Thunder Jackson
“I found the best of myself in the beauty of my small hometown.”
When Thunder Jackson left the bright lights of Los Angeles to return to Oklahoma City, where he was raised, he feared that he might be taking a step backward. "Ultimately, I realized that I was choosing to be a stronger man," he says. "Going home helped me rediscover my purpose in life.”
That experience is the fuel for Take Me Back, a sterling EP that tracks his journey with raw honesty.
The project follows his acclaimed debut, Thunder Jackson, which has built a powerful global streaming presence with the viral hit "Guilty Party." That success has been followed by the break-out album tracks “Love Sick Doctor,” "Find Yourself” and "Caroline" – followed by his 2021 reinvention of the a-ha '80s classic "Take on Me.”
That success was the result of tireless work that saw Thunder Jackson, who was born Kyle Bradley, from performing songs by artists like Jeff Buckley in hometown bars to busking on the streets of LA. As the son of an Elvis Presley impersonator, Jackson saw music, and how it can render you larger than life, as his most logical vocation. In a chance meeting with Pete Lawrie Winfield, the musical mind behind Until the Ribbon Breaks – there was an instant chemistry that led them into a studio to record the debut album.
But Jackson struggled with the L.A. lifestyle, where he says he felt experienced less emphasis on musical authenticity and more on partying and superficial stuff.
“It took me to all kinds of places that were bad for me. I was craving life in my hometown. I needed to be in the place that made me feel focused and creative. That was Oklahoma. Just being back with my friends and family, and all of the places where I first made music was healing.”
With that, Jackson was ready to write and record again. Enter producer/musician Ryland Blackinton, famed for his work with Cobra Starship. Together they began to formulate Take Me Home, a soulful set that shows Jackson rising to a new creative benchmark.
A crowning gem of the EP is the title track. "Take Me Back" is a collaboration with alt-pop sensation Chet Faker, the billion-streaming nom de guerre of artist and producer Nick Murphy. It was a match that no one, especially Jackson, saw coming. "When we met, I was excited just to talk and learn more about him, he says. "We connected in a big way. Over time, he became a Yoda-like figure to me.”
“Take Me Back" was born when Murphy asked Jackson to add ideas to a track he was working on. "I heard the music, and I was instantly inspired. I found myself writing about how you cannot get back what you've lost. The innocence is gone. The words just flowed out of me.
Within an hour of getting the track, Jackson recorded his words and sent them to Murphy, who was excited by what he heard. It's a collaboration that sparked a series of gigs together, as well as a successful solo tour of the U.S.
“Being onstage is always cathartic and fun. It’s where I show my true vulnerability and connect with people.”
