Grayson Capps
and the Stumpknockers
Friday, December 1st at 9pm
Doors open for cocktails at 7pm
Le Chat Noir Theatre, 304 Eighth
St. in downtown Augusta;
$15 Reserved seats, $10 Standing room only, $5 discount with
military ID.
For tickets call 706-826-0670 or visit www.lcnaugusta.com.
Grayson Capps is back in his
stomping grounds--the beautiful South--having just returned from a
20-city Midwest and East Coast tour. The former New Orleans-based
artist, now residing in Franklin, Tennessee, will make his debut "live"
performance in Augusta, GA on Friday, December 1st at Le Chat
Noir. Appearing with his band The Stumpknockers, they're supporting
Grayson's brand new album, Wail & Ride, on HYENA Records. It's
Capps' second release to date, following up his acclaimed 2005 debut
recording, If You Knew My Mind.
Grayson Capps first broke into the national spotlight with four songs on the soundtrack to the film, A Love Song For Bobby Long (starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson). Soon thereafter, he'd release his debut album on the independent record label HYENA Records, which would be followed by non-stop touring in the Southeast. Word of his electrifying performances--often comprising three-hour marathon sets of Southern rock debauchery and Americana soul-stirring epiphany--spread fast through the region. The buzz would ultimately lead to packed shows, two European tours and an appearance at Bonnaroo earlier this year.
Tragedy also played its part. When Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, Capps was driven from his home in New Orleans where he'd lived for the previous 20 years. He responded by keeping a stiff upper lip and his eye on the road, living in his van while touring for a stretch of time before settling in middle Tennessee. He addresses the experience on his new album with the poignant song, "New Orleans Waltz" (watch the video here). Other stand-out tracks from Wail & Ride include the full-tilt boogie of "Give It To Me," the bayou-funk, second-line rumble of "Poison," the country-western gem "Jukebox" (which could have come straight from the pen of Hank Williams) and perhaps his most personal piece of songwriting yet, "Daddy's Eyes."
Born and raised in the backwoods of Alabama, Grayson Capps evolves directly out of the great Southern literary tradition. He spins profound and poetic tales exploring the Southern life, its tempos and people. His raw and uncompromising vocals bring to life the down, but never out, characters who reside in his songs, while greasy slide licks and finger-picked acoustic guitars walk alongside snaky funk rave-ups and sanctified back-country soul. Capps defines his own niche by splitting the difference between the lineage of the road-wise, ever-seeking troubadour and the hell-raising stomp of America's great Southern rock lineage. It's music of the new American south, written on the outskirts of New Orleans and in the ancient forests of Alabama, and as real as a deep breath of fresh bayou air.
For more information on Grayson Capps and/or promo and interview requests, please contact Kevin Calabro at HYENA: 718.369.6567 or HyenaRecords@aol.com
What They're Saying about GRAYSON CAPPS...
"As a solo performer, and
especially with Wail & Ride, Capps is turning out to be a
craftsman on par with artists like Randy Newman in his earlier years." -
Gambit Weekly
"Wail & Ride is full of blood, spit and raw heavy soul." -
AllMusic.com
"...songs such as "Jukebox," "Broomy," "Ed Lee" and "Daddy's Eyes" are
gritty jewels and evocative tales." - San Antonio
Express News
"Grayson Capps plays rusted-out, countrified swamp-blues, whittled down
to the dirt floor. His weathered drawl recalls Delbert McClinton, while
his subject matter channels Tom Waits." - No Depression
"Grayson Capps is a southern rock troubadour with an eye on the human
condition and a pen to write about it. His stories conjure up imagery of
trailer parks, Sycamore trees and fences made of whiskey bottles and
cement. He's a poet with grease on his hands and humor in his growl." -
OffBeat Magazine
"Backwoods Alabama's Grayson Capps provides countrified soul grit;
braying like a juke-joint sentinel who's been stoned all night, his
guitar blowing gaskets at half speed, lonesome harmonica gales coming on
like steam-engine backdrafts." - Boston Phoenix
"Like a whiskey-soaked, back alley poet sired by Tom Waits and Robert
Johnson, Capps' stripped-down sound is rooted in the dark side of the
Delta." - Razor Magazine
