Woody Bradshaw Resurrects Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ into a Country-Gospel Communion of Faith

Woody Bradshaw may have taken on one of the most relentlessly reworked songs in modern music, but in his hauntingly orchestrated cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, he found fresh soil to sink new imaginings into. With an accord between Americana-fuelled guitar chords and the softly aching edge of his vocals, Bradshaw channels restraint at first, only to cast it off in favour of an impassioned surge that spills into gospel fervour. As the progressions deepen, the arcane orchestral arrangement unfolds as a meditation on finding strength in faith, on holding light in the tension between loss and divinity. Bradshaw’s percussive choices hit with boldness, punctuating the track with the force of spiritual reckoning. The country-tinged guitars never get lost in the production—they find nuanced ways to thread themselves through the instrumental landscape, guiding the listener towards the lyrical divinity with quiet conviction. So much more than a cover, Hallelujah becomes a revived awakening in Bradshaw’s hands. The American singer-songwriter’s path from theatre stages and television screens to the soul-stirring depths of Nashville’s music scene shaped his ability to perform with resonance rather than theatre. After a pivotal encounter with Jimmy Webb and years spent forging his songwriting voice in the […]

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