I think that it’s Jamie’s first visit to 8th & Rail. Rock-n-roll, blues, and barbecue, this is Memphis to you, me, everybody. You would think that every Memphis musician spent his infant years rocking ever-so-soulfully on the back beat of a bar-playing blues hound. Don’t fall prey to the hype. Jamie Randolph had his beginnings in the cozy suburbs of the big city under the watchful eyes of his supportive parents and the Church. Think what you will. But every true artist has his past to thank. Rather than following in the footsteps of so many with the same beginnings, Jamie used his upbringing to fuel his own musical birth. Church became Jamie’s home away from home where he would hone his skills, develop his voice, and pound out songs on the piano by ear. 
The Bridges were born July, 2002 with a disposition to blend lyric and harmony with haunting melodies and the poetry of reality. Brittany Painter lends her gifted voice, writing, and acoustic guitar to providing the basis for intriguing arrangements in an acoustic style reminiscent of the sixties and seventies. Natalie Byrd and Stacey Byrd provide the truly unique harmonies as well as playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards. Jeremy Byrd on drums and Isaaca Byrd on bass add a full and forceful edge to the acoustic foundation.
The cousins hail from North Carolina and are presently based in Oxford, Alabama, coming together in 2002 to begin in earnest the pursuit of music writing, arranging, recording, performing, and enjoying the gift.
This new, old sound is full of the issues of youthful life with a strange and compelling appeal to those who have gone this way before. This masterful mix of pop, folk and indie rock leaves you confident and expectant. Get ready to enjoy these fresh songs that carry the listener through a wonderful range of sound and emotion introducing- The Bridges
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on July 26, 2007. View the original page.
