The Red Clay Strays

One Liner:  Up and coming Americana and country rock from Alabama

Wikipedia Genre:  country rock

Home: Mobile, AL

Poster Position: 5
Weekend Two Only.
Sunday at 7:25.

Miller Lite Stage.

Thoughts:  Man, I have been wanting to get to my Sunday reviews for a while just so that I could check out this band.  Their name is so good, but I really wanted to save it.  I thoroughly expected that they would be from north Texas or south Oklahoma (which definitely reveals my bias), but instead they are a bluesy Americana, southern rock band from Mobile, Alabama.  

Have you ever driven through Mobile, Alabama?  if you are coming through town on I-10, maybe driving from Texas to Gulf Shores, AL, you go through a freaking massive tunnel called the George Wallace Tunnel.  And the thing that makes it so cool in my mind is that it takes your ass entirely under the Mobile River.  Which is so wild to me.  Like, a billion tons of heavy water just weighing down on those tunnels as you tool along under there like a little ant.  Makes me think of those scary ass sections of The Stand where people have to hike through the Colorado mountain tunnels, but I still get a charge out of it each time as though I am a kid.  Love it.

Anyhoo, these dudes are not that tunnel.  Several of the guys in the band were in a cover band in Mobile, who started to write and play a little more original material over time.  They added some more members and started playing increasingly larger venues and more places, and got signed by a management company.  Their first single was featured in the unfortunately terrible Doctor Sleep movie, but that got them moving until the pandemic shut it all down.  But, they used some crowdfunding action to raise up the funds to create and then self-release their debut in 2022, after it didn't get much traction, they signed with a label and got on the Lollapalooza stage.

Two albums - 2022's Moment of Truth and 2024's Made By These Moments.  At times, it is Chris Stapleton-esque belting over country rock.  At times, it is Jason Isbell-esque and more tender.  At times, it is Turnpike Troubadours and a little more bluesy and raucous.  Some Ray LaMontagne here and there too.  Seriously, I want you to listen to their first three most popular songs right now and follows along.  "Wondering Why" with 151.9 million streams and some LaMontagne vibes.

Bluesy and warm and luscious.  Super good stuff.  Apparently was a big hit on the TikTok, which is an odd thing to me, but I also don't pay attention to that stuff.  That is from their 2022 debut, which as I mentioned before didn't do much upon release.  Well, they did a version of it on a YouTube platform called Western AF, and that is the thing that initially blew up and led to the TikTok virality too.  I'd love to see what Willie or Waylon would think about that path to country stardom.

The second most streamed and currently #2 in Popular list on Spotify is "Wanna Be Loved," with 22 million streams, and in my mind serious Turnpike vibes.

Feels like those guitars are raring to break out and soar - near the end they try to get out of their cages, but then they just rein in and pull back for a soft coda.  And finally, you get the Stapleton belting maneuver in another track from the new album, their currently third most popular, called "Drowning" with 3.2 million streams.

I think it is just that one song from Stapleton where he keeps yelling the word "crying," but I feel that one for sure.  So, there you go.  Those are my comparisons, and three of their top songs.  They also just got a song on the outrageously long Twisters soundtrack (another Stapleton dupe), along with half of the other up-and-coming country artists in the world, so they are on their way!

Weekend Two only is some bullhonkey though.  Play weekend one, you cowards!