Grayson Capps: Songbones

By: Dennis Cook

It’s hard to exaggerate Grayson Capps natural talent. When this Alabama sandpaper siren picks up a guitar and opens his mouth great songs just hop out. Songbones (Hyena) is a sparkling, intimate acoustic session from 2002, recorded just after leaving his old band Stavin’ Chain, that predates Capps’ official 2005 debut, If You Knew My Mind. While his current backing band, The Stumpknockers, beats the holy hell out of Capps’ ragged-but-oh-so-right tunes, this early snapshot begs favorable comparisons to early solo Dylan, where track after track hums with quiet wisdom and musical maturity, introducing us to flesh & blood characters named Junior and Washboard Lisa, whose dirty little hands help wash our sins away. While many of the cuts got full band treatments on the two subsequent albums, there’s something undeniably powerful and direct about Songbones. Accompanied by his own acoustic guitar and inspired violin embellishments from Tom Marron, Capps shines like a dirty diamond here, where his roughhewn, Prine-like pipes wander with the dustbowl perfection of Leadbelly over his finely crafted, New Orleans tilted compositions. Songbones is being offered in a limited edition of only 5000 copies so snap it up while you can.

JamBase | Big Easy
Go See Live Music!