Dear little buttercup, won't you stay a while? aka what?

Sports and shit...

I almost feel bad for Vikings fans...  Almost.  I get it though.  I really do.  Team of Destiny type feel, incredible regular season run, miracle throw and catch in the Divisional round (though ours was more a result of amazing talent then random brain fart but whatever) and...  complete meltdown in the NFC Championship.  Yep, welcome to the Packers' fans world.  That was our experience last year and now you get to root for the Patriots just as I did last year, which isn't a bad place to be in considering Tom Brady is the cheat code for the NFL.  It's like Brady figured out (and has become) what was the DUMBEST/LAMEST CHEAT CODE EVER IN JOHN ELWAY'S QUARTERBACK ON NES.  Do the Eagles stand a chance?  Of course they do.  But, is it reasonable to expect that this game will eventually come down to Brady vs. that vaunted Eagles defense, just as it did in the Patriots' game against the Jaguars.  And, similarly, just as he did against the vaunted Seahawks' defense and the Falcons' defense in Super Bowls past (not to mention the 51 other 4th quarter comeback wins, including this past weekend), Tom will be ready to tear them a new asshole come crunchtime.  So, Vikings fans, rest assured that the Eagles will get theirs.  I'm sure the first half will be promising for Foles and the Eagles and it'll appear that they have a great chance at taking home their first Lombardi, but that is utterly meaningless when MR. TECMO SUPER BOWL HIMSELF COULDN'T COMPETE WITH TOM BRADY...

Now, I didn't get to watch either of the games this weekend since I was in Spokane, WA for a show (many thanks to the Spokane DoubleTree for upgrading me to the Presidential Suite...  There's nothing quite like a hotel room with multiple bathrooms and more chairs than you can fart in...) and was traveling back during the games.  I have to say I was surprised by the Vikings/Eagles outcome a little, but not much.  My lady did announce, quite authoritatively, that the Jaguars had improbably defeated the Patriots 20-10, to which I replied "Are you sure?  Is there no time left?" knowing that even 10 seconds is enough for Mr. Brady to score 2 touchdowns if he wanted to.  I spent the last five hours of the trip thinking "Blake Bortles is a Super Bowl quarterback...  Yay...  Trent Dilfer would be proud..."  Luckily, it wasn't so...

Life, Music and shit...

This week I got to see the first cut of my music video for "Lookin' at Luckey."  As you'll recall (because you read all of these blog posts/updates religiously, right?  RIGHT?!?!), we shot a music video a few weeks back.  If you don't remember or aren't all up on this bitch, READ THIS SHIT AND GET CAUGHT UP ASSHOLES!  Anyways, the cut was AMAZING!  The director was horribly ill (probably because he works way too fucking hard) and was out for a couple weeks, so this was my first glimpse.  I was BLOWN AWAY GEORGE, BLLLOOOOWWNN AWAY.  Kevin, the director, has such an incredible eye for this shit.  He's an unbelievable talent and I'm still grateful that we got to work with him.  I simply cannot wait to show you guys and gals this thing he's created (and I helped!  Bonus points for anyone who gets that commercial reference.  Sometimes I feel old.  HE LIKES IT, HEY MIKEY).  It could be the thing I'm most proud of being a part of in my career.  Luckily, very little acting was require of me.  Singing along and pretending to play my own fucking song is about the extent of my acting skills.  Oh, and looking fucking badass and sexy in my leather jacket, jeans and boots...  I'M JUST A LONELY LONER, ON A LONELY ROAD...

Since it was a sadder week, here are the top five songs from Bradley's week (since I know you're all dying to know.  Well, I guess you might be if you're actually reading this fucker.  And, if you're reading this, Hi Mom!):

1.  "I am a Scientist" - Guided By Voices

"I am an incurable and nothing else behaves like me."  Just. Fucking. Beautiful.  Also, bonus points for the first comment being "I like to drink and comment on this video."

2.  "Power" - Kanye West

I've been obsessed with trying to learn the lyrics as I played the fuck out of the version he released before the record when he was being weird and leaking his own songs but sometimes they were different versions for some fucking reason with different lyrics or were songs that weren't on the record and it was weird but that's a fucking run-on sentence if there ever was one.  But, he released the alternate version in the middle of my insanity, the middle of my crazy period filled with anything and everything terrible and I can't count the nights I survived because of it's majestic beauty.  Kanye is simply on a different level.  I 100% truly believe he truly is the greatest hip-hop artist ever.  He somehow usurped A Tribe Called Quest for me.  I mean, fuck, he is the man who once said "Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh? Put the pussy in a sarcophagus."  Classic.

3.  "Skyway" - The Replacements

Speaking of Spokane, WA, "It's got bums when it's cold like any other place..."  Just a beautiful song by a man who truly understands us humans.  Not many do, unfortunately.  Or, fortunately, for them.  I think I'm talking specifically about me and not most of humanity.  Maybe it's an Asperger's thing.  I only know me and what makes me "me."  Who knows...

4.  "Sally Goodin'" - A View of Earth from the Moon

Yes, that's me singing this ridiculously old folk song with Jon Fickes and playing one half of the dual harmonica solo.  Yes, there was a time in our lives when we thought a dual harmonica solo was a good idea...  New York City is a hell of a drug...

5.  "You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon

Yes, while in Spokane I spent my last couple hours (ridiculously drunk, by the way, as expected) at a piano bar yearning for this song.  The guys didn't have a system that made sense to me so I didn't request this song as I normally would.  They never play it anyways at piano bars...  I need a new piano bar song...  But, this always takes me back to a time when Chevy Chase was one of the funniest people on the planet.  I miss it.  I love "Three Amigos" like it's nobody's business.  I mean, Jesus fuck, THIS HAPPENED.  I still watch my fucking old DVD copy of that movie constantly.  It isn't even in widescreen or fullscreen, it's only fills up part of my TV and is in the old-style cardboard DVD case.  It isn't as old as my "Goodfellas" DVD which I have to flip over in the middle of the movie, but it's probably the second or third DVD I bought.

I could listen to "Al" all day, every day and never tire of it.  NERD ALERT:  this was my favorite song to play in Pep Band.  Turns out when you tear your achilles and you can't play football and basketball (and baseball, but there's no baseball pep band) but you love music and still want to be around sports (and the cheerleaders) you might play in the pep band and learn songs like this.  Goddamn, run-on sentence much after five Woodford's?

No time to proofread this shit, so it is as such.  Read at your own risk, or don't, but if you're reading this than you've fucking read the whole thing anyways...  So, I win...  Til next time...

New Jon(athan) Fickes material? Hell yes! aka... Fruit Pies strikes again!

A VIEW OF EARTH FROM THE MOON'S DEBUT SINGLE/VIDEO FOR "DISTANCE RUNNER" AND, OF COURSE, SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS...

As promised, here is part II of this weeks blog.  I wrote more than I anticipated about my beloved Green Bay Packers and then got caught up watching silly BRETT FAVRE VIDEOS, then LIVE GENESIS VIDEOS (Phil is such an underrated singer, probably due to his obsession with pleated pants), then SHAKIRA VIDEOS (goddamn, she's so sexy, like, way too fucking sexy), then, at five or six bourbons in, I forgot what I was doing and starting watching "Skins" on Netflix (Cassie still breaks my heart in each episode she's in) before drinking a glass of Kava and finally falling asleep...  Wait, what was I talking about again?  Oh yeah, music.

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC:

This week revealed the long-awaited debut single, and accompanying video, from Jon(athan) Fickes' new project called A View of Earth from the Moon.  The song, "Distance Runner," gives us a taste of what we can expect from his upcoming album "Closer to a Ghost" which will be released this Friday, 12/1/2017.  And, holy shit, if this is the taste, I can't wait for the fucking meal.

In "Distance Runner," Fickes is hurling choruses at us straight down from pop-heaven, delivering cheeky, yet clever (and seemingly throwaway, yet casually brilliant), lines like "your mind is like a blender, you're like a banana" while drenching us in wonderfully warm, distorted,  Oasis-style guitars that really tie the song together.  The crux of the song finally reveals itself when Fickes earnestly, and perhaps desperately, asks "Are you running away?  Or, are you chasing something?"  The juxtaposition of this revelation against the almost willfully-deceiving upbeat nature of the song underscores the sadness Jonathan is barely trying to hide from the world while calling for us to let it out and join him.  He knows what he's doing, and I love every minute of it.

There's a joy that comes through the music, despite it's underlying heartache, which can probably be attributed to Jonathan taking over every aspect of the music ("I guess you could call it a solo record because this was the first time I did everything by myself. No live band in the studio, just me racking up countless hours of studio time, haha.”) and forging this into "everything I've always wanted a record to be," according to Fickes.  The established history for singer/songwriters breaking off and bogarting an album is dim, but Jonathan pulls it off beautifully.  This feels like his most developed and complete album to date.  Yes, we reveled in the effortless genius of "Never Love Again (It's Doubtful)" but that turned out to be the carefully curated charcuterie plate before this, our veal parmesan of a meal.  We knew it would be delicious, but we didn't know just how fucking delicious it would be.

The video for "Distance Runner" is equally as fun as we follow Fickes on his journey through time and space.  OK, just through space, or, at least, the 180 miles from Seattle to Moses Lake, WA (Jonathan's hometown), as he laments his inability to literally travel back in time (HUEY LEWIS STYLE) and tries to live, if only for a moment, in the past by going back to his childhood home and playing music with his old friends in the living room of his parents' house.  The video assumes the theme of Jonathan trying to run, again literally, from his current state of loneliness and disappointment by temporarily escaping the temporal world and reveling in the comfort of a fondly remembered youth.  Despite this, and after his long journey, he dutifully turns and heads back to reality; almost as if waking from the dream or realizing the idealized version of returning home doesn't exist, or perhaps having already fulfilled his nostalgic needs there's no reason to stay.  Along the way, there are countless beautifully constructed shots as we take this idyllic trip alongside Fickes.  Kudos to the director who instills us with a sense of wonder while we root for, and hope, Jonathan finds what he is looking for, knowing full well it's probably just a momentary distraction from himself that he's after.

I was lucky enough to hear the album in total and I won't spoil it, but, Jesus, you're in for a treat (and so are all the rest of you not named "Jesus").  I'll have a full album review here in the next couple weeks, as I want time to fully marinate in the tunes like a soon-to-be delicious piece of chicken.

As always, keep a good head and always carry a lightbulb...

Blasts from the past... Some of my favorite songs from people I know/knew. Also, where the fuck has this Packers team been?

Wow, sometimes I realize I've had a great life, filled with amazing experiences and beautiful music.  And sometimes I just feel good because the Packers win.  Especially against the Seahawks.  Life is good and music is my life, so music is good or something like that.  Blah, blah, blah, bourbon is delicious...

One of the most amazing things about being a musician, especially when you've been doing it as long as I fucking have, is that you get to meet and play shows with so many amazing artists along the way.  Now, don't get me wrong, most musicians/bands suck.  It's true.  It's just a fact.  The bulk of the bands I've had to sit through before unleashing my genius upon the world are just not good at all.  The amount of times I've thought "God, I hope they don't drive all the people out of the bar before I get a chance to play them songs they'll love so much they'll want to take those songs out behind the school and get them pregnant," is staggering.  But, sometimes, every once in a great while, the other bands don't suck.  In fact, sometimes they are good; really fucking good.  And I've had the pleasure of playing with some great ones.  I'd like to introduce you to a few right now.  Like now, before I start rambling like I normally do.  Because I really want to talk about the Packers win over the Seahawks which was unbelievably fucking awesome!  Where the fuck did that come from?  Seriously?!  God, I hope Damarious Randall isn't hurt too bad.  That guy is my new favorite.  I've loved him since I first saw him last season.  He just has a fucking way about him and a confidence in the way he plays that you just don't see from such a young player.  Shit, I did it again.  OK, here's the fucking music.

I love these three artists, which I'll present chronologically, and I'll give you a little insight into why they are so fucking good (which you'll find out anyways after you listen, but this is for those people who are like "I don't know, I think I'm so cool and I don't trust Bradley to recommend music even though I'm reading Bradley Wik's fucking blog."  Yeah, those people).

1.  Katie Davis - "Baby Your Eyes"

A long time ago, in a city far, far away...  OK, in Seattle in 2006 or 2007, back when I was a folk singer who had aspirations of becoming the next Bob Dylan, I met and played a few shows with Katie.  She probably doesn't remember me at all, which is fair because I was just an 18-19 year old kid who thought harmonica solos were cool.  Yes, harmonica solos.  I wish that was a fucking joke.  Also, I couldn't sing a lick and thought wearing leather jackets and sunglasses onstage was cool.  OK, so I got that one right, leather jackets are always cool.  Just not so much for someone who sweats a lot, like me.  But anyways, I was talking about Katie, not me.  I love to make everything about me.  It's kind of my thing.  Or maybe it's an Asperger's thing.  Or a delusional musician thing.  Shit, I'm still not telling you why I love this song from Katie Davis...

To best express why this song, "Baby Your Eyes," is so fucking good, let me tell you a story.  For the past 8-9 years I've had 2 songs stuck in my head.  Well, not exactly songs.  I've had 2 single-line melodies stuck in my head.  All I could remember was a single melody from these songs and nothing else.  No lyrics, not who it was, nothing "Google-able" so that I could figure out what songs were haunting my fucking waking dreams.  I hummed the melodies to everyone I knew, but no one recognized them.  So for years and years, I pried into this drug and alcohol-ridden brain trying to extract any bit of information that would help me solve this fucking Law and Order (SVU, the best one) case.  Finally, a couple weeks ago, I was drinking and going through my iTunes (a normal Tuesday night), jamming some Kenna, when I saw Katie Davis' first EP "Terrible, Terrible" on the list right above it.  I was listening to her amazing song "Los Angeles" when I wondered if she was still playing music.  I looked her up and saw she had released a second EP with three new songs, appropriately entitled "Three Songs."  I downloaded it (yes, I paid for it, assholes) and fired it up on the old Sennheiser headphones, as it was about 2am and though I wanted to blare it, I also had some sense of decorum despite my inebriated state.  The first song was great, I hadn't heard it before.  Then the second song came on and...  HOLY SHIT!  This was it!  One of the two songs that had haunted me for years (the other was the Weepies "Citywide Rodeo," in case you were wondering).  I must've heard her play it a show at some point back in the day.  But, fuck, "Baby Your Eyes" is such a masterpiece.  The thing I always loved about Katie's songwriting was that it was so advanced compared to what I was doing at the time.  So mature.  She wrote songs about real relationships and just laid those stories out for us to see/hear.  She highlighted the inadequacies we try our best to hide when we're trying to be in love with another human.  I was very jealous and very honored that she actually played a few shows with me.  I was not deserving or on her level as a musician.  But, man, I am so glad that I finally solved one mystery in my life.  Seriously, just fucking listen to this song, and, for God's sake, pay for it if you like it.

2A.  Jon Fickes/To The Sea - "A View of Earth from the Moon"

2B.  Jon Fickes/The Fraidies - "Never Love Again"

Jon Fickes has always been my favorite musician that I've ever met, hands down.  He's the most talented singer/songwriter/guitar player/fucking awesome dude that I know.  That's why he gets a two-fer, 30 Rock style.  For those hardcore Bradley Wik blog followers, you'll know I met Jon in Seattle around 2006-2007.  Jon also thought harmonica solos were fucking cool (imagine that!) and also wanted to be the next Bob Dylan.  I met him and immediately loved everything he was doing (mostly the harmonica solos) but was also instantly fucking jealous since he was better than me in every conceivable way.  He was a better singer, a better songwriter, a better guitar player and a better dresser (he looked the folk singer part, no sunglasses and leather jackets like some other idiots I knew).  Jon and I became fast friends.  After all, there weren't many who knew the Carter Family songs necessary to hang with Mr. Bradley Wik.  We drank beers, played songs older than our grandparents and threw bricks at John Lithgow's head.  Then, completely randomly, we both moved to New York City.  We ended up living two blocks from each other in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, before it was nice/expensive there.  When we both relocated to the West Coast, our bands (To The Sea and Bradley Wik and the Charlatans) started playing shows together.  BWC always loved playing with those guys, it was always a fucking blast and it always ended with way too much drinking, smoking way too many cigarettes and the occasional trip to the strip club in celebration of our self-declared brilliance.  Good times...  To The Sea was great but it was always obvious that Jon was the star of that band.  So, when he finally struck out on his own and put out his first batch of Rock songs, I was expecting greatness, but I was still somehow shocked at how good he was.  You can read all about his first record with the Fraidies HERE.

I was lucky enough to play with the Fraidies at their first show, and I'm even more lucky to call Jon a good friend of mine.  Listen to these fucking songs and, again, if you like them, buy them.  Us musicians are broke as fuck.

3.  Brianne Kathleen - "Paper Bag Dreams"

I met Brianne at a show BWC played at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland.  I found out later that she was a fellow musician.  Her vocal prowess was highly regarded in our circle so I invited her to sing on the first Bradley Wik and the Charlatans record.  She sang on "This Old House" and "I am not Afraid."  Her vocals practically made the fucking record and definitely were one of the main reasons why "This Old House" became the most popular track on that album.  Shortly thereafter, I had the pleasure of singing on her first album as well, on "If I Told You."  I also had the pleasure of mixing that album for her.  When it came time for her second record, she asked if I would record and mix it with her.  I was honored.  Of course, I fucking would.  I was so excited to see what we could do with her brilliant songs.  She wanted to bring more of a Rock N' Roll edge to the recordings versus her first album which was more folk inspired.  We did, but the song that always stops me in my fucking tracks was this one, "Paper Bag Dreams."  Brianne is such a phenomenal storyteller and I'm a sucker for a great/sad story.  I could fucking listen to this and cry for days on end.  It's so honest and beautiful and naive and hopeful and crushing as you know where this tale of young love/lust is headed.  I've played a lot of shows with Brianne and this was the song that always made people shut the fuck up and pay attention.  That's a hard thing to do as a performer.  But I would watch people forget they were drinking a beer and just fall into this story and her voice, oh, her fucking voice is magnificent; and it didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes.  But still, this is one of those songs that we as songwriters strive for, to capture a moment the way Brianne has here and present it to the world in all its glory.  I'm proud to say I was a part of this record and I got to share in the beauty of songs like this.  Thank you Brianne...  Buy this shit, like now.  Seriously.  You won't regret it.

OK, so seriously, where the fuck has this Green Bay Packers team been?  The defense, my god.  Aaron Rodgers, you are a god.  I love it.  I, and all the Packers fans I know, thought the same thing:  Yes, we can beat Seattle but we need a good showing from our defense, a good pass rush/win the turnover battle, and also a good showing from Aaron.  Man, did we get both in spades.  I just hope to fucking God that Aaron's new injury isn't too bad (though he fucking rocked it and should've won the Super Bowl in 2014 with a bum calf) and neither is Damarious Randall's.  That guy.  Oh, I love that guy.  My favorite young Packer.  I knew our defense could be magnificent if only they could stop being fucking hurt all at the same time.  But we need Damarious and by the playoffs Clay should be feeling at least a little better, which'll help a fuckload.  This is the best defense we've had since 2010, just saying...

Anyways, I love you all and enjoy the music above.  It's all on iTunes or you can buy via the Bandcamp links above.  But please support good music and support the end of Grouplove, especially as they ruin the credits of every BoJack episode...  Fuck, Grouplove sucks.  Still the holders of the worst song/most racist music video belt.  Seriously, watch THIS and you'll want to fucking kill yourself.  And the video shows that the whole fucking world hates these fuckers.  FUCK.  Now, I'm mad.  Why did I make this joke and listen to this song again?  Now I'm gonna have to listen to Neil Young's "Weld" start to finish to wash this shit out of my brain.  Either that or just drink til I don't remember listening to this song...  Either way, we'll see how the night goes.  Goodnight y'all...