<div style="float:right;padding:10px;">[[Image:Easter_Bradford_5473680.jpg]]</div>
'''Easter Bradford''' is an openly [[gay]] singer/songwriter, actor and human rights activist. He was born James Martin Blackford on [[February 6, 1979]] in [[St. Louis]], MO. His mother, Bonnie Hooper Blackford, an unwed 20 year old who was diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]], was deemed unable to care for him, and he was taken from her custody by the state at the age of two weeks. He was placed into foster care where his name became James McCafferty Schneider. The foster family intended to adopt James, known then as "Jimmy," as soon as his birth mother's parental rights were terminated. However, on the advice of state counsellors, she married and thus her home environment, now containing a mentally healthy father, was deemed potentially fit for a child. She became pregnant with a daughter and then her new husband died from premature [[artery]] failure ''(does this statement mean an [[aneurysm]]?)''. In all, it took two and a half years for Hooper-Blackford parental rights to be terminated. During that time the teenage son of the foster family had developed a [[drug]] problem, and thus an entirely different family adopted Bradford at the age of 2 and a half.
Now known as James Bradley Warnock, Bradford lived in [[St. Louis]], MO until the age of seven and then relocated with his family (mother Eileen, father David and sister Gretchen) to [[Shreveport]], LA. His father, a pharmaceutical statistician, was constantly considering offers from pharmaceutical companies around the world. In [[Shreveport]], Bradford began experimenting with local theatre, church choirs and children's acting groups, including [[The Peter Pan Players]], a group which would spawn several well-known performers (including actor and writer [[Blayne Weaver]], who later provided the voice of [[Peter Pan]] in [[Disney]] films.)
At the age of 15 1/2 Bradford became discontented with the education he was receiving and decided to drop out of high school to pursue higher learning. He successfully appealed to the Louisiana schoolboard for permission to take his [[G.E.D.]] test (the required age in Louisiana is 17) and passed with flying colors. After a semester at [[Louisiana State University of Shreveport]] Bradford was accepted into [[The American Musical and Dramatic Academy]] in [[Manhattan]], [[New York]], New York. It was also around this time that he came out of the closet to his friends and family, and he voiced his objection to the negative treatment he received from school faculty because of his [[sexual orientation]].
Before relocating to [[New York City]] (at the age of 16 1/2) Bradford's mother Eileen, a school teacher, was diagnosed with [[pancreatic cancer]]. An operation revealed that it had spread to other vital organs, and she was given just six months to live. The entire family relocated to [[Montgomery Village, MD]] so that Eileen could be closer to [[Johns Hopkins]] Cancer Center. Bradford then moved to New York to begin his education. During the first week in New York he was "discovered" by a casting agent who gave him a small role in the television show "[[Party Girl]]," based on the cult film of the same name. Bradford appeared in two of the six episodes that were filmed, and the show was cancelled after just three airings. After just a month in New York he was expelled from the university for allowing an aquaintence to shoot [[heroin]] in his room. (Bradford would explain in later interviews that his hyper-sensitivity to people in need coupled with a naivete' about drugs led him to believe the friend in question was a [[diabetic]].) A week after his expulsion, his mother died.
Moving back to Maryland to be with family, Bradford began taking classes at [[Montgomery College]] of Maryland and participating in college theater productions (among them "[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]" "[[Guys and Dolls]]" and "[[Crazy For You]]." His father took a job in [[Ft. Lauderdale]], FL and his sister married a [[Buddhist]] and continued living in her own home in [[Virginia]].
At the age of 18 Bradford answered an advertisement in [[The Washington Blade]], a D.C. metro area gay newspapwer. The ad led him to [[Richard Morel]], a music producer who owned Pink Noise recording studios in [[Takoma Park]], MD. After hearing Bradford sing just once, Morel offered him a hugely reduced rate to record a demo in his studio (see [[The Sugar E.P.]]). A four song demo, called "The Sugar Sessions," was recorded with the help of then-boyfriend [[Patrick Jennings]]. After the demo was finished, Morel revealed that he was starting his own independent music label, and Bradford was signed on as the first act. It was at this time that he chose his stage name, "Easter Bradford." The first name was given to him by a [[Hopi]] [[Shaman]] as a symbol of his rebirth as an artist; the second was chosen because it was thought at the time to be his last name by birth. (It was only discovered several years later, after unlocking his [[adoption]] records, that it was, in fact, Blackford.)
Working with [[Richard Morel]], who in turn is a collaborator with world famous DJ duet [[Deep Dish]], Easter's first album, ''[[Mnemosyne's Lounge]],'' was recorded. The album was never released, although its first single, "[[Consummate Professional Relationship Destruction Machine]]", was very popular in the dance clubs of [[Washington, D.C.]]. The song was also included on [[DCide]] record's compilation "[[DCide: the 40]]," highlighting the top 40 acts of the [[East Coast]]. Bradford was eventually dropped from the label without a release, as the label effectively went stagnant.
In 2001 Bradford released two E.P.s in the D.C. metro area. The first, "Heart Like an Artichoke," sold nearly fifty thousand copies in local stores. It was a concept album exploring the idea of over-extending one's ability to love. The second, "Sloe Eyed Detatchment," was a melancholy collection of five cover songs interpreted with a sly eye to subtext. (Among the songs was a bluesy interpreation of "Nasty Girl" by [[Vanity Six]], tongue planted firmly in cheek.)
Bradford went on to star in various [[off-Broadway]] theater productions and built a following in the DC [[gay community]], eventually opening for [[Jimmy Sommerville]] at [[Washington, DC]]'s [[Millennium Pride Festival]]. Easter's sophomore album, ''[[The Story of the Nail]],'' is in production as of 2002. He is also a member of the Washington, D.C. improv comedy group [[Far From Kansas]].
In 2003 Bradford began work on what is technically his third album. His second album "The Story of the Nail" is his second not to receive an official release, though for entirely different reasons. Signed to a smaller, independant label for his second project, they quickly decided a commercial release would not be viable because the songs were in such wide circulation on the internet. His third album, "[[Suck My Disco]]," is scheduled for release on Beatnick Blanket Records on June 13th, 2003.
Side Note:
:There is some scandal surrounding Mr. Bradford. It seems that he has established quite a reputation within the online [[Tori Amos]] fan community. Some time starting around 1997, when he was only 17 years old, he began actively participating in the online trading and selling of music collectibles (as a hobby.) In the interim he eventually managed to rip off a number of people. The exact number of people, and whether it was intentional or not, remains to be seen. What is known is that he is loathed within that community to this day, even though the majority of the people involved in the original scandal have long since absolved him of his mistakes. However, heresay is a powerful thing, and the truth is that regardless of the facts, he's become a vilified legend within that community. There are countless webpages related to Tori Amos that contain "warnings" against doing business with him. Some of them even go so far as to describe him as "sub-human" or "filth," though the page owners will be the first to tell you that they have never met him or done business with him. What apparently started as a community's attempt to protect innocent people from dastardly business doings turned into a phenomenon in its own right. (For the record, Bradford has apologized countless times for any mistakes he's made in the past; he has also since done business deals with the help of a professional retailing friend, and no problems stemmed from these sales.)
==Fan Page==
* http://www.geocities.com/nicestslice/ (Record Label Page)
* http://www.mp3.com/easterbradford/ (MP3 and music downloads)
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