Local band Smokestack jams on Saturday, Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise to groove down on Sunday

Daily Arts Editor

If you lose one of the five senses, the remaining four become heightened. Just ask Robert Bradley - the blind vocalist may not be able to see, but his ears work just fine. And Bradley will be the first to tell you that he knows good music when he hears it.

"Man, people don't want to hear Eminem talking his shit for two hours," Bradley said. "People who love good music want to hear something they can groove to, something that moves them."

For Bradley, a soulman native of Alabama, the search for that perfect groove has taken him literally across the country. Working as a street musician, Bradely would hop a bus and ride until the next city, singing for whoever would listen. In Detroit, he found a receptive audience in Andrew and Michael Nehra, musician brothers (bass and guitar, respectively) who immediately enlisted Bradley to front their new group.

Fast forward five years and you have Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, a smooth quintet that's equal parts Motown soul and classic, Stones-like rock 'n' roll. The group, which is rounded out by drummer Jeff Fowlkes and keyboardist Tim Diaz, has released two albums on RCA (including last May's excellent "Time to Discover"), and has played clubs from New York to San Francisco.

Bradley said that no matter where the band performs, the goal is always the same: Give the audience the real deal.

"Anybody can sound good if they have a million dollars behind them," Bradley said. "But people like Marvin Gaye and Buddy Holly made real music - hell, even Elvis could really sing, and he didn't need 10,000 people in the studio.

"Listen to the Stones: That's not complicated music, but the hard part is putting it all together. If you can do that, that's when you know you have a good band," Bradley said.

Even the Blackwater Surprise needed a little time to gel Bradley's old-school soul style with the Nehras' rock sensiblities.

"Oh yeah, it was hard at first, because the rest of the guys are young and a lot of time young people get bored and make things really busy," Bradley said. "But most people out there aren't rocket scientists when it comes to music, and they don't need to hear all kinds of complex stuff.

"So we give them a big groove that they can lay into, something they can shake their butts to," Bradley said.

Courtesy of RCA

Detroit's finest, and we're not talking Chet Lemon: Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise.