Brad Callahan grew up in Moorhead, MN. He did his undergraduate work at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, where he was "schooled" by Ladd McIntosh and William Fowler amongst others. He did his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, where he had the opportunity to study with Dr. Dominick Argento. He subsequently studied and performed with some of Boston's, Los Angeles' and Nashville's greats. But enough about that. He's been an active writer, arranger, and performer in the Twin Cities for many years. His arrangements and original compositions have been recorded by Claudia Schmidt, Prudence Johnson, Gypsy, and his own project, Blowzone.
His musical influences include, but are not limited to, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Tower of Power, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Beatles (it all comes down to John & Paul,) Stephen Sondheim, Gil Evans, Herbie Hancock, the Brecker Brothers (R.I.P., Michael), Sly Stone, Steely Dan, Chicago, Sons of Champlin, AWB, Jimmy Webb, Jimmy Smith, Pepper Adams, Erik Satie, Rivers Rutherford, Phil Vassar, Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, Rickie Lee Jones, and Burt Bacharach/Hal David. On a slightly more contemporary front, he's a big fan of John Mayer, Brad Paisley, Norah Jones, Janiva Magness, Miranda Lambert, Mingo Fishtrap, Black Joe Lewis, Pink, and…ask him next time you see him.
Favorite Albums
The Beatles - Rubber Soul, The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Tower of Power - All of them!, James Brown - Sex Machine
Joni Mitchell - Blue, Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East
Holy Cole - It Happened One Night
Edgar Winter's White Trash
Earth Wind and Fire - That's The Way Of The World
Gil Evans Orchestra - Plays The Music Of Jimi Hendrix
Herbie Hancock - Fat Albert, Rotunda, Headhunters
Steely Dan - Aja, Gaucho, Merrily We Roll Along (Original Cast)
Jimmy Webb - Ten Easy Pieces
