What Drew Leon Bridges to Soul Music: Fuse First Interview

Despite only releasing his debut album last June, Leon Bridges has already found the approval of the GRAMMY Awards (Coming Home is up for Best R&B Album), Saturday Night Live (he was the musical guest one week after Adele) and R&B fans across the globe. Meanwhile, his latest single "River" is priming the Atlanta-bred soul singer for an even bigger audience—watch its just-unveiled music video below.

We're proud to name Bridges as the latest Fuse First artist, and spoke to the singer-songwriter and Macklemore collaborator to find out where his brand of accessible soul comes from.

"I was introduced to Sam Cooke and Otis Redding and, even as a kid, I loved it," the 26-year-old tells Fuse. "That's when the seed was planted. But from then on, I was listening to just whatever was on the radio."