A Man Without A Home - A Man Without A Country -
A Man With A Passion
Eugene Bridges “Hideaway” Bridges fulfills a passion on the road but longs to touch his roots back in Texas. He has traveled exotic corners, but calls Houston his home. Writing songs and traveling around the world is how he lives, but longing for his roots brought him to America for a recent visit. Passing through Texas, Eugene took some time to share his story.
I understand that you are originally from Louisiana.
Yes. I was born in New Orleans. My Daddy was moving to the country, a little town called Amite, Louisiana. I spent time back and forth in New Orleans. My Mama left when I was about five years old. She was down in New Orleans and Daddy was in Amite and that is what traveled me to all these different schools. In New Orleans, Hammond, Amite, Mt. Pilia, Independence, and Tickfaw because my Daddy would change jobs or he`d move. I had another step-mom. Well, she was like a step-mom. They never did marry. That`s why they split up. So, that was three years, the longest I stayed in one place, ever, until I moved to Texas. I had never lived in one place longer than three years.
At four years old, the only toy my Mama gave us was a plastic shovel and a bucket, a beach bucket. We were no where near the beach, so I had no use for the bucket. But, the plastic shovel, I put rubber bands on it because there was a sound that was in my head all the time that needed to come out. So, I started putting rubber bands on it and making a sound like it was a guitar. See, my Dad was a guitar player. His Dad was a guitar player. The Bridges down the line were guitar players. The Bullock`s, on my Mama`s side, were singers. My Mama never did sing. Not professionally, but we had quite a few professional singers. The most professional one was Annie Mae Bullock. You would know her as Tina Turner. The Bullock side was singers. I had no intentions that I was going to be a singer. The sound of the guitar kept coming through. All of a sudden, my Daddy saw that. He showed me some blues riffs. At that time, my Dad was a blues man, Hideaway Slim. He got the name from the Freddie King instrumental, Hideaway. They would request him to play it all the time. When he`d go to these clubs like, Tip & Tina`s, The Shady Tree, The Do Drop In, all those little hole in the walls that were a way to make a buck. He would play that song, The Things I Used To Do. He played quite a bit of T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Reed, BB King. See, all those were just names to me. I didn`t know who all those cats were. Any of them. He would play that song, Hideaway, that people always requested. On the back of his 1948 Chevrolet, he wrote on the side, “Hideaway Slim”. Daddy was 6`6”, tall slim guy. So, when I started playing blues, I just took on what Daddy started. At that time I was playing blues behind Daddy. I didn`t really have a blues name. I was just his son playing guitar. By the time I was seven, Daddy started preaching. That was the last time I played blues then he started teaching us gospel. But behind his back, I was still playing those blues chords. I took on the name “Hideaway Bridges” to continue where Hideaway Slim left off. He wasn`t going to play blues anymore. He started teaching us gospel and I started traveling with our pastor. My Daddy was a musician at the church for a while. Then one day he told me, “OK, this is your job.” So I played for the church. I played with my brothers, The Bridges Brothers, from age seven until thirteen. Well, really to age sixteen. But at thirteen, I had my first R&B band. But I was playing gospel with my brothers, traveling with my Pastor. I would play for the church. My pastor was an evangelist. He would travel from place to place and I would travel with him. My Daddy was playing for some gospel groups. Local gospel guys. They loved his playing. So one day he said, “This is my boy. He`s going to play for you guys.” So these guys were in their 30`s, 40`s and 50`s, and I was seven or eight years old playing guitar for them. I was teaching guitar to other kids that was going to their church for them to become guitar players. But, all this music and sound was in my soul. I didn`t have a record to study from. A lot of musicians you see learn how to play music, they study guitar. They take a record and listen to it. They say, “Oh! This is what BB is playing.
I like what BB is playing, so I`m going to play what BB did. I`m going to play what Albert King did. Albert Collins, I like what he`s playing so I`m going to learn what Albert Collins played, and become a mimic of Albert Collins.” That never was a part of my system. It was just in me. It`s like whether I`m going to grow tall, or grow fat, or grow skinny. It was IN me. It just came out. Same thing with the writing. One day my Daddy came in and I was choking my brother. He was the lead singer. He was lazy and he wouldn`t learn a song. He was my older brother. He played the bass. As I was choking him, I was saying, “Do it right! Do it right!” My Dad walked in and said, “Look, if you want it done right, you do it!” Ok, I went on and did it and sang. I said, “If that`s the case, no problem.” I had no intention of singing. I had no intention of being a singer. I just followed my heart. I knew the sound that I wanted and I knew the melody I wanted. Throughout my lifetime, I learned that music revolved and music is inspired from some where else and develops and grows. Your geographic location will dictate your sound just like your accent. That`s what I teach, also.
I understand that you are originally from Louisiana.
Yes. I was born in New Orleans. My Daddy was moving to the country, a little town called Amite, Louisiana. I spent time back and forth in New Orleans. My Mama left when I was about five years old. She was down in New Orleans and Daddy was in Amite and that is what traveled me to all these different schools. In New Orleans, Hammond, Amite, Mt. Pilia, Independence, and Tickfaw because my Daddy would change jobs or he`d move. I had another step-
At four years old, the only toy my Mama gave us was a plastic shovel and a bucket, a beach bucket. We were no where near the beach, so I had no use for the bucket. But, the plastic shovel, I put rubber bands on it because there was a sound that was in my head all the time that needed to come out. So, I started putting rubber bands on it and making a sound like it was a guitar. See, my Dad was a guitar player. His Dad was a guitar player. The Bridges down the line were guitar players. The Bullock`s, on my Mama`s side, were singers. My Mama never did sing. Not professionally, but we had quite a few professional singers. The most professional one was Annie Mae Bullock. You would know her as Tina Turner. The Bullock side was singers. I had no intentions that I was going to be a singer. The sound of the guitar kept coming through. All of a sudden, my Daddy saw that. He showed me some blues riffs. At that time, my Dad was a blues man, Hideaway Slim. He got the name from the Freddie King instrumental, Hideaway. They would request him to play it all the time. When he`d go to these clubs like, Tip & Tina`s, The Shady Tree, The Do Drop In, all those little hole in the walls that were a way to make a buck. He would play that song, The Things I Used To Do. He played quite a bit of T-
I like what BB is playing, so I`m going to play what BB did. I`m going to play what Albert King did. Albert Collins, I like what he`s playing so I`m going to learn what Albert Collins played, and become a mimic of Albert Collins.” That never was a part of my system. It was just in me. It`s like whether I`m going to grow tall, or grow fat, or grow skinny. It was IN me. It just came out. Same thing with the writing. One day my Daddy came in and I was choking my brother. He was the lead singer. He was lazy and he wouldn`t learn a song. He was my older brother. He played the bass. As I was choking him, I was saying, “Do it right! Do it right!” My Dad walked in and said, “Look, if you want it done right, you do it!” Ok, I went on and did it and sang. I said, “If that`s the case, no problem.” I had no intention of singing. I had no intention of being a singer. I just followed my heart. I knew the sound that I wanted and I knew the melody I wanted. Throughout my lifetime, I learned that music revolved and music is inspired from some where else and develops and grows. Your geographic location will dictate your sound just like your accent. That`s what I teach, also.
