FORT WORTH, Texas — Leon Bridges is teasing a new album and the first snippets, released on his Instagram, are centered around his childhood in Fort Worth.
The Grammy award-winning Bridges, who still lives in Fort Worth, regularly mentions this city in his music. In a recent release, he was inspired by the coffee chain Summer Moon, which has locations in Fort Worth. Bridges also filmed a music video in the Historic Southside neighborhood in 2020.
In a post teasing his new album, Bridges said the album covers "my upbringing to life now & everything in between... I’m coming home again."
One of the teased tracks may be the most direct reference to Bridges' childhood in Fort Worth. With the lyric "On Rosedale, my father said 'go straight home'" he references E. Rosedale Street, the main thoroughfare connecting the neighborhood Bridges grew up in, the Historic Southside, to the city.
He also mentions his father, Wallace Bridges, a community activist in the Historic Southside and a member of the Fort Worth ISD Board of Trustees.
The teaser was filmed at the historic Sinclair Gas Station off McCart Avenue in the Rosemont neighborhood of southern Fort Worth.
The teaser goes on to describe Bridges' father's warning against walking on Rosedale late at night "or I'd catch hell." The area has long been home to a rich history but has struggled with high infant mortality and lacking economic development.
The city of Fort Worth has been working in recent years to invest in the Historic Southside, which is slated to be the future home of the National Juneteenth Museum. Alongside the museum, the city hopes to partner with a developer to build new housing and retail space. That effort has stalled in recent months after the city's chosen developer failed to secure financing. Community activists, including Wallace Birdges, have criticized the city for failing to invest in the neighborhood.
Fellow Fort Worth recording artist Abraham Alexander commented on the post saying "Your best album by a mile." The release date for the album has not been released, but he's been teasing new music for several days.
In another post featuring a snippet of new music, he made several other references to iconic areas in Fort Worth celebrating "the summertime on the Southside," and describes walking to the community center to play Nintendo 64, and grabbing Little Debbies from the corner store. He captioned the post "a love letter to Fort Worth."
Judging by Instagram comments from Fort Worth fans excited by Bridges celebrating Panther City, Fort Worth wants to send a love letter right back.
