Today, Grayson Capps shares "Columbus Stockade Blues," the second single released in advance of his forthcoming album, Heartbreak, Misery & Death. The song was written and recorded by Thomas Darby and Jimmie Tarlton in 1927 and later recorded by artists including Doc Watson, Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys and Willie Nelson. Its lyrics are sung from the perspective of a man imprisoned in Columbus, Georgia. The actual jail referenced in the song was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and a monument was erected by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Historic Columbus Foundation in 1985. (LISTEN HERE)
"'Columbus Stockade Blues' was one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar," says Capps. "I heard first heard it on a Doc Watson record and it sounded so cool and spooky. Later on it would particularly resonate with me as my girlfriend had started relations with another man while I was away on tour with my band The House Levelers. I felt like the van was my prison cell, and in a lot of ways I have never escaped those four walls."
Heartbreak, Misery & Death captures the revered Alabama-based troubadour—joined by his longtime guitarist Corky Hughes— presenting 16 folk, country and traditional songs by artists ranging from Jerry Jeff Walker and Randy Newman to Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen. Capps was introduced by his father to many of these timeless touchstones as a child growing up in Brewton, AL. They'd catalyze his love for music at a young age, while informing the Southern Gothic vernacular that he’d go onto so eloquently explore and reimagine in his own body of work.
The collection's first single, "Moody River," is also out now (LISTEN HERE).
GRAYSON CAPPS
Tour Dates
9/20 - Nashville, TN - Chickie Wah Wah: New Orleans To Nashville @ PSBM
9/21 - Nashville, TN - Americanafest @ 3rd & Lindsley (official showcase)
10/7 - Neuenkirchen-Vörden, DE - Kulturzentrum Bahnhof
10/8 - Norderstedt, DE - Music Star
10/10 - Eppstein, DE - Wunderbar Weite
10/11 - Worms, DE - Die Funzel
10/13 - De Kooy, NL - Holland Amerika Line Festival
10/15 - Leiden, NL - Q-bus
10/17 - Nijmegen, NL - Thiemeloods
10/18 - Nieuw- en Sint Joosland - Theater de Wegwijzer
10/19 - Utrecht, NL - Ramblin Roots Festival
10/20 - Oldenzaal, NL - Cobblestone Club
10/26 - Brewton, AL - Cold Moon Festival
10/27 - Silverhill, AL - Frog Pond Sunday Social
11/2 - Fairhope, AL - Johnny Mac's
11/3 - Silverhill, AL - Frog Pond Sunday Social
11/10 - Silverhill, AL - Frog Pond Sunday Social
11/14 - St. Augustine, FL - Cafe Eleven
11/15 - St. Petersburg, FL - Noisemaker
11/16 - Palmetto, FL - Waypoint Bar
11/18 - Fairhope, AL - Page & Palette
11/24 - Silverhill, AL - Frog Pond Sunday Social
12/1 - Silverhill, AL - Frog Pond Sunday Social
12/15 - Silverhill, AL - Frog Pond Sunday Social
2/1 - Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic
