Creed Bratton knows a thing or two about hanging on to hope, even when it feels like you shouldn’t.
The 81-year-old musician and actor spent half a lifetime in professional and creative limbo. In the late ’60s, his career in the arts was kickstarted with three years in the successful folk-rock outfit the Grass Roots, but by 1970, Bratton—born William Charles Snider—was out of the band and looking for his next big break. He spent decades floating from one obscure acting job to the next until 2005, when he was cast in The Office at age 62. Those years shaped Bratton into an expert in reckless resilience. He forced himself to believe he’d find his way back to the spotlight.
That relentless, borderline-delusional optimism is in abundant supply on Bratton’s 10th studio album, Tao Pop, which releases on Sept. 27. Lead single “Corner of the Universe,” cowritten with Vance DeGeneres (brother of Ellen), is an exercise in visioning: After reading a story about the ozone layer repairing itself, Bratton wrote the song imagining a future Earth free of the horrors of the climate crisis, where oceans are crystalline and it doesn’t hurt to breathe. It’s the sort of fantasy that’s fun to believe in, and Bratton, with his bright, airy conviction, almost convinces you it’s real.“When people hear that song, for just a moment, there’s a little hope, and they sing along with joy, and I sing it with joy,” Bratton tells the Daily Beast by phone this summer. “It’s a fun song to sing. You put it out there, and maybe there’s a paradigm shift in the consciousness of the world. It could happen.”
