Grayson Capps has had quite a life so far. A childhood spent listening to his father and friends getting drunk, telling stories and strumming guitars, a spell at Tulane University as a theatre major, during which time he formed two bands which enjoyed ‘moderate national success’ (The House Levelers and Stavin’ Chain), a period squatting on the outskirts of New Orleans, a lucky break writing songs for the movie ‘A Love Song for Bobby Long’ (based on his own father’s unpublished novel) and a move to a farmhouse in Tennessee in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which was the venue for the sessions that resulted in his latest album, ‘Rott ‘n’ Roll’.

And what a blast the sessions sound – afternoons rehearsing, evenings spent sitting round the bonfire in Capps’ backyard, cutting a track ‘if the spirit moved them’ (notice the absence of any activities in the mornings). Fun to record, then, and fun to listen to. This is Southern roots music at its very best, respectful to the past, yet uninhibited by history, recognisably of its place and yet not formulaic, just a bunch of good musicians kicking about a bunch of good songs.

“Grand Maw Maw” and “Big Ole Woman” are joyously dumb and dirty rock and roll, “Psychic Channel Blues” beautifully smoky, “Arrowhead” glorious country in the outlaw style, “Ike” in the grand old tradition of country story songs, “Bacon” a good old-fashioned rockin’ instrumental. We even have, with “Fear Fruit Bearing Tree”, a spoken word track (that’s right, whisper it, a poem) which, although occasionally marred by some obsessive rhyming (’we create the confusion/so take a dose of seclusion/to dilute the delusion’), also contains some effective poetic conceits (greed is the seed of a fear fruit bearing tree / … / now did Eve give it to Adam / or did Adam give it to Eve / … / well, they bit then, and we all bite now / because we’re constantly taught how / and we are now the seeds of a fear fruit bearing tree’), and is saved from mediocrity by the sheer passion of Capps’ performance.

All the performances on this CD are excellent. It is invidious to pick any one band member out for special praise – Tommy MacLuckie’s guitar is sweet and dirty, gentle and fierce, Josh Kerrin’s bass solid and understated, which is to say everything he plays is in the service of the song (a dream bass player in other words), John Milham’s drums swing or rock as required and Capps’ vocals just so warm and easy, cracking in all the right places. These performances are beautifully captured in the recording (for which Trina Shoemaker is credited), which focuses on the individual instruments enough to let the cymbals hiss like metal rain and the guitars sing and cry, but also weaves the sound of the whole band together so that you can hear where the guys were standing in the room when they recorded. There are overdubs on the album, but it is no surprise to hear that the bones of most of the tracks are first takes recorded live – after a suitably enjoyable evening round the campfire no doubt.

If you are a fan of Americana, or looking for a way in to contemporary country music that avoids the flag waving corporate slickness of much of the output of Nashville these days, my advice is to pack a bag and head on down to Capps’ farmhouse; if you can’t afford the airfare, then buy this CD and transport yourself there for a fraction of the cost.

Grayson Capps – Rott ‘N’ Roll on amazon.com

Rott ‘n’ Roll amazon.co.uk

Photo Credits: top – Collin Peterson; bottom – Karen Will Rogers

Grayson Capps Official Website
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By: Jim Driscoll

Grayson Capps & The Stumpknockers launch an East Coast tour in September 2008 to support their new album, ‘Rott ‘N’ Roll’ released September 9th on Hyena Records. Upon returning home in October, they’ll play dates throughout the South before heading to Europe for three weeks in November.

Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Trina Shoemaker, Grayson Capps burns harder than ever on his fourth album. Raucous numbers like “Big Black Buzzard,” “Sun Don’t Shine On Willy” and “Going Back To The Country” are electric roadhouse diamonds in his repertoire.

An earthy, introspective side also comes through on songs like “Arrowhead” and “Guitar.” In early reviews, Hear Ya Blog noted, “Grayson Capps is part country singer, part bluesman, part preacher, part vagabond and part poet,” while Swampland declared, “Grayson Capps & The Stumpknockers play knock-down-drag-out-whiskey-laced rock and roll as if it were the last call for their souls to be saved.”

The title of Grayson’s latest long-player, ‘Rott ‘N’ Roll’, originated in New Orleans as a phrase used by fans to describe the raw energy of songs that mix backwoods rock, southern soul and country blues with tales of prostitutes, alcoholics, drifters and paranoia.

Having drawn comparisons to the likes of Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt and Drive By Truckers, Rott ‘N’ Roll proves that Grayson’s vision is ultimately as singular as those to who he’s compared.

Grayson Capps September / October 2008 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

September 11 / Grimey’s / Nashville, TN (In-Store Performance–6PM)
September 12 / WFPK “Live Lunch” / Louisville, KY (Noon)
September 12 / Ear-X-tacy / Louisville, KY (In-Store Performance–6PM)
September 12 / Gerstle’s Tavern / Louisville, KY
September 14 / The Purple Fiddle / Thomas, WV
September 17 / Idlewild / Henniker, NH
September 18 / Penuche’s / Concord, NH
September 19 / Nectar’s / Burlington, VT
September 20 / Fletch Fest / Warner, NH
September 21 / Idlewild / Henniker, NH (SOLD OUT)
September 24 / The Lizard Lounge / Boston, MA
September 25 / The Hungry Tiger / Manchester, CT
September 26 / Banjo Jim’s / New York, NY
September 27 / World Cafe Live / Philadelphia, PA
October 10 / Pirate’s Cove / Josephine, AL
October 12 / Callaghan’s Irish Social Club / Mobile, AL
October 13 / The Strutting Duck / Auburn, AL
October 16 / Bennie’s Boom Boom Room / Hattiesburg, MS
October 17 / DBA / New Orleans, LA
October 25 / Little Willie’s / Tuscaloosa, AL

Eat Cornbread, Raise Hell & Download an mp3 of “Back To The Country”!

GRAYSON CAPPS–Rott ‘N’ Roll is available worldwide on vinyl, CD and digital formats from Hyena Records.

Grayson Capps Official Website
MySpace

On September 9, 2008, 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!”

Watch video – Grayson Capps’ Solo Acoustic Performance At Paradiso in Amsterdam:

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, featuring Tommy MacLuckie on lead guitar, Josh Kerin on bass and John Milham on drums, 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: “Gran Maw Maw” and “Big Ol’ Woman” being case in point.

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. The album’s second track, “Arrowhead,” paints a picture of this idyllic setting.

Throughout the 13 tracks on Rott ‘N’ Roll, the listener gets a first hand look at subversion. “Big Black Buzzard” circles with a wicked hill country fervor that would make R.L. Burnside take cover. “The Sun Don’t Shine On Willy” is informed by Grayson’s sharp eye for the Southern Gothic with lyrics like: “He looks like old Boo Radley, he’s pale and his veins are blue, now he looks like one of them Hadleys after they’ve been drunk a month or two.”

The live favorite, “Sock Monkey” marks guitarist Tommy MacLuckie’s songwriting debut with a blast of country punk absurdity. Yet, there are also moments of clarity and tenderness. “Guitar” is perhaps Grayson’s most autobiographical song to date. “Back To The Country,” though full of hiss and swagger, actually addresses the search for simplicity in a fast changing, often deceptive modern world. “The Fear Fruit Bearing Tree” is a biting poem that speaks truth to power in the face of corporate greed and government fear-mongering.

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.

Stay tuned for tour dates to be announced shortly.

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