Two years after the westbound Washington Bridge was abruptly closed, the resulting traffic has largely been a grudgingly accepted headache for drivers who routinely pass through Providence. But for one local folk-rock band, it has become an inspiration.
The Moonlight Ramblers released their single “Broken Bridge” last year. Acoustic guitar player Ben Cooper came up with the idea for the combination love song-frustration ballad after a few months of driving back and forth over what’s left of the bridge.
That idea became the very first song the band wrote. Brady Conley, the Moonlight Ramblers’ frontman, said the bandmates – who all have day jobs – instantly connected with it.
“I mean, we are a folk band and folk songs are supposed to chronicle shared experiences in a community,” Conley said. “So I mean, all you need is a collapse of a once-in-a-generation piece of infrastructure and you, too, can have your own folk song. We had to do it.”
Members of the band, which also includes Pete Diciccio and Dave Wasser, live in Providence and across the river in East Providence. So what’s left of the bridge played a small part in creating the song, too.
“I think having all that time on the bridge and traffic gave us a lot of time to think through lyrics and musical choices,” Cooper said. “So I think that was also very helpful for composing the song.”
Cooper says the early days of the bridge closure – with hours of delays and massive gridlock – have stuck with him, as they have many people who lived through it. On that first day, Dec. 11, 2023, he had to drive over the river to pick up his daughter from school. A trip that usually took minutes took nearly four hours, he said.
“It really felt somewhat apocalyptic and I think it stuck with me and it stuck with the band,” Cooper said. “That was the beginning stage and then many times crossing the bridge to think through other potential emotions about the bridge, in general. And I think also about the collapse, I would say, of leadership politically, nationally, that enabled it to happen.”
Conley, the band’s frontman, said the whole contributed to writing the song. He said one lyric he wrote shouted out Skeff’s Irish Pub in East Providence, where the band frequently plays gigs.
“I think a lot of the focus has been on how the bridge has affected Providence itself, but where I live and where I work in East Providence that a lot of businesses have really taken a huge hit from this,” Conley said. “And we thought that would resonate with a lot of people.”
