Acclaimed singer/songwriter Pony Bradshaw announces the release of his forthcoming album Thus Spoke the Fool on August 16th (Soundly Music). Partially recorded in the sanctuary of an old church near Athens, Georgia, Thus Spoke the Fool is a powerful, multi-layered 10-song collection and the final chapter in a trilogy that started with Bradshaw’s critically acclaimed Calico Jim in 2021 and continued with North Georgia Rounder in 2023. Pre-save Thus Spoke the Fool HERE.

As Bradshaw sings in the spirit of Herman Melville’s narrator Ishmael, “They call me ginseng daddy” on the lead track, he invites the listener into the characters and mysteries of his Appalachian homeland. The song is written in the voice of the album’s narrator, “a singing raconteur,” and invokes Bradshaw’s deep appreciation of literature.

Like his previous two releases, the tracks on Thus Spoke the Fool feel more like immersive experiences than mere songs, serving as odes to the land and language of Appalachia. These lyrical landscapes pay tribute to the region where Bradshaw settled nearly two decades ago. The songs are rich with imagery of mountain laurel and tobacco leaves, transporting listeners to mill towns, American Legion halls, and Mineral Bluff, GA. The songs offer a hybrid, textured sound with hints of bluegrass and Americana, rich with rustic guitar leads, fiddle and pedal steel.

Catch Pony Bradshaw on tour this summer. Dates are below and more information can be found at ponybradshaw.net.

PONY BRADSHAW 2024 TOUR DATES
June 21 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
June 22 – Greeley, CO  – Moxie Theater
June 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Urban Lounge
June 26 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
June 27 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
June 28 – Pendleton, OR – Jackalope Jamboree
June 29 – Boise, ID – The Olympic Venue
July 12 – Teton Village, WY – Mangy Moose Steakhouse and Saloon
July 13 – Helena, MT – Lewis & Clark Taproom
July 14 – Whitefish, MT – Under the Big Sky Festival
July 17 – Spokane, WA – The District at Knitting Factory
July 19 – Teton Village, WY – Mangy Moose
July 20 – Gallatin Gateway. MT – The Westerner
July 22 – Billings, MT – Pub Station
July 25 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
July 27 – Davenport, IA – Raccoon Motel
August 10 – Camino, CA – Delfino Farms
August 11 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
August 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Moroccan Lounge
August 15 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
August 16 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
August 17 – Flagstaff, AZ – The Museum Club
August 18 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
August 21 – Denton, TX – Dan’s Silverleaf
August 29 – Winston-Salem, NC – The Ramkat & Gas Hill
August 30 – Mill Spring, NC – Earl Scruggs Music Festival
September 5– Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
September 6 – Nashville, TN – The Ryman
September 7 – Indianapolis, IN – HI-FI Indy
September 12 – Shreveport, LA – Louisiana Grandstand
September 14 – Pryor, OK – Born & Raised 2024
September 15 – Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City Music Hall
October 3 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
October 4 – Saint Paul, MN – Turf Club
October 19 – Waverly, AL – Standard Deluxe
October 30 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater
October 31 – Ft. Worth, TX – Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
November 1 – Austin, TX – Sagebrush
November 2 – San Antonio, TX – Sam’s Burger Joint
November 8 – Pineville, KY – Bell Theater
November 9 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
November 14 – Raleigh, NC – The Rialto Theatre
November 16 – Atlanta  GA – Terminal West