SUPERB SOUTHERN SONGSMITH
RELEASES FOURTH ROOTS MUSIC CHARMER
On September 9, Grayson Capps will release his fourth album, Rott 'N' Roll, on Hyena Records. The long-player's title stems from a phrase used by fans to characterize the music of the southern troubadour. Prostitutes, alcoholics, vagrants and drifters often inhabit Grayson's songs, while his live performances are ignited by equal doses of raucous Southern soul, back country stomp and roadhouse blues. For Grayson himself, Rott 'N' Roll has come to represent the state of mind needed to play uncompromising roots music as a means for survival in the Dirty South; the yin and yang between the debauchery of life on the road and the come down upon returning home. But as the album's opening track "Back To The Country" makes clear, when Rott 'N' Roll is the credo, even the ease of going home means, "eating cornbread and raising hell."
Recorded at Grayson's home studio in Franklin, Tennessee, he and co-producer Trina Shoemaker set out to capture the energy of his live performances. Subsequently, many of the final tracks were taken from first takes. Grayson and his band The Stumpknockers set up shop at his farmhouse, rehearsing during the afternoons and spending evenings around a bonfire in the backyard. If the spirit moved them, they'd cut a track, overdub a guitar part or record a drunken chorus of rednecks who'd often find their way to the sessions from all points south. If the inspiration wasn't flowing, they'd wander around the mountain that sits in back of Grayson's property, quite literally bonding with the Native American spirits.
Having drawn comparisons over his first three albums to the likes of Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt and Drive-By Truckers, to name but a few, Rott 'N' Roll proves Grayson Capps an artist equally singular in vision as those to whom he's compared. The release will be available in CD, digital and vinyl formats. Tour dates to be announced shortly.
Check out JamBase's 2007 interview with Grayson Capps for more background and insight into this contemporary standout.
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