Bought Secondhand

The Detroit area has a long musical history spanning from the golden Motown era of Smokey Robinson to the modern revolutionary rap styles of Eminem. The metropolis that has produced such a wide range of musical talent is composed of many diverse pockets of culture. On any given night a number of traditional ethnic musical styles may be heard throughout the city. Rising out of this multi-cultural environment, a band has come which embraces the heart of the traditional reggae sound, fusing it with the pulse of underground hip-hop mixed with creative rock. The band is Bought Secondhand.

    Bought Secondhand was formed in 2013 by drummer and percussionist Al Ledford, bassist Jerry Francis and guitarist Steve Webb who also fronts the band as lead vocalist. These three had worked together on previous projects where they had begun experimenting with reggae style music but had only moderate success. What their music was missing was the ability to take their urban poetry, and show the sensation in the struggle. They knew they could accomplish this using reggae rhythms, but it was going to have to be deeper than an upstroke on a guitar. They set to writing, and in a matter of months had developed the first tracks which ultimately become their first release "Jump in".

    The tracks developed gave them the foundation for the sound they were after. This sound pulsed with a rich rhythm made from not only the smoothly transitioning bass and drum tracks, but a distinct piano which had given it a more traditional flavor. The piano tracks, along with organ and various wind instruments came from long hours spent in their basement studio. The band was able to record these well enough for the initial tracks, but to put their stamp on the music scene , they would need to be able to reproduce these tracks live. They needed a Keyboard player.

   Bought Secondhand had been led this far by the chemistry they had developed with one another, and after the decision had been made to add someone on keys, there was no question about where they would turn. James Berg was a musician they had worked with on previous projects. He shared their same ambition for music with a unmistakable groove, and that was exactly what they were looking for. They met with him, and after playing him a  few of the tracks, everyone had already begun talking about equiptment needs and layered sound effects. He was in. With all pieces in place, they were ready to get to work.

    They hit the ground running. The tracks for Jump in have finished being mastered, and the date for release is February 2015.