A man of many talents.
Charley Crockett is one of the most hard-working men in the music industry. With the release of his forthcoming record, Lonesome Drifter, Charley Crockett has released an impressive sixteen albums over the last decade.
Crockett has many experiences from which to draw inspiration. He spent many years traveling from state to state as a nomad, busking and holding odd jobs before signing his first record deal. On Crockett’s latest single, “Game I Can’t Win,” he details the “game” he played during his first record deal, as he was seen as difficult to work with. Crockett was not difficult to work with because he refused to work, but because he refused to conform to the sound the label wanted from him.
While promoting this record, a common theme with the songs Crockett has released thus far is the tie to New York City they all have. On the lead and title single, “Lonesome Drifter,” Crockett noted that it took him many years to complete the song, but he started writing it when he was also teaching himself to play electric guitar in the subway tunnels.
“I taught myself how to play electric guitar on subway cars, actually. I had never really played an electric before, and I bought this black and white Mexican telecaster with a maple wood neck on it off this hipster kid in Bushwick. I bought a battery-powered kind of amp with a shoulder strap that ran off an eight volt battery off a Mariachi music store.
That’s kind of how I learned to play guitar. And actually, the earliest makings of that song ‘Lonesome Drifter,’ I used to write songs or come up with stuff in between the subway cars coming and going underground there in Manhattan.”
Where there is a will, there’s a way. Charley Crockett is definitely someone who makes it happen when they have an itch to learn something or a dream they want to chase. He’s done that with learning to play the electric guitar and making sure his music career took off.
Charley Crockett is often seen on stage with an acoustic guitar around his neck, so it would have been a lot of fun to have seen him learn to play electric back then. I bet half of NYC had no idea they were in the presence and listening to someone who would be a Grammy-nominated artist.
But those early days of Crockett teaching himself a new track heavily influenced the first single he released off the forthcoming record.
“That’s like where I came up with the first part of it, and then some years later, I was working for a bunch of different farmers in Northern California. Some of the other ranch hands up there, when we were off, we would get together and play music, and I’d come up with this other section. On that same electric guitar, I kept it with me.
‘I’m just a lonesome drifter on the only highway’ Because that’s life, you know. It’s just one long road, and everybody’s on it.”
@charleycrockettLife is this one long road, and everybody’s on it♬ Lonesome Drifter – Charley Crockett
He can say that last sentence again for the people in the back.
Having Crockett talk about Lonesome Drifter makes me amped to hear what is in store. The record will be out everywhere on March 14th and includes 12 songs recorded at the legendary Sunset Sounds Studio in Los Angeles, California.
Fire up his latest single before you leave.
Lonesome Drifter Tracklist:
1. Lonesome Drifter
2. Game I Can’t Win
3. Jamestown Ferry
4. Easy Money
5. Under Neon Lights
6. This Crazy Life
7. The Death Of Bill Bailey
8. Never No More
9. Life Of A Country Singer
10. One Trick Pony
11. Night Rider
12. Amarillo By Morning
