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Artist Spotlight: Charley Crockett

6/26/2019

Photo credit: Lyza Renee

As the last full month of summer begins and warm sunny days turn into cooler nights, the quaint town of Challis, Idaho, which sits snug near the Sawtooth Mountains, prepares for an influx of music aficionados from all over the globe for the Braun Brothers Reunion Festival. Regarded as one of the state’s premier musical gatherings by both attendees and artists alike, the BBR is a family-friendly event that unites artists and fans in an unparalleled setting for three unforgettable, music-filled days.

This year, the BBR will be held from August 8th-10th and will feature fifteen Americana, Texas, and Red Dirt artists including Charley Crockett who brings his signature, soulful, and engaging style - which has garnered accolades from outlets including Cowboys and Indians and Rolling Stone - to Challis for the first time. Crockett, who underwent open heart surgery earlier this year, kindly took some time to talk about the festival, share the story behind "River of Sorrow," and more.

Firstly, I hope this rest of the year finds you in continued good health.
Come August, you'll be making the trip to Challis for the BBR. Being that you have played other festivals, what made you want to come out?
CC: Well, I really appreciate you giving me the well wishes for my health, I’m doing a lot better than I was before and I thank you for mentioning that. I think maybe the primary reason that I wanted to come up there and play Braun Brothers Reunion is because I just am so attracted to that area of Idaho and I know Cody Braun pretty well and was following him, and Turnpike Troubadours and would see pictures and stuff of the festival up there and those mountains and just a very romantic setting. You know being a Texas roots artist, that’s the type of event you want to be on, so I pestered them for a couple years before they got me on it - and I guess it worked, so can’t wait to be there.

Are you able to stay the entire festival? And is there anyone in particular who you are looking forward to see play again or for the first time?
CC: Yeah I’m not too sure how long I’ll end up being there for the festival, but I think we’re planning on making a trip out of it - we’re going to Europe a few days after, so I know we’re going to be in the area for a few days. I’m excited to hopefully get a chance to see Steve Earle and the Dukes. We saw them over in Europe last year and it made me wanna see him again. Big fan of his son Justin Townes Earle, too. And then the Reverend Horton Heat. I saw that y’all had him on the bill this year and I think that’s really, really cool and I would really like to see those guys play - no doubt. Lots of good bands are gonna be up there, but those are a couple of the ones I’m really excited about.

I'm looking forward to seeing them as well.
For you, does a live show adapt from say a smaller venue in NYC to a venue that is outdoors in Challis?
CC: Yeah, I mean, where you’re playing definitely affects the mood of any type of show and there’s a big difference between playing inside a dark club at night and then playing outdoors in the daytime. I prefer to play outside, I think a lot of people would. I think because, you know, up there in Idaho and stuff, roots music is so much a part of people’s lives, that’s something that I gravitate to and probably focus on even more - you know being up there for that show.

What about a set list? Do you prefer to follow one or play what strikes you?
I mean, the boys write set lists every day, I don’t particularly follow them though.

Switching gears, recently Rolling Stone premiered two new tracks that you did for The Next Waltz: "How Low Can You Go” and “River of Sorrow.” Would you kindly pick one and share the story behind it?
CC: Yeah, that Rolling Stone piece on that 45 we cut with Bruce and The Next Waltz - that was really a lot of fun cutting those two songs. I wrote both of them with friends. “River of Sorrow” kinda has a particular appeal to me. You know, it’s like - it’s the grind of life. You know life is a steady - it’s a lot of work. I think a lot of sorrow and sadness comes with struggle, but a way to purify yourself is to change it up and for me, is to keep moving. And there’s a line in the song - “I would stay here to keep working, but there’s no more water in the well.” I think anybody can understand that, but I have had some trials in my life that, maybe when I wrote the song I didn’t even quite realize the trials I was writing about. I can take a river of sorrow and turn it to something worth singing about.

I've always said that sad songs make me happy, there's something about them.
Now, you’ve lived and played in various parts of the world from NY to Paris to TX which I imagined have provided you an interesting perspective on life and music. You can hear various influences in your music, yet you’re seemingly grounded in the blues, what draws you to that sound?
CC: Yeah, when it comes to the blues, it’s not as much that I was drawn to the blues as I realized over time that the blues is what I was expressing. It took me a long time to learn that I was playing the blues. The blues to me is bad feelings coming out and the way that you put them out make you feel good, and generally speaking you’re playing, you know, one four five chords, which is why I have a hard time necessarily differentiating between what you might call country versus blues, or folk music versus blues, or country. For me I never really thought of them as separately, but I just think of - especially coming from the street - and coming from the naive way that I learned music, I think blues is the natural, is kinda the universal thread of any type of genre that you want to label it. Hank Williams was a blues singer.

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