Zack Quiroz
Grammy award winning artist and Cowtown native Leon Bridges might be embarking on his biggest tour this fall, but that hasn’t deterred him from hanging out at his most beloved local haunts.
For over a month now, Bridges has been spotted at the historic Sinclair Gas Station at 3725 McCart Avenue in the Rosemont neighborhood, the Boiled Owl Tavern at 909 W Magnolia Ave, and now Record Town at 120 St. Louis Avenue.
Zack Quiroz
Given his upcoming album, titled simply Leon, is all about growing up in Fort Worth, almost all of the promotional material he’s creating in honor of its release, is all being shot in and around the city.
It's gotten to the point where Bridges might pop up literally anywhere in Fort Worth to either shoot a video or play a quick impromptu concert. His willingness to stay close to his roots proves Bridges’ willingness to stay humble in the face of superstardom. Also, given he’s sold out his upcoming first-ever hometown show at Dickies Arena, where he'll play on Nov. 15, means he’s reached a new level of success, which makes it even more fun when he just shows up somewhere locally to play a song or two.
For the lucky few who get to witness Bridges in action, it's a moment that will stick with them for a long time.
For example, Record Town employee Zack Quiroz says Bridges, escorted by a film crew, stopped in the legendary music store for several hours to shoot a video for his soon-to-be released single, "That's What I Love,” which drops Sept. 27.
“I believe we were actually told that day that he was coming in,” Quiroz says. “From my understanding, he was in town for the week to shoot a bunch of material around Fort Worth to have as promotional content for the upcoming album.”
Quiroz says Bridges dropped in at Record Town on Aug. 21, to spend the day shooting promo around the store. Given Bridges’ history with Record Town, which was a regular hang out spot for the singer when it was located at University Drive, Quiroz says it seemed to fit his upcoming album’s vibe.
“[The production crew] were able to work around everything,” he says. “In fact, they were happy to just leave everything as it was to try and make it look as authentic as possible.”
Zack Quiroz
After shooting over a lip-synced track of “That's What I Love” for what Quiroz says seemed like three hours, Bridges went over to one of the store’s walls lined with guitars, picked one up and started playing.
“It was a great full-circle moment to see him come into our store and give us an impromptu acoustic performance,” Quiroz says.
Although Quiroz says he heard “That's What I Love,” which drops on Sept. 27, repeatedly during the video shoot, the song took on a new meaning when Bridges played it live, acoustically.
This meant a few customers who were shopping at the store during the duration of the video shoot, which was still open for business, had a chance to hear a Grammy-award winning singer play live.
“I don't think they quite knew who Leon Bridges was,” Quiroz says with a grin. “I mean, they saw cameras and stuff like that, but they were just shopping as usual. One customer was like, ‘What's going on here?’ And we just pointed at a Leon Bridges’ album on the wall and they’re like, ‘oh yeah, this guy here shooting a music video.’
After the shoot was complete, Quiroz says Leon left and changed into another outfit, which he wore for a photo shoot that took place in an adjacent parking featuring a vintage Cadillac.
“For the most part, I kept my distance and tried to keep my cool,” he says. “He was honestly a really nice guy. I did get a photo with him at the end there. And he was more than happy to oblige in the aftermath of this.”
