Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/358493
52 | Overdrive | August 2014 A fter voting by OverdriveOnline.com read- ers, Brad James, Keith Sampson and Jen- nie Simpson were named the fi nalists of Overdrive-Red Eye Radio's Trucker Talent Search. They will compete at The Great American Trucking Show immediately after the show fl oor closes at 5 p.m. Aug. 22. Red Eye Radio will award each fi nalist a pair of Justin boots, and the fi rst-place winner, a Cobra GPS and CB. You can see video performances of the fi nalists, as well as the other contest en- trants, in the 2014 Trucker Talent Search playlist at youtube.com/OverdriveMag. Dallas showdown Three professional drivers will face off at GATS Aug. 22 to see who walks away as winner of Overdrive-Red Eye Radio's Trucker Talent Search. BY KATHLEEN BUCCLEUGH Overdrive-Red Eye Radio s Brad James, 47, lives in Port Orange, Fla. When he was about 15, he began singing in his church youth choir. In his 20s, he performed with local bands, later moving to karaoke. "I was hooked," James says. "I would go out singing once or twice a week when I had a local job in the Daytona Beach area." After the economic downturn, James cut back on nights out and went back to over- the-road driving to support his wife and four sons. After discovering he could sing karaoke on his iPhone, he's been posting videos to YouTube and Facebook. James has more than 150,000 views on the video that he submitted for the contest. He set new lyrics to Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," calling it "De- tention (You Ordered It, You Unload It)." He originally recorded Redding's version singing with a karaoke track he ordered from iTunes. He says that worked out well, so he took about 20 minutes to rewrite some of the words. "It was just to have fun," he says. But with all those views, something about it has to be striking a chord with the public. "It's something that every driver in the world can identify with," James says. "They've had that feeling of sitting there and being held up by somebody through no fault of their own. … That's what makes it so popular." Brad James is a company driver for Barr- Nunn Transportation.