Bradley Hathaway | Far From Speechless
Written By: Jameson Ketchum

ith a charming Arkansas twang and poems that seem to cut to the core of what we’re all thinking but may be too afraid to say, Bradley Hathaway has been blazing his trail for some time now. Using a mix of spoken word poetry, country and folk, Hathaway has given us two full length albums since fully transitioning to songwriting. His newest release A Mouth Full of Dust offers a darker look into the head of this poet who is successfully finding his voice in a whole new way.

Your new record, A Mouth Full of Dust, seems to be a lot darker and heavier than your last release. Tell us a bit about the themes and influences that went into making this record.

Bradley Hathaway: Yeah, it’s a lot darker and heavier. Basically it’s about struggling and searching for answers and meaning. From being burned out and watching everyone burn out around you to dealing with suicide or boredom or what have you…it’s just about searching, waiting, hoping for hope. All of the songs are being sung from the perspective of someone that is trying to follow Jesus and what that means day in and day out. While many of my songs prior have some sort of answer or hope in the end, this record tends to leave a lot of stuff hanging maybe.

As most people know, you are also a spoken word poet but in recent years you have turned into a singer/songwriter. Why the transition?

BH: As quick as the spoken word came to me it left and everything since then has come with more melody. So I started singing those melodies instead of speaking them.

Do you feel like you have lost or gained more fans since committing to this change?

BH: Ha, though I wish it were not so I lost a lot of people. Oh well.

The last few times I’ve seen you, you have done “The Hug Poem”. Is there anything about that one that you still feel obliged to perform it?

BH: Well I still like the idea of doing a spoken word poem now and again and the last few tours “The Hug Poem” still fit nicely into the set. And that tends to be peoples’ favorite. I feel like that poem amongst a couple other will be with me my entire performing career. I like to surprise people every now and then so I don’t always do it but it’s going to be on the radar for a long time to come.

You’ve never been signed to a label but you’ve toured with some pretty big names including mewithoutYou, The Chariot and Blindside. How have you managed to continue doing larger tours such as these for over five years now without a label?

BH: Relevant Books put out the poetry book and record, so I’m technically a published poet but other than that, no label of any sort. Those bigger tours were in the very beginning just because they all liked what I did and I asked them, but I’ve not been on a big tour in a long time unfortunately.

Do you still write poetry that stays poetry? If so, are you planning on ever putting out another book of poems?

BH: I wish I still did write spoken word but no, it just stopped coming to me one day. I expect it to pop back up anytime soon and then I’ll start writing and release them if they are good enough, sure. Never say never about one’s art.

One of your most famous poems that you have retired is “The Hardcore Kid…” Are you still a hardcore kid at heart? Who have you been into lately?

BH: At heart, yes. I love the spirit of hardcore and punk rock that I knew in my younger years that doesn’t seem to be around much today. I’m not really into much new heavy music except Comeback Kid and I’m getting into Have Heart. But I still regularly rock Strongarm and Living Sacrifice of my youth.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

BH: Hopefully still being able to make a living off of music. So writing, touring, and being married with a kid or two by then. If not being a full time artist is in the cards then cultivating my land and having a full on farm, working with the animals and plants of the earth located in the beautiful state of Arkansas.

What advice would you have for a kid who wants to get into spoken word poetry?

BH: If you want to perform it, perform it anywhere can you as often as you can. You have to practice and get comfortable in front of people. Don’t fret if you sound like someone else in the beginning but eventually try to find your own voice and let it be. Don’t expect to make a living because I’m one of a couple people in the world that did and those are not very good odds in your favor! But who knows. Follow your heart and make the art you want to make and don’t worry about what other people think of it, be it them praising or dissing you.