Titling your newest album ‘Heartbreak, Misery & Death‘ is an ideal way to get the attention of those who are interested in listening to this music we call Americana – these three words representing a significant proportion of the themes that are covered under that handy catch all. It’s the seventh studio album from Grayson Capps – and fortunately we can send you right here to find out all about him if the name isn’t that familiar – and it’ll be released on October 25th via Royal Potato Family. It’s an album of covers of songs that are dear to Capps because they link to early musical experiences shared with his father, as he explains: “I grew up with music, whether hearing Fred Stokes, Bobby Long and my dad, Ronnie Capps, singing around the house on Fridays and Saturdays, or listening to vinyl records in the den, my youth seemed to always be surrounded with music. One of the first artists I gravitated toward was Doc Watson. I first found my own voice by emulating him singing ‘Wake Up Little Maggie.’ We had The Essential Doc Watson and Doc Watson Memories, and I wore those records out. ‘Columbus Stockade Blues’ was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar.”
The album cuts a wide swathe through country and folk – ‘Barbara Allen‘ nestles up against Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘Early Morning Rain,‘ and while Randy Newman’s ‘Guilty‘ was Capps’ lived experience at one point he can also bring a depth of feel as well as vocal to ‘Hallelujah‘. If that all sounds tempting Grayson Capps has a tour in Europe October 7th-20th. No UK dates, but the Netherlands and Germany will have the opportunity to turn out en masse.
