July 9, 2021 – Charley Crockett will release his new album Music City USA on September 17th via Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers. It’s Crockett’s 10th full-length album release in the last six years, and his second full-length release of 2021; the former being a tribute to Texan country great James Hand.
Music City USA was recorded at Soil of the South Productions in Valdosta, GA and produced by Mark Neill, who also produced Crockett’s 2020 album Welcome to Hard Times. Today, Crockett releases the first single from Music City USA, the slow-burning Southern soul gem “I Need Your Love”, along with a beautifully shot video for the song, directed by Bobby Cochran.
“I like to think of my sound as ‘Gulf & Western’, and this number here is all gulf coast music,” explains Crockett. “Something you’d hear out of southeast Texas recording studios or southern Louisiana. I’d been foolin’ around with this song for a while, and when we went to record it, we decided at the last minute to double the length of the chorus. I felt right then that we had something. I’d wanted to bring the horns back for a couple tunes on this album. Soul and Country R&B from the deep south is a whole lot of who I am. I hope it shows though on ‘I Need Your Love’”.
Crockett has become one of the leading lights in independent country music following a decade of busking on the streets of New York City and New Orleans, and only two years removed from life-saving open-heart surgery. He crafts his self-proclaimed “Gulf & Western” sound by synthesizing country, blues, soul, cajun, Western Swing, R&B and other pieces of American roots music into an unmatched, truly singular sound.
Amongst glowing critical acclaim, The Guardian newspaper stated, “With his unusual background, Texan troubadour Charley Crockett is breaking wild new frontiers in country music.” And declared Welcome to Hard Times his “Gothic masterpiece”. The Sunday Times commented, “..if you prefer your country songs stripped of artifice, he’s your man.” Mojo said in its review “There’s something likeable and everyman about his voice which sits easily with the variety of vintage country styles..” whilst Uncut noted the album’s “cinematic plushness and moody grace.” In the US, NPR Music calls him “such a fascinating mix, very 21st century and very vintage.” When Crockett’s voice comes out of your speakers, there is no confusing him for any other artist. As the Wall Street Journal writes, “Mr. Crockett’s unique vocal style is one third Ernest Tubb honky tonk with clipped-word diction, one third Bill Withers low-key, soulful crooning, and one third jazzy French Quarter second-line swagger.”
Crockett is part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s latest exhibit “American Currents” alongside acts like Eric Church, The Chicks, Luke Combs, Mickey Guyton and Maren Morris. The San Benito, TX native donated the custom Fort Lonesome suit he wore during his Newport Folk Festival debut in 2019 to the exhibit, and he’s currently featured on a larger-than-life billboard outside the museum in Nashville alongside one of his heroes, fellow San Benito, TX native Freddy Fender.
http://www.charleycrockett.com/
Watch the video for slow-burning Southern soul gem “I Need Your Love” here
https://www.instagram.com/charleycrockett/
https://www.facebook.com/charleycrockettmusic
Categories: Latest
Building Our Own Nashville 