Charley Crockett, the definitive young voice in country and western’s modern reinvention, today released a new song “Run Horse Run.” A galloping psychedelic spaghetti western track from his forthcoming album, Welcome To Hard Times.
Crockett’s Welcome To Hard Times (Released July 31, on Thirty Tigers) has already connected with fans from Ethan Hawke to Diplo and is attracting significant press attention from the media including Rolling Stone who stated “Crockett evokes the loneliness and isolation of the present moment in ‘Welcome to Hard Times”.
The accompanying video was co-directed by Crockett and Bobby Cochran, and premiered today with BrooklynVegan who stated, “If you like your outlaw country with a haunting, psychedelic edge, you’ll like this. Charley knows how to stay true to the genre’s classic ’70s era while also sounding as fresh as the genre’s current leaders like Margo Price who he’s shared the stage with.”
The video is part of a cinematic series of music videos, where Crockett plays the same lonesome character traveling through the American wilderness. This episode features Crockett sprinting across desert landscapes, alongside train cars and galloping on horseback. He also continues the recurring theme of speaking on a mystical yellow phone and clutching a vintage clock. Speaking about the inspiration for the video, Crockett stated, “When I’m in Las Vegas I like to sit at the bar and watch all the races on the screens inside the Wynn Casino. There’s a comfort I find in knowing those horses are running. I remember watching people place bets on the races in the French quarter. All the old time gamblers pouring over the news papers trying to get a fix on who’s thoroughbred was gonna come through. It’s a wild chance to take because with horses it’s really anybody’s guess. And there’s so many different ways to bet. There’s a lot of cheating going on too. A champion horse might retire to green pastures. The forgotten one’s don’t always fair so good. That reminds me a lot of the game I’m playing.”
He adds, “I feel like those race horses, coming out of nowhere from the back of the line, all the odds against you. You better watch out too because you might look over your shoulder to see me behind you thinking you’re winning but really you’re just about to get lapped. In horse racing anything can happen and the ones who start out first might end up last.”
Produced by Mark Neill, with songwriting contributions from Pat McLaughlin and Dan Auerbach, Welcome To Hard Times is a genre bending mix of classic country and rhythm & blues. It may draw on heritage sounds, but this aptly-named collection perfectly fits these troubled times. Crockett’s vision for the record, “is for the folks who feel like everything’s fixed. If you think you’re playing a rigged game, you’re right. If it seems like all the cards are marked in advance, they are. But you still gotta roll the dice, even when you know they’re loaded.”
Crockett is no stranger to hard times. In early January 2019, while at a routine doctor’s checkup. Crockett was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a congenital heart condition, as well as Aortic Valve disease, and he had to immediately undergo life saving heart surgery. Crockett believes that this experience inspired him to make the record that he truly wanted.
Crockett stated, “I look at that scar and all I can think about is the limited amount of time I’ve got left, I wanted to make an album that would try to reclaim the conversation about country music.”
Charley believes that part of that conversation is “a fixation and confusion” around his racial identity. Charley is ethnically diverse. Charley’s Grandmother on his Dad’s side was Creole and biracial, with black and white parents. Charley also has Jewish heritage. Charley has felt like his diverse heritage and identity has often felt like the beginning and end of the conversation, when it comes to the country scene. He recently addressed the issue with a post on instagram, “Though I’ve benefited greatly from my whiteness, I have never fully identified with any race. So I’ve lived as an outcast at war with myself in a society that I both love and hate at the same time. My music tells this story. If you don’t know how race or class affects experience, it’s the first sign of privilege.”
Crockett grew up in poverty, and spent time living homeless and busking making his way from New Orleans to the subway platforms of New York City. Crockett also lost his sister to addiction and he is a twice convicted felon, “I’ve gotten more than my fair share of raw deals in my thirty six years. But I don’t let hard luck own me.” In spite of these challenges Crockett has remained steadfast and persistent in his music career, releasing a catalogue of critically respected self released albums including The Valley and Lil G.L.’s Blue Bonanza, which garnered critical acclaim from tastemaker media. KXT described Crockett as, “an artist who lives up to the hype,” NPR’s All Things Considered, described him as, “blurring the lines of traditional blues, jazz, country and gospel music” and Paste praised Crockett for finding the “seam between R&B and country to slip through songs with sharp hooks and real feeling.” Without the support of a major record label deal, Crockett has established himself as a breakthrough independent artist and the architect of his own success. Generating over 36 million total streams across his song catalogue, growing a grass roots following from his sold out shows across America and Europe and making debuts at Stagecoach Festival, the Grand Ole Opry and Newport Folk Festival, with much more to come.
Welcome To Hard Times was recorded in Valdosta, Georgia at Mark Neil’s studio. The album was recorded with a studio band consisting of Kullen Fox, Colin Colby, Alexis Sanchez, Mario Valdez, Nathan Fleming, Billy Horton and Mackenzie Rosser. For more information, please visit: http://www.charleycrockett.