Not that Leon Bridges is complaining, but the past year has put him through the kind of changes best described as overwhelming. Such are the challenges that come with having one of the most authentic-sounding retro-soul hits since Amy Winehouse staggered out of North London with Back to Black.

When the Georgia Straight catches up with the proudly old-school crooner, he’s in Toronto on tour to celebrate his stunner of a debut, Coming Home. Since the album’s release this summer, his life has been a blur of live shows, long days on the road, and endless interviews, with four out of five journalists wanting to know how Bridges sounds like a man beamed in from ’60s Motown.

Considering that, not that long ago, the 26-year-old was bussing tables and working the dish pit in a Fort Worth, Texas, eatery, the breakout star has had to master a new set of skills in a short time.

“Really, it’s just about me learning to be a performer on-stage, like more than me just singing songs,” the low-key but charming Bridges says, speaking on a cellphone. “There’s also doing interviews and all that kind of thing, which I never expected. For me, it’s just been about doing it, and while I’m doing it, giving it my all. I mean, it’s not too bad, but it’s definitely different, meeting all kinds of people. It can actually be a lot to deal with at times because I’m a real chill person. But I guess it’s good, because that means people are excited.”

Folks have definitely been excited since Bridges surfaced in 2014 with two songs on Gorilla Vs. Bear, the stripped-down R&B of “Coming Home” and the organ-soaked “Better Man” leading to an avalanche of interest, including calls from labels of all sizes. There were also suggestions from various industry types that he fix something that clearly wasn’t broken; while Bridges’s cool restraint is one of the defining traits of Coming Home, he was told more than once he needed to be less like Sam Cooke and more like James Brown.

If that made no sense to him, that’s because the son of a church-going mom and a Curtis Mayfield–loving dad wasn’t exactly a wild child growing up. There was no partying, and no ripping it up with friends in garage bands.

“I never did that—I didn’t even pick up a guitar until four years ago,” Bridges says. “I didn’t know of any blogs or know any of the classic bands or songwriters.”

Bridges’s initial foray into singing had him performing at open-mike nights in college backed by beats from his iPod. When embracing his inner Usher didn’t totally feel right, he went further back in time. A growing fascination with all things retro led him to change up his appearance; Bridges today is becoming famous for looking like he just stepped off a period-authentic runway, all freshly pressed ’50s-vintage slacks, blindingly buffed shoes, and double-starched shirts. As part of that descent into the past he immersed himself in the work of icons like Cooke and Marvin Gaye. It’s those giants who loom large on Coming Home, a proudly analogue record marked by sun-splashed horns, shimmering organs, and Bridges’s soul-drenched vocals.

The album has him working with members of Fort Worth indie stalwarts White Denim, both behind the board and on the studio floor. While that band’s Austin Jenkins and Joshua Block specialize in a blend of driving math rock and tightly wound psychedelia, they also knew how to capture one of soul music’s most cherished eras. From the gospel-kissed “Shine” to the rollicking gin-mill swinger “Twistin’ & Groovin’ ”, Coming Home is a record that recalls a time when any singer worth his gold records was on a first-name basis with his tailor.

“We believe in great songwriting,” Bridges says of the crew that helped him on Coming Home. “It’s all about arranging a song to where the singer shines. Even though Daptone Records’ stuff is amazing, before we went into the studio, we were like, ‘We don’t want to lean towards a Daptone kind of thing where it’s all boom-boom-boom.’ We were more into really capturing how the songs started out, which was with me and an acoustic guitar.

“Austin and the guys took that and made it into a bigger picture,” he continues, “which is what you get on the record. They could have easily gone in and done all sorts of guitar solos and stuff, but I feel like it’s all very chill. And because of that, I feel like it’s a really great introduction for me.”

Coming Home has taken off in ways that Bridges never dreamed; after slaying audiences at South By Southwest earlier this year, the singer has been on the road constantly, playing major festivals on both sides of the pond, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts, and piling up the kind of reviews that suggest a major talent has arrived, seemingly out of nowhere.

The challenge right now, as Bridges goes from underground-soul buzz act to mainstream success story, is finding the time for the things that he used to do. Not that he’s complaining.

“I get to do things like clothes-shop every now and then when I have time, but when I don’t I have a guy out in L.A. who collects a lot of vintage clothing,” he says. “When I’m busy, I just call him up with ‘I need belts and trousers and blazers.’ He’s a cool cat.”

In the fantastically retro world of Leon Bridges, he’s not alone.

Leon Bridges plays the Commodore on Tuesday (November 3).