Charley Crockett (2023)

One Liner: If Hank Williams Sr. liked to get soulful and bluesy every once in a while

Wikipedia Genre: Blues, country, Americana
Home: San Benito, Texas

Sunday

Thoughts:  I really like him - despite him coming to ACL twice (2018 and 2021), I have not gotten to see him do his thing.  He is always up against someone else or has an early slot.  Well no more, he's gotten to be pretty big time by now.  

Dude sounds like Hank Williams Sr. with a little soul.  Like someone turned "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" into a human being who liked to sing.  Got a little rockabilly swing sometimes, got some straight blues other times, a little cajun swagger other times.  Pretty cool sound.  According to Rolling Stone, the guy claims that he can trace his ancestry back to Davy Crockett.  Which is kinda rad.  Originally from San Benito, a tiny chunk of the Valley (home of Freddy Fender and this water tower that I used to pass all the time when going to Harlingen).

But since leaving home, he has apparently wandered the earth for several years, including stints in Europe, busking on the streets of New Orleans and the subway platforms of New York City, and then in both Austin and Memphis.  In one thing I read, there are some people who are mad at his backstory, claiming it is embellished to get him street cred, but I don't see any reason to hate on the guy.  Maybe he didn't really live on a couch in Paris or whatever, but his music stands on its own without any thought about any of that.

Very large output - Ten+ albums, 2015's A Stolen Jewel, 2016's In the Night, 2017's very cool Lil G.L.'s Honky Tonk Jubilee, 2018's Lonesome as a Shadow, 2018's Lil G.L.'s Blue Bonanza, 2019's The Valley, 2020's Welcome to Hard Times, 2021's 10 for Slim, 2021's Music City U.S.A., 2022's Jukebox Charlie, and then 2022's The Man from Waco.  I started at the top and have played my way through here a few times now, and I'm enjoying it each time.  Especially that 2017 album, which is all covers, and all cool old classic tunes like "The Lost Highway" and "I Saw the Light."  Lonesome as a Shadow is also very good.  Although it got critical love back in the day, I won't say that the first album is great - more bluesy than the later stuff.  And not as tight, sounds self-produced.  But that's all good, right?  Start basic and then level up.  And Welcome to Hard Times and then Man from Waco are classic as well.  I just spent all day repeating it and it sounds great.

In addition to the music being good - I love the aesthetic.  The album covers have classic type-faces and looks.  His look is just perfectly throw-back creased.  His sound is a classic throwback too.  It reminds me of the way the Black Keys have crushed it with an old school look and sound - this guy is right there with them.

Another odd note from his Rolling Stone profile, he grew up dirt poor in a trailer park, but says he grew up listening not to roots music or country, like you might expect, but instead to chopped-and-screwed hip hop.  Weird that this would be a thing in the Valley.

First, I'll give you a shot at his most streamed tune - "I Am Not Afraid," which has 25.8 million streams.

Pretty chilled little love ditty.  That is a live version, which loses a little bit of the warmth of the original, which has a deeper, more solid bass line going underneath it all.  His second most streamed tune comes from that covers album, this is "Jamestown Ferry," which has 19.8 million streams.

Apparently, a Tanya Tucker song.  I'm not familiar with it.  Maybe they'll do a duet together at the Fest!  Beyond the great pedal steel-work, I'm not sure that is my favorite of his tunes.  Every time "I Wanna Cry" starts up, I think its gonna be "Live Forever" from the Highwaymen.  Totally rings a bell.  Fine song, but not old Billy Joe Shaver's classic.  "Goin' Back to Texas" is cool as well.

Another tasty morsel, the title track from the 2020 album.  "Welcome to Hard Times," with just over 18.4 million streams.

See!  Even the type face on that video looks dope and old-school!  HIs voice is so warm - he makes me think of Paul Westerberg too.  Good tune.  I also did some full on reviews of his music over the years, see below.

"Charley Crockett - Music City USA.  I dig this guy.  He came to ACL last year but I missed the show.  But he has a great sound and an entire schtick about his look and sound.  It's great classic country stuff.  That being said, nothing on here really stands out.  It's all good, but there isn't some moment on this album that changes my overall opinion of him from listening to the older albums this summer.  It's still him droning along over the top of the plunk-plunk of the two-step beat.  Long album too, with 16 songs!  Seems rare for country music.  The top track is the second one, "I Need Your Love," with 2.2 million streams.

A little Dap King flavor to go with the country.  Dig it.  Love his videos - does a super cool job of classic visuals that still look dope.  I need to get my cowboy hat re-shaped, man.  Not that I'm going to try to pull off his look, I'd look like a dork, but I ought to shape it and wear it more.  Anyhoo, I'm going to keep the album around because I'm into the guy, even if this one in particular doesn't bowl me over."

"Charley Crockett - The Man From Waco.  My Man Charley is having a moment.  I love it.  This is some serious throwback tune stuff - full of classic country flourish and songwriting chops that don't sound at home at all in 2023.  And yet it sounds awesome to me and is getting him some festival poster spots and concert tours.  Even just the cover of the album is a throwback that looks awesome.  Dig it.  I was hoping that "Time of the Cottonwood Tree" was going to be the hit, as I think it sounds really cool.  But instead, it is "I'm Just a Clown," with just over 3 million streams.

I wish I had the panache to wear a cowboy hat all curled up and perched on his head like that.  Boss.  But yeah, nothing particularly groundbreaking in any of these tunes, just really pleasant-sounding country tunes with good vocals and great accompaniment."

What I'm listening to right now is a 2023 Live at the Ryman album, and it is freaking tasty.  The band sounds spectacular, and his voice is a warm pool of honey flowing across a pillowy biscuit.  This could be a really fun show.