Craig Gerdes is a singer whose voice is steadied by the legion of angels he believes watch over him. He tells stories at a Southern pace, with a soft voice and slow drawl. His new album Smokin' Drinkin' and Gamblin' is full of outlaw-country rug cutters and ballads about strong heads and weak hearts. Fueled by nostalgia, his songwriting talent turns old habits into dependable crutches nursing the phantom pain of distant love.

Singer songwriter Craig Gerdes "rolled into Nashville, on four bald tires, on his beat up, old 4-door Plymouth car...with a stack of songs he'd written, and some old school country pickin, he was gonna be a country music star..." Says the opening line of his autobiographical song "Redneck Sons a Bitches" that tells the summarized tale of his discontented journey from Nashville rejection to releasing his debut album Smokin' Drinkin' & Gamblin' on the Indiana based Sol Records.