Brandon Ratcliff ‘Uncovers’ Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living For the City’

Check out this re-imagined R&B classic.

Written by Chris Parton
Brandon Ratcliff ‘Uncovers’ Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living For the City’
Brandon Ratcliff; Photo credit: Matthew Berinato

Newcomer Brandon Ratcliff puts a bluesy spin on Stevie Wonder’s classic “Living For the City,” transforming the R&B favorite as part of his Uncovered series.

Standing on shoulders of a true musical giant, Ratcliff presents the tale of a family doing what they’ve gotta do in soulful, dynamic style, letting his smokey vocals paint the picture of a harsh world. But even though it finds the emerging talent continuing to thread classic rock and R&B into his own brand of country, he’s careful to make the track his own, incorporating soulful guitar solos and a new sense of attitude.

“I didn’t want to step into Stevie Wonder’s court at all,” he says in a behind-the-scenes video premiering exclusively on Sounds Like Nashville. “His delivery and the message of that song spoke to me even as a kid, and I kind of wanted to not rip him off, so for me that meant not going the R&B route. How can I do this to where my soul connects to Stevie’s soul, but in a way that’s almost the blues side?”

The son of Suzanne Cox of The Cox Family bluegrass group, Ratcliff has already “uncovered” Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon and released a number of his own tracks — like the Shane McAnally-produced “Rules of Breaking Up.” A featured artist on Sounds Like Nashville’s 2020 Ones to Watch list, he has one more Uncovered track to go and continues to work on original material.