Exclusive Premiere: Eliot Bronson, ‘Rough Ride’

On April 12, Freddie Gray was taken into custody by the Baltimore Police Department; following what was described as a "rough ride" in a police van, Gray died on April 19 due to spinal cord injuries. His death is still generating emotional responses across the country, and one Baltimore native has decided to channel his thoughts into music.

Today (June 30), Diffuser is proud to partner with Eliot Bronson for the debut of his powerful new song, "Rough Ride" -- you can listen to it in the audio player below.

From the opening lines of "8AM in the morning / Three policemen on their bikes / Lookin' for anything they didn't think seemed right," Bronson transforms the reality of what happened into a moving four-minute tribute -- one that not only honors Gray, but also raises concern for the city as a whole: "It ain't getting better, there's no ladder to climb up / Oh, people on the top trying to chop off the bottom rungs / And they're using the police to keep the lid tight on / Ain't nobody gonna be sailing off into the sun."

"I was born in Baltimore. I grew up in a working class South Baltimore neighborhood, in the same house my mother grew up in," Bronson tells us. "We went to the church my grandfather built and that my Dad lived in as a kid. That city shaped me in a fundamental way."

Bronson admits, "Baltimore is a tough town, but a town with a lot of heart. I read about Freddie in the paper. I put the paper down and just started writing. It was a visceral reaction ... I think I wrote it in 20 minutes."

While the track makes its debut today, it will be available for purchase beginning July 7, with all net proceeds going to the Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore and the Public Justice Center Baltimore.

You can stay up-to-date with Bronson -- including grabbing details on his 2014 self-titled album, produced by Dave Cobb -- at his official website.