hiawassee Rivers, tense with the tenor of a buck dancer’s tapping feet.
Recorded in part in the sanctuary of an old church outside of Athens, Georgia, Thus Spoke the Fool is a taut,10-song collection, and the third and final installment in a trilogy that began with 2021’s critically lauded Calico Jim. What began as a bluegrass record alchemized during recording sessions in Nashville to create a more hybrid, textured sound, heavy on fiddle and pedal steel.
Beyond any strict genre classifications, however, it’s mountain music that bears witness to a maligned and misunderstood region by a songwriter forever contending with the notion of what it means to call a place home.
Thus Spoke the Fool is out now!
Philippe Bronchtein
Philippe Bronchtein is a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville TN. Versed in a variety of stringed instruments, keyboards, pedal steel, and music technology, Bronchtein spent the early years of his career in Portland, Oregon. After recording several full-length solo albums and developing a strong regional following under the moniker Hip Hatchet, he gained traction in the UK, leading to extensive international and US touring. In between writing & performing his own songs, Bronchtein joined the band Quiet Life as their keyboard player and spent several years crossing and re-crossing the United States performing at festivals, theaters, and clubs. With Quiet Life, Bronchtein toured in support of indie rockers The Head and the Heart, Portugal the Man and Dr. Dog, recorded piano and Hammond organ on the band’s acclaimed EP “Housebroken Man,” and played all of the keys, synth, and wind parts on their psychedelic, full-length follow up “Foggy.”
Back in Portland, Bronchtein hit his stride as a producer, putting together demos for local songwriters. Along with engineer Tim Shrout, he produced Balto’s 70’s rock inspired album “Strangers” and continued producing his own records. In 2015, he was invited to track piano on a session for Esme Patterson’s album “We Were Wild”, and Esme subsequently invited Bronchtein on the road as the live band’s guitarist. He traveled with the Esme band for the better part of 2016, performing at WXPN’s Xponential festival and supporting artists like San Fermin & Brett Dennen.
Home after a long stretch of touring with Esme, Bronchtein wrote & recorded “Me and the Moon,” the first record released under his given name. After a brief tour in the Pacific Northwest supporting Sarah Jarosz, Bronchtein decided to make the move to Nashville to continue his work as a songwriter & session musician.
Shortly after arriving in Nashville, Bronchtein began playing pedal steel & organ with the gospel-infused americana duo The War & Treaty. The band quickly grew in stature, signing with Rounder Records and embarking on a series of increasingly high-profile national tours. With Bronchtein, the band supported shows for the likes of Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Al Green, Bob Seeger, and performed at legendary venues and festivals – The New Orleans Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Montreal Jazz Festival among many others. He joined the band in the studio for their second full length album, “Hearts Town”.
Bronchtein stepped away from The War and Treaty at the end of 2019 to focus on his own writing & recording. Shortly after parting ways with the band, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the music industry to an abrupt halt. As tours and live music all but disappeared, Bronchtein built out his home studio and shifted his focus towards recording. The days off the road were filled with remote overdubs for a variety of artists, as well as composing and recording music for independent radio producers and advertising houses. Bronchtein composed the music for his first feature length documentary, Hot Water on Long Island. Despite the tense uncertainty of the pandemic, it was a time of tremendous creativity for Bronchtein.
As live music slowly returned, Philippe was called in to do a short tour with Pony Bradshaw recreating the pedal steel parts he’d remotely recorded on their album Calico Jim. Together they played honky tonks and dive bars all through Texas and the Southeast. After traveling with Pony for the better part of the summer, Bronchtein was hired by Mickey Guyton to play pedal steel in her backing band. With Mickey, Bronchtein performed on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Grand Old Opry, The Ellen Degeneres Show, The American Music Awards, The Today Show, and several other high profile, nationally televised events. He joined Guyton in the studio to record pedal steel on her singles “How to Love Someone,” “Have a Little Faith In Me,” and “You Don’t Know Me At All.”
In August of 2022, Bronchtein joined up with Chase Rice’s camp as the utility instrumentalist, playing pedal steel, banjo, dobro, and keyboards. With Chase Rice, Bronchtein has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Jennifer Hudson Show, and The Today Show. Rice invited him into the studio to play pedal steel on the songs “If Drinkin’ Helped” and “That Word Don’t Work No More.” Bronchtein closed out 2024 on tour with Chase Rice in support of the new album “Go Down Singin’” opening for artists Jelly Roll, Old Dominion, and Dierks Bentley in sold out arenas and amphitheaters across the country.
