Brad Houser, Bassist And Cofounder Of New Bohemians, Dies At 62
Brad Houser, the bassist whose jazzy chops and catchphrases helped propel Eddie Brickell and the New Bohemians to the pop charts, died Monday in Austin. He was 62 years old.
Brickell confirmed his death in a post on social media. Houser, the founder of the band Dallas, suffered a stroke on July 17 and was hospitalized in critical condition.
Brickell says he recently recorded with Houser and the New Bohemians. When the bassist left, he asked him to stay and play a little longer.
“He played that big role with a wink and I started singing about him [and] celebrating his goodness. ... Our last band jam was a fun song about Brad," Brickell wrote in the post. "Loved it. He taught me a lot."
An accomplished saxophonist, Houser switched to bass guitar at age 18. In the early 1980s, he attended Hillcrest High School in Dallas, before forming the New Bohemians. After Brickell joined in 1985, the group became the stars of Deep Ellum and were soon signed to Geffen Records.
Inspired by Weather Report bassist Jaco Pastorius and Motown's James Jamerson, Houser anchored New Bohemians with one foot in fusion and the other in funk. His smooth bass on "What I Am" helped propel the song to the Billboard Top 10 in 1988.
His melodic style and fast picking have made him popular in the bassist community. Reverend Guitars named two basses after him, and Bass Musician magazine hired him as a columnist in the late 1990s.
But Hauser saw himself as a surrogate musician "invisible in music," according to a 2012 interview with audio cable producer Asterope.
After the New Bohemians went on hiatus in the early 1990s, Houser played jazz-rock with Critters Boogin' and Dead Kenny G. He reunited with Brickell and the New Bohemians for three more albums, The Live Montauk Sessions (2000) and Hunter and the Dog star 2021. Based in Austin, Houser has performed with dozens of artists on stage and in the studio. He recently formed the duo Diamond Booms with his wife, singer and bassist Kirilola Onokoro.
