BRAD SMITH - Broken Bones & Bullet Holes (CD) 2024, Black Sabbath

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• LIMITED EDITION CD PRESSING 300 COPIES
• JEWEL CASE EDITION W/ LYRIC BOOKLET
• Release Date 11/1/2024

Broken Bones and Bullet Holes is about my realization that I don’t want to be a quiet, sidelined Christian. I don’t want to “keep my faith personal” like the world has convinced so many to do.  I want to move people a little closer to Jesus everyday.  I may take some hits for it, but the last few years have convinced me “Late is the Hour.” Stay alert, don’t be caught sleepin’ when the Master returns!

Here's how it began...

Kiss made me a rock fan, Ace made me want to play guitar, and Stryper made it ok for me to do those things for Jesus! I started playing guitar at about 14.  I listened to, and was influenced by guitarists like Ace, Randy Rhoads, Eddie, George Lynch, Nuno, Joe Satriani, Zakk Wylde, and Oz Fox. I thought I was a singer at first, until a guitar player I was jamming with showed me how to play Rock You Like a Hurricane. I quickly put away the microphone after that.  This was the 80’s for me.  I joined Latter Reign in ‘92.

Fast forwarding a few years (umm, decades), Luis Cardenas and I just finished releasing the third Latter Reign album in our catalog on Roxx earlier this year.  When Roxx contacted us in ‘21 to finish and properly release our catalog, we hadn’t worked together for quite a few years.  It’s hard to find time when you are raising kids.  However, when going through the archives, I realized that we had started a Christmas songwriting endeavor ten years prior and forgot all about it when we got busy with family again. That song was called Gift for You, and our new project became known as Crimson Hope.  Meanwhile, Luis and I found that working together again was very productive and fun. So, when we finished “Latter Reign II”, Luis approached me to produce his next solo album, “Stages”.  I poured everything I had into helping Luis with that project. We had such a great time and I felt like that was some of the best riff writing, arrangement and performances I had ever done. That album is called “Stages” and is available through Roxx in October.

So, when we handed Roxx Latter Reign’s “Order to Chaos” in January ‘24, I asked Luis what he felt like doing next. Figuring he’d say “work on a new Latter Reign album”, I almost dropped the phone when he said, “you need to do your own album!” I told him that I used all of my best riffs, arrangements, lyrics and creativity on his album and that I had nothing left in the “tank.”

In faith, I picked up my guitar and the Lord blessed me like drinking water from a fire hose! Broken Bones and Bullet Holes was the first song, and provided the inspiration and attitude for the whole project. Ten songs were written and rough-tracked in a month! Luis was now in the “producer’s” chair and he was approving or rejecting everything I came up with, while adding awesome backing vocals and melody ideas.  Luis’ strengths are melody and rhythm.  My strengths are more arrangements and lyrics.  Sometimes, Luis felt like he had to apologize for being too critical.  He was great about demanding the best possible product and performance from me and I am thankful for it.

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