Ep. 8 - Josh Bradford: Escape Artist, Adlet, and Showing Up for the Birmingham Heavy Music Scene

Josh Bradford has been in the Birmingham heavy music scene since before most people knew what to call it. He fronted Escape Artist, helped build Adlet into one of Birmingham's most memorable local acts, and now hosts weeknight events like karaoke, trivia, and bingo at Lee's Coffee inside Workplay.In this episode, Josh talks about what got him into heavy music, what the scene looked like in the Cave 9 era, and what it took to be a real part of it before smartphones and social media made everything easier and harder at the same time. We get into the Escape Artist story from the early days through the hiatus and their 2024 reunion, the Adlet chapter and what it was like to be part of a local supergroup, and what loyalty to a scene actually looks like once the novelty wears off.We also spend real time on what Workplay is doing for local heavy music in Birmingham right now — 23 local bands on their stages since January of this year alone — and why mixed bills keep coming up as the single most important thing this scene could do more of.Honest conversation with someone who has been in the room a long time and still shows up.Follow on Instagram:@bamacore_@jdubbradford @workplaybham@leescoffeeandcocktails