The journey to discover your passion & purpose is climbing roadblocks and turning speed bumps into jumps."

Scott Hancock: What did you have for breakfast?
Brad Corrigan: Missed it.

SH: Best album of all time?
BC: Led Zeppelin IV

SH: 3 words you live by?
BC: Gratefulness, Generosity, and Laughter

SH: All time mentor?
BC: CS Lewis + Owen Wilson are arm wrestling for that one...

SH: 3 things you can’t live without?
BC: Jesus. Curiosity, music, popcorn... elephants... golf... Wait, is that close enough to 3? :)

SH: Favorite place on earth?
BC: Iceland

SH: Biggest Fear?
BC: Being silent.

That we would learn how to respect, serve and appreciate each other as one big family despite all our freckles.

SH: Where are you headed today? Why?
BC: Martha’s Vineyard. Album press for our new Dispatch record!

SH: What’s it been like to launch a new album during COVID? How has the lockdown impacted your band?
BC: Memorable to say the least! So different from any other album drop in our 25 years... But we’re just super grateful we slotted time to record in Jan/Feb of 2020 - right before everything shut down - otherwise we would have missed our window and would likely still be sitting on these songs! Stoked, we can release the birds now and see where they go :)

SH: What else (outside of making music) do you and your bandmates like to do when you are off recording a new album? Any interesting creative rituals or just things for fun?
BC: Last 3 albums we’ve recorded in Stinson Beach just a little north of San Fran, such a beautiful place... so idyllic and inspiring with redwoods out the back and waves down below... so we’d hike and surf as much as we possibly could, and shoot hoops whenever we needed to change the vibe!

SH: Where did you grow up? How did your upbringing and where you lived shape who you are today?
BC: Denver, CO // Have always loved the outdoors, sports, and chasing sunsets bc of how I grew up... Just so much to do and experience near or deep in the Rocky Mtns... My parents, one set of grandparents, my sister Kelly, and our dog Taffy were a super tight tribe. I am so very fortunate that unconditional love + encouragement was a cornerstone to my upbringing. God shaped me through it.

SH: Was there a time or shift in your life when you realized, “I want to play music.”?
BC: Yea my grandfather lived to sing. He was this 6 foot 3 man with a huge bass voice... There wasn’t anything he loved more... and I wanted to be just like him, big + loud.

SH: What were the steps you took to get on your path? Were there any major roadblocks during your initial journey? If so, how did you overcome them?
BC: Equal parts dreaming, reaching, and praying. I’d say the entire journey to discover your passion & purpose is climbing roadblocks and turning speed bumps into jumps. Or maybe you could say ‘the way’ toward any real growth in life, and discovering what your heart beats for feels like it's always an uphill battle where you’re leaning into the wind. It’s for good reason though. Resistance builds up, and to sustain your energy and direction you have to keep looking up. I don’t trust the easy downhill sections.

SH: Do you remember your first big career breakthrough? Tell us about it?
BC: Dispatch played a free outdoor show in July of 2004 where it seemed to be a perfect storm of every good thing... We were hoping for 20,000 people and 150,000 ish showed up. It was one of the most beautiful summer nights, and the crowd singing felt like World Cup soccer.

SH: What’s the perfect environment for song writing? Where do you get your best ideas?
BC: Usually in a place where natural beauty is overwhelming and inspiring... also could be deep in the heart of a city where the energy and bustle is electric. I get most of my ideas at home and late at night... or on long flights where I feel most focused and present.

SH: What has been one of your biggest hurdles in life? Something you have had to learn to live with or navigate through that may be difficult?
BC: People pleasing. It’s all fear based and brings deep insecurity when I give power to it. Looking for affirmation from those around me really cuts off and chokes my spirit, while connecting with our audience of One - the Great Love - brings endless waves of life and joy!

SH: If you could choose any song ever written to be yours, what would it be?
BC: Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

SH: I’ve witnessed first-hand your great golf game and I've seen you play almost every instrument really well. What thing do you really struggle to do and wish you were a master of?
BC: Surfing! I started dreaming of surfing big waves as a kiddo living at the base of the Rocky Mtns... I have no idea how that came to be? But yea not a lot of water out there in CO :) And that is the absolute top of my list... I just so wish I was a true waterman and in epic paddling shape. I can’t imagine anything more beautiful or magical than getting barreled and just enjoying communing with the world’s biggest and glassiest waves…

SH: What 3 books do you recommend others read?
BC: 1. The Elephant Whisperer // Lawrence Anthony 2. Farewell to Mars // Brian Zahnd 3. Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven // James Bryan Smith

SH: What gets you most excited to get out of bed in the morning?
BC: Lisa, Amos, and Stella (wife, son, and dog)

SH: If you could invite anyone in history to dinner and conversation, who would it be? Why?
BC: Round top table of 8... we'll with me I guess 9 :) I’d want to sit between Jesus & Chief Joseph with Nelson Mandela / King David / Jane Goodall / John Bonham / Pele / & Kate McKinnon!

SH: Describe what it’s like to walk out on stage and see the cheering fans at a Dispatch show?
Describe the feeling?
BC: A rush of energy & love. Our fans have to be some of the most loyal and generous out there. It’s just sheer joy and light to get up on stage and receive all of that, especially when the crowd is leaning in and singing every word.

SH: If you had the podium for one minute and the entire world was listening, what message would you share?
BC: That we belong to each other, that we were made to love and uplift one another, that our Creator is unconditionally LOVE, and that there is enough to go around.

SH: What 3 things does anyone starting in your industry need to know?
BC: 1. Play from your heart. 2. Play from your heart. 3. Play from your heart.

SH: What would you do differently if you were starting in your industry now?
BC: Get more rest + exercise while on the road.

SH: Which people or books have had the most influence on your growth and why?
BC: My parents have had the most influence on my life + growth, along with my sister Kelly. Because they have always helped reflect back to me who I am when I am lost or distracted... And they’ve extended unconditional love and encouragement to me.

SH: Tell me about the biggest failure you've had. What did you learn from it?
BC: I ended up working/ living/ traveling myself into adrenal failure. I realized in my process of healing
(still ongoing!) that much of my ambition and drive over the years was really just me running from my
inner wounds and brokenness. My healing has come in large part by slowing down and confronting the
scary inner work that I’ve tried to avoid. “In change and rest is my healing, in quietness and trust is my strength” Isaiah 30:15

SH: What strategies have you put in place to protect your creative time?
BC: I haven’t really. And I’ve paid the price for it in recent years. Am currently trying to build some new disciplines and boundaries to make consistent space for listening and creating…

SH: You have a heart for making a difference in the world. Why did you start the nonprofit, Love Light and Melody? What do you hope to achieve?
BC: To serve a group of kids living & working in a trash dump. I wanted them to feel valued and known, help make them laugh and smile, reconnect with their childhood and safely grow up... I hope through LLM that we can share many of their stories and open doors for these kids, and any child facing vulnerability, to know their value, dream and flourish.

SH: For those who want to make a difference in the world, but struggle to know how or think they have nothing to give, what would you tell them?
BC: Start by sharing your smile. Look for how you can help the one in front of you. Be generous. Lean into your fears and the uncomfortable. You’ll be changed in the process. And there’s nothing more valuable you can offer the world.

SH: You put so much of your energy, time, and heart into your music, your nonprofit, and now your family, how/where do you recharge? What gives you fuel?
BC: Connecting and talking with Jesus. That usually looks like hiking, reading, wandering by water, playing guitar, napping, journaling... or watching movies, oh man yes. Oh and then there’s golf!

SH: When it comes to where you are today, if you were to go back in time, what would you do differently? If nothing, expand on why?
BC: “Slow down and be care FULL.” My gram used to say that to me all the time. Every time I’d see her she would send me off with that. I think she could tell I was running. So yea I’d take the very same path but with more self care, to just slow down and breathe through life instead of trying to outrun it.

SH: What do you hope the impact of your career and life will be on this world?
BC: That people will see each other, despite any and all our ‘differences’, through a lens of love and patience... that we would learn how to respect, serve and appreciate each other as one big family despite all our freckles. Yea just the way of LOVE, through gratefulness and generosity!

SH: What advice would you give to the next generation?
BC: Be present to each other. Stay here. This virtual 24/7 connected world could also be a 24/7 invitation to disconnection and missing it all. Be curious and listen to each other, and then of course ‘slow down and be care FULL’!

SH: What does it mean to you to Believe Fearlessly?
BC: To relentlessly hold myself in the place where my belief and passion intersect. And to keep leaning in...

LINKS

Website: https://bradcorrigan.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradcorrigan/
Band site: https://dispatchmusic.com/
Band Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dispatchmusic/
Love Light + Melody: https://lovelightandmelody.org/

Memberships & Associations:

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