the Sweeplings

Cami Bradley is a singer-songwriter and musician from Spokane, Washington. Born into a musical family, Bradley showed an aptitude for music at age four, was writing her own songs by age ten,{{cite newspaper |last=Weinbender|first=Nathan|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/dec/22/after-her-incredible-run-on-nbcs-americas-got/|title=After incredible run on America's Got Talent, Spokane singer eager to see what exposure may bring|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|location=Spokane, Washington|date=December 22, 2013|accessdate=September 5, 2016}} and released solo albums in 2009 and 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Anomalous-Cami-Bradley/dp/B0027CHU98/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473306796&sr=8-2&keywords=cami+bradley|title=Cami Bradley – Anomalous|website=Amazon |date=April 14, 2009|accessdate=September 7, 2016}}{{indent|2}}{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Seas-Cami-Bradley/dp/B00CLKSYMI|title=Seas – Cami Bradley|website=Amazon |accessdate=September 5, 2016}} She was scouted in 2013 by producers of America's Got Talent, who sent her to audition for its eighth season, during which she gained praise and notoriety for her stripped-down performances of popular songs like "Believe".{{cite episode|series=America's Got Talent|season=8, Episode 16|title=Live from Radio City Music Hall|time=50:58|network=NBC|year=2013|quote=[Mel B:] Cami—well that was very bloody brave. But, you know, I have to say, I think you've given Cher an idea on how to actually sing that song.}}{{indent|2}}{{cite episode|series=America's Got Talent|season=8, Episode 16|title=Live from Radio City Music Hall|time=49:57–50:07|network=NBC|year=2013|quote=[Stern:] I've listened to that song a million times, like everybody else has. You took it, and for the first time I heard the words, and the words meant something to me.}}{{indent|2}}{{cite web|last=Mandel|first=Howie|url=http://parade.com/151004/howiemandel/which-singing-act-does-howie-mandel-think-could-win-americas-got-talent/|title=Which singing act does Howie Mandel think could win America's Got Talent?|work=Parade|date=August 29, 2013 |location=New York City|accessdate=September 6, 2016|quote=[Mandel:] Cami Bradley is fantastic. There's no other word. ... She's got a great tone in her voice, a beauty in her look, and a star quality in her performance that could possibly take her all the way.}} She finished the season in sixth place.{{cite newspaper |last=Hensley|first=Nicole|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/sep/19/bradley-misses-top-prize/|title=Spokane's Cami Bradley misses top prize, gains 'newfound confidence'|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|location=Spokane, Washington|date=September 19, 2013|accessdate=September 5, 2016}}

Whitney Dean is a singer-songwriter and musician from Huntsville, Alabama. Dean is the son of a voice and piano teacher, and he and his brother Bradley comprised one-half of the local band Firewood.{{cite magazine|last1=Tomlinson|first1=Allen|last2=Sims|first2=David|url=https://issuu.com/noala/docs/noala_julyaug09|title=Home Town Picks – Firewood|magazine=No'Ala|publisher=ATSA|location=Florence, Alabama|volume=2|issue=4|date=July–August 2009|page=31|accessdate=March 25, 2020}}{{indent|2}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.una.edu/alumni/benefits/files/mags/UNAmagazineFall09.pdf|title=Class Notes|magazine=UNA Magazine|publisher=University of North Alabama|location=Florence, Alabama|date=Fall 2009|page=45|accessdate=March 25, 2020}} Whitney Dean has written music for artists in Nashville, Tennessee; he toured with John Paul White for two years on lead guitar and background vocals,{{cite news|last=Wake|first=Matt|url=https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/the_sweeplings_5_things_to_kno.html|title=The Sweeplings: 5 things to know about rising duo featuring Huntsville songwriter Whitney Dean before intimate local show|publisher=Advance Local Media|via=AL.com|location=Huntsville, Alabama|date=September 15, 2014|accessdate=June 14, 2018|postscript=. White later formed The Civil Wars.}} doubling as road and production manager to earn college credits.{{cite magazine|editor-last=Tunzi|editor-first=Kristina|title=Inside Track: Guitarist as Intern|magazine=Billboard|volume=119|number=30|page=70|date=July 28, 2007}}

After Dean and his wife watched a Bradley performance on America's Got Talent, Bethany Dean said her husband and Bradley should write music together."I told [Bethany], 'Good luck with that'," Dean said in an interview with Inlander{{'}}s Laura Johnson. "I told her she could reach out to Cami if she wanted, but it wasn't going to be me." Bradley declined on first contact but Dean's wife persisted; the two musicians began collaborating via Skype a few months later.{{cite news|last=Wake|first=Matt|url=http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/08/the_sweeplings_pretty_songs_pr.html|title=The Sweeplings: Pretty songs, pretty people, pretty sure to blow up with release of new album|publisher=Advance Local Media|via=AL.com|location=Huntsville, Alabama|date=August 4, 2015|accessdate=April 10, 2018}} In 2014, the Deans were invited by the Bradleys to visit their home in Spokane, and the weekend meeting was both pleasant and productive,{{cite news|last=Janci|first=Jenelle|url=http://lancasteronline.com/features/entertainment/america-s-got-talent-appearance-responsible-for-music-duo-the/article_ed53c3a0-57da-11e5-b0e0-0bcf68c980c7.html|title=America's Got Talent appearance responsible for music duo The Sweeplings|website=Lancaster Online|location=Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|date=September 10, 2015|accessdate=September 5, 2016|quote=[Bradley:] It was a little scary for me ... we basically invited a stranger to our home for three days." "[Dean:] It should be awkward the first time around, but I felt really at home with the [Bradleys].}} resulting in eight songs.{{cite newspaper |last=Johnson|first=Laura|url=http://www.inlander.com/spokane/crossing-lines/Content?oid=2367836|title=Crossing Lines|newspaper=Inlander|location=Spokane, Washington|date=October 15, 2014|accessdate=September 5, 2016}}

The name 'Sweeplings'—denoting a small grouping that writes sweeping melodies—was chosen by Bethany Dean, and was originally her title for a project by her husband before Cami Bradley joined.{{cite news|last=Bialas|first=Michael|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/see-it-here-first-the-sweeplings-develop-a-fool-proof_us_5982c1c2e4b094ff5a3f0bd7|title=See It Here First: The Sweeplings Develop a Fool-Proof Method to Woo You|website=HuffPost|date=August 3, 2017|accessdate=April 9, 2018|quote=[Bradley, on 'Sweeplings':] I realize as I look back now, that I never really had a say, and I never really cared. ... Names are so funny, because they don't really matter.}}

A self-titled, four-song EP was released in September 2014, but the new duo did little promotion at first, because Bradley did not want her fans to be confused if the pairing did not work out. Instead, she released videos of cover songs as a solo artist.

In August 2015, the Sweeplings released their first full-length album, Rise & Fall, on their own label. NPR had premiered the song "Carry Me Home" the month before,{{cite web|last=Presley|first=Katie|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2015/07/08/421154209/song-premiere-the-sweeplings-carry-me-home|title=Song Premiere: The Sweeplings, 'Carry Me Home'|publisher=NPR|date=July 8, 2015|accessdate=September 6, 2016}} and iTunes later placed the song on its list of the 25 best singer-songwriter tracks of 2015.

In February 2016, Billboard premiered the video for "Under Your Spell", which Dean called "a classic tale of good and evil" and the struggle with life's choices.{{cite magazine|last=Titus|first=Christa|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/6867357/sweeplings-under-your-spell-premiere|title=The Sweeplings Premiere 'Under Your Spell' Video: Exclusive|magazine=Billboard|date=February 8, 2016|accessdate=September 5, 2016}}

The Sweeplings' second album, Covers, Ch. 1, was released in July 2016;{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/covers-ch-1-mw0003016131|title=Covers, Ch. 1 – The Sweeplings|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=April 8, 2018}} the video for their reimagining of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was released in November.{{cite web|last=Scott|first=Jason|url=https://www.popdust.com/the-sweeplings-twinkle-twinkle-little-star-video-premiere-2106941848.html|title=The Sweeplings release 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' video|work=Popdust|date=November 23, 2016|accessdate=March 28, 2017}} Also in November, the duo presented their four-song EP Winter's Call.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/winters-call-mw0003014872|title=Winter's Call – The Sweeplings|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}

Upon signing with Nettwerk Music Group in 2017, the Sweeplings offered a deluxe version of Rise & Fall, including an alternate version of "Hold Me" and two songs that didn't make the original cut. The duo's third EP, Sleepwalking, was released via Nettwerk in August, featuring six songs.{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Mark|url=https://www.braveenough.com/artist/the-sweeplings/|title=The Sweeplings|publisher=Brave Enough Artist Agency|date=February 15, 2018|accessdate=April 10, 2018}} A Christmas EP, Merrier Days, followed in November.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/merrier-days-mw0003114257|title=Merrier Days – The Sweeplings|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}

File:The Sweeplings 07 14 2018 -5 (46022209131).jpg

The duo had planned to release a full-length album via Nettwerk in 2018; after two weeks' work, "some tragedy, some loss, some internal struggle" led to difficulties in finding their vision, and they decided to take some time off. Seven months later, they chose to scale back to piano, guitar and vocals. Their EP Losing Ground was released in two volumes; the first in March 2020,{{cite web|last=Bialas|first=Michael|url=https://www.popmatters.com/sweeplings-in-between-premiere-2644894317.html|title=Folk-pop's the Sweeplings Find Solid Ground 'In Between' Connected Projects|magazine=PopMatters|date=January 23, 2020|accessdate=March 19, 2020}}{{indent|2}}{{cite web|last=Bennett|first=Macie|url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-sweeplings-bleed-me-white-new-song-video/|title=The Sweeplings premiere 'Bleed Me White' with an important message|magazine=American Songwriter|date=March 12, 2020|accessdate=March 19, 2020}} and the second in September.{{cite newspaper |last=Condran|first=Ed|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/oct/01/meet-carmen-jane-spokane-singer-songwriter-and-agt/|title=Singer-songwriter and AGT alum Cami Bradley is focused on 'fun', family, friends and Spokane|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|location=Spokane, Washington|date=October 3, 2020|accessdate=December 3, 2020|postscript=. Bradley's music became more "personal and vulnerable" over eight years of various illnesses suffered by her father, who died in March 2020.}} Each volume features seven songs.

Also in 2020, The Sweeplings uploaded numerous official music videos to their YouTube channel, including "In Between" in January, "Bleed Me White" in March, and "I Won't Go" in August. Another song, "You Find Me", was added to Apple Music's singer-songwriter playlist 'Acoustic Chill'.{{cite newspaper |last=Curley|first=Johnathan|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2020/mar/19/let-local-music-provide-soundtrack-to-life-in-the-/|title=Let local music provide soundtrack to life in the time of coronavirus|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|date=March 19, 2020|accessdate=March 21, 2020}}{{indent|2}}{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/acoustic-chill/pl.b5e8dbe8a706496496e1292466839207|title=Apple Music Preview – Acoustic Chill|publisher=Apple Music|accessdate=March 21, 2020}}

Since the Sweeplings write and communicate via email and Skype, they often travel across the country to finish their efforts. The Bradleys bought a small second home in Huntsville, Alabama, to facilitate the band's career; the home search was featured on a 2016 episode of Tiny House Hunting.{{cite newspaper |last=Johnson|first=Laura|url=http://www.inlander.com/Bloglander/archives/2016/02/10/cami-bradleys-the-sweeplings-continue-to-impress-on-the-national-scene|title=Cami Bradley's the Sweeplings continue to impress on the national scene|newspaper=Inlander|location=Spokane, Washington|date=February 10, 2016|accessdate=September 5, 2016}}

iTunes' staff wrote that the Sweeplings' music reveals "a penchant for haunting, tender harmonies and a roots-inspired sound that bears similarities to The Civil Wars."{{cite web|author=Staff|url=https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-sweeplings/917576645|title=The Sweeplings on Apple Music|publisher=iTunes Store|access-date=September 9, 2016}} PopDust called Rise & Fall "a potent collection of narratives with gut-wrenching textures built on a foundation of powerful harmonies and sharp musicianship".{{cite web|last=Scott|first=Jason|url=http://www.popdust.com/the-sweeplings-piece-together-musics-healing-power-on-rise-fall-1892026406.html|title=The Sweeplings Piece Together Music's Healing Power On Rise & Fall|work=PopDust|location=New York City|date=December 5, 2015|accessdate=September 6, 2016}} The Birmingham News called it "an uncommonly focused, polished and big-stage-ready debut from an independent band". Elmore Magazine said the album's songs tend to "blend together because of similar sounds, but the chemistry is concise and makes the album whole, not all over the place like many debuts seem to be".{{cite web|last=Hillegas|first=Brenda|url=http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2015/11/reviews/albums/the-sweeplings|title=Album Reviews: The Sweeplings Rise & Fall|work=Elmore Magazine|location=New York City|date=November 11, 2015|accessdate=September 6, 2016}}

Atwood Magazine called Sleepwalking "haunting, bittersweet and altogether mesmerizing ... when The Sweeplings evoke hurt, we feel a shred of resilience ... Darkness comes with a bit of light, and vice versa."{{cite web|last=Mosk|first=Mitch|url=http://atwoodmagazine.com/sleepwalking-ep-sweeplings-premiere/|title=EP Premiere: The Haunting Allure of the Sweeplings' Sleepwalking|work=Atwood Magazine|date=August 24, 2017|accessdate=April 8, 2018}} Of Losing Ground Vol. 1, PopMatters wrote, "The Sweeplings might make the most gorgeous music by a folk-pop duo since the unfortunate demise of the Civil Wars". "Bleed Me White" earned raves from American Songwriter, which called it "the definition of a duet and pedestals itself on perfectly balanced vocal harmonies and pulsing piano, textured with light strings. It is elegance in simplicity at its finest."

The Sweeplings' songs have appeared in official promotional videos and television series. "In Too Deep" was used for the winter premiere of the ABC Family (later Freeform) drama The Fosters;{{cite web|last=Wake|first=Matt|url=http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/12/the_sweeplings_band_featuring.html|title=The Sweeplings score key song placement with ABC Family's 'The Fosters,' release Christmas tune|date=December 17, 2014|website=AL.com}} the duo later performed the song on an episode of the show and appeared on Freeform's first Facebook Live musical performance. Freeform also used "In Too Deep" for the season finale of Pretty Little Liars in 2016.{{cite web|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Freeform-Presents-First-Facebook-Live-Musical-Performance-ft-The-Sweeplings-20160829|title=Freeform Presents First Facebook Live Musical Performance ft. The Sweeplings|date=August 29, 2016|website=Broadway World}}

The official trailer for the final season of the Netflix series Longmire was set to "Carry Me Home" and episode 1 featured the song in its final scenes.{{cite news|last=Pedersen|first=Erik|url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/longmire-final-season-trailer-netflix-robert-taylor-1202186551/|title='Longmire' Final Season Trailer & Premiere Date: The Sheriff Has Some Unfinished Business In Absaroka County|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=October 11, 2017|accessdate=April 14, 2018}} The Vampire Diaries and Good Behavior also have featured the Sweeplings' music.

==Discography==

• The Sweeplings (EP, 2014)
• Rise & Fall (2015)
• Covers, Ch. 1 (2016)
• Winter's Call (EP, 2016)
• Rise & Fall (Deluxe Edition) (2017){{cite newspaper |last=Podplesky|first=Azaria|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jun/15/the-sweeplings-to-tease-new-album-during-kroc-cent/|title=The Sweeplings to tease new album during Kroc Center performance|newspaper=The Spokesman-Review|date=June 15, 2017|accessdate=April 16, 2018}}
• Merrier Days (EP, 2017)
• Sleepwalking (EP, 2017)
• Losing Ground Vol. 1 (EP, 2020)
• Losing Ground Vol. 2 (EP, 2020)

• "Snow May Be Falling" (2014)
• "Cannonball" (2015)
• "Carry Me Home" (2015)
• "In Too Deep" (2016)
• "Hold Tight" (2016)
• "What We Once Were" (2016)
• "Fool" (2017)
• "Losing You" (2017)
• "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" (2018)
• "In Between" (2020){{cite AV media|people=The Sweeplings (official)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZZQhn77zQ|title='In Between' – (Official Music Video) – The Sweeplings|publisher=YouTube|date=January 24, 2020|accessdate=March 19, 2020}}
• "Bleed Me White" (2020){{cite AV media|people=The Sweeplings (official)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_P4C1cRLXA|title='Bleed Me White' – (Official Music Video) – The Sweeplings|publisher=YouTube|date=March 13, 2020|accessdate=March 19, 2020}}
• "Shake the Dust" (2020){{cite AV media|people=The Sweeplings (official)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ60yNdOxeA|title='Shake the Dust' – (Official Music Video) – The Sweeplings|publisher=YouTube|date=May 1, 2020|accessdate=December 3, 2020}}
• "Running" (2020){{cite AV media|people=The Sweeplings (official)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVBd-wEySU4|title='Running' – (Official Music Video) – The Sweeplings|publisher=YouTube|date=May 15, 2020|accessdate=December 3, 2020}}
• "Deep & Wild" (2020){{cite AV media|people=The Sweeplings (official)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-Hl9gFxz3M|title='Deep & Wild' – (Official Music Video) – The Sweeplings|publisher=YouTube|date=June 16, 2020|accessdate=December 3, 2020}}
• "I Won't Go" (2020){{cite AV media|people=The Sweeplings (official)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L95l9Dy5fiE|title='I Won't Go' – (Official Music Video) – The Sweeplings|publisher=YouTube|date=August 31, 2020|accessdate=December 3, 2020}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|thesweeplings.com}}

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{{#related:America's Got Talent (season 8)}}

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Category:21st-century American singers

Category:21st-century American pianists

Category:America's Got Talent contestants

Category:American musical duos

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)