Press Kit - Grayson Capps

"He's f***ing awesome!" - Scarlett Johansson, Variety.com

"This is stuff to stake the 'best bar band' claim on - slashing slide, crunching electric, a cooking rhythm section and soulful vocals..." - Keith Glass, Rhythms magazine (Australia)

"His rough-hewn testimonial of a voice renders such a well-worn assertion, believable again." - Keith Spera, Times Picayune  

"Like a whiskey-soaked, back alley poet sired by Tom Waits and Robert Johnson, Capps' stripped-down sound is rooted in the dark side of the Delta."  - Razor Magazine

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 Grayson Capps
If You Knew My Mind
Hyena 9336
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With a name that could only belong to a musician and a coarse, beer-besotted voice straight out of the backstreets of New Orleans , Grayson Capps evokes the swamp folk-soul made popular by Tony Joe White. He looks the part, too: One glance at his solo debut's cover conveys its lazy, creaky, homespun sound. Half relaxed blues-rock, half boozy, folksy introspection, Capps' rustic voice -- it sounds more like a relaxed version of Delbert McClinton's -- is front and center, leaving his words and sturdy but near faceless musicians to convey the soulful atmosphere with chipped, faded-paint backing.

Anyone who's seen the movie A Love Song For Bobby Long -- based on a book written by Capps' father, with its alcoholic haze of good people falling on hard times and looking for redemption -- has pretty much heard this album.  Capps performed four songs on the soundtrack, but each track from this graphic collection could be its own feature film. Echoes of J.J. Cale, the North Mississippi Allstars, old Ry Cooder, and the great Texas songwriter, Townes Van Zandt permeate these low-key but occasionally spirited blues-rockers. Songs such as "Mercy" and "I Can't Hear You" come alive thanks to gospel-tinged backing vocals, bringing out the God vs. the Devil undercurrent that rumbles like a latent volcano beneath the album's surface.

Capps makes the most of limited resources, bringing genuine warmth and emotion to even the most cliched concepts. Between unplugged folk and tough, Stonesy stompers such as "How's I To Know" there is tension and release that keeps the listener glued for all 12 tracks, even if the melodies start to sound repetitious about halfway through.  If You Knew My Mind isn't a slam dunk, but Capps' gruff confidence and unpretentious style show he's got the potential for greatness further down the line. He creates poignant characters whose dead-end lives are perfectly reflected in his lived-in voice and grainy, black and white songs.
--Hal Horowitz   

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GRAYSON CAPPS

If You Knew My Mind

In Stores June 7th

Produced by Trina Shoemaker

HYENA Records is pleased to announce the signing of New Orleans singer/songwriter, Grayson Capps .  On June 7th, 2005 , the eclectic, New York City-based independent record label will release his debut album, If You Knew My Mind .  A staple on the Southeast music scene, Capps descends from the celebrated American southern literary tradition, often writing about the South and the idiosyncrasies of its people, landscapes and tempos. His songs, imparted with a profound poetic wisdom, take form as steamy, front porch blues and road-wise Americana . Recently selected by Razor Magazine as one of five artists to watch in 2005, writer Bret Love declared: "Like a whiskey-soaked, back alley poet sired by Tom Waits and Robert Johnson, Capps' stripped-down sound is rooted in the dark side of the Delta."   While comparisons like such help paint a picture, Capps clearly has the vision of a singular iconoclastic talent in his own right.

Born and raised in Brewton , Alabama , Grayson Capps made his first appearance on the national music scene at 21 years old with his band, The House Levellers , touring across the United States and garnering a sizable amount of critical acclaim.  After the band's sudden demise, he moved to an abandoned house on South Front Street in the outskirts of New Orleans , stealing electricity, busking for money and honing his craft as a songwriter. He soon formed a new band, Stavin' Chain , and had another go at the golden ring upon landing a distribution deal through Polygram Records and touring with the likes of Jeff Buckley, The Wallflowers and Koko Taylor. Once again, fate had other plans than fame and fortune for Grayson. In 1997, around the same time of Stavin' Chain, he was asked to appear in the Shainee Gabel documentary, Anthem .  He formed an immediate friendship with the young director, which led him to suggest adapting for film his father Everett Capps' unpublished novel, Off Magazine Street , for her follow up project. The result was the major motion picture, A Love Song For Bobby Long , starring Scarlett Johansson and John Travolta . Grayson made a cameo in the film and had four songs on the album's subsequent soundtrack.

Shortly thereafter, Grayson Capps recorded his debut album, which was produced by Trina Shoemaker, whose resume includes Queens of the Stone Age, Whiskeytown and Sheryl Crow.  On its strength, Grayson was signed to HYENA Records sight unseen. Entitled, If You Knew My Mind , the album is a staggeringly soulful collection of songs that are inhabited by a down, but never out, cast of dreamers, drifters, heartbreakers and visionaries like Washboard Lisa, Bobby Long, Sweet Eliza, Sadie and often, Grayson Capps, himself. The opening cut, "Get Back Up," rises like a hallucinatory vision seen down a stretch of highway. A ragged guitar is matched by gruff harmonica. Capps drawls: "Yesterday was a very fine day indeed, I got up out of bed went outside and brushed my teeth, Put on dirty clothes and go back to work, I got to make the money to give the money away at the rich man's store." On  " Slidell ," a southern road song with gothic underpinnings, Capps reveals sadness with grace and a chorus that seeks redemption. The earthbound soul of "I Can't Hear You" follows next with sly junkyard slide guitar riffs and a set of stinging one liners like: "what is your money honey?/what is your God?/what in this world are you living for?" On "Mercy," Capps exorcises a worried man's blues, pleading for salvation in a frantic rage.

If You Knew My Mind closes with a string of songs that shine a particularly impressive light on Grayson Capps' deep sensitivity and depth as a songwriter. Included is a stunning version of his own "Lorraine's Song," which originally appeared on Basin Street Records' recording artist, Theresa Andersson's debut album, Shine , and then again in a new version on the Bobby Long soundtrack.  The acoustic based, "Washboard Lisa," is an inspired piece of storytelling about a well-known New Orleans' street musician whose spirit burns so bright as to cause her own detriment. On "How's I To Know," Capps tells yet another compelling tale of a life that's seen its share of pain, complete with scattered shards of street-poet philosophy like the casually tossed-off observation, "heartbreak, who gives a damn, being wounded is part of being alive."  The song is built upon a funky four-on-the-floorboard groove with a torrid gospel refrain. The album quite aptly closes with "I See You," a gentle finger-picked bayou lullaby that finds Capps brokenhearted, bleary-eyed and road weary, but ever the believer that the journey is worth its weight in gold.

With the release of If You Knew My Mind , America is once again given the opportunity to take notice of one of the great songwriters in its midst. As is so often the case, great music often takes its time finding an audience.  In Grayson's own words, "Time is made for slaves." For him, it's never been about success as defined by chart positions and record sales. It's about the songs and the performances and the creation of ideas. As Grayson explains, "No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but songs are still sung by those who continue to sing."

Also look for Grayson Capps featured in "Stories From The Blue Moon Cafe III: Anthology of Southern Writers," a book of short stories published by McAdam/Cage, available now. Grayson Capps U.S. tour dates will be announced shortly. 

Grayson Capps
www.graysoncapps.com/
4645 Music St .
New Orleans , LA 70122

Kevin Calabro
HYENA www.hyenarecords.com/
250 West 57th Street
Suite 725
New York , NY 10107
HyenaRecords@aol.com
718.369.6567

Grayson Capps
If You Knew My Mind
Hyena Records 
Printable Version "Click Here"

Most singer/ songwriters that are described as “Artists” by their label evoke an instant gag reflex from critics who are often already deluged with the tepid, muddy floodwaters of crappy folk music. 

Sometimes though, a CD from that leaning pile of…stuff gets thrown in the tray, and before you know it you’re not doing your laundry or playing video games while half an ear does it’s best to pay attention. 

Instead, you stop and listen because the music makes you listen. 

New Orleans native Grayson Capps does just that, and more on his newest CD If You Knew My Mind. This is pure blue-collar backroom blues and folk, spiced with that unique Louisiana sound that combines modern lyrics with traditional melodies, and boy is it tasty.

Tracks like “Graveyard” and “How’s I To Know?” speak about heartbreak and loneliness without the mawkish maudlin self-sorrow of most songwriters, and Capp’s guitar playing is simply perfect, moving from a whisper to a defiant, quiet roar like a living thing. 

Comparisons have been made to other musicians like Tom Waits, but that’s really cheating the creative skill shown here. 

Even the lyrics hit the note, painting images with words that any 40-hour-a-week schlep who’s just fightin’ to pays the bills instantly knows with a shake of the head and a tight-mouthed smile. Take this line from the first track “Get Back Up”: Here comes the power man with the water man by his side/Looks like the telephone man gave them a ride/ they killed my house and left me this way/I bought a kerosene lantern and baby you know I don’t bathe /cause they try to drag me down but I get back up again. 

Grayson has a rather eclectic resume in addition to his considerable musical talents, including an appearance in the 1997 Shainee Gabel documentary Anthem, which eventually led to his father’s unpublished novel being turned into the motion picture A Love Song For Bobby Long. Grayson had a cameo and wrote four songs for the soundtrack. 

Levees break, homes are washed away in the darkness, echoing with silent, unanswered cries from within that can weigh so heavy it seems like an entire city might break…but if Mr. Capps is any example of the people of New Orleans, they will sing again, and rest assured: they will get back up, baby, oh yeah… 

They will get back up. www.hyenarecords.com —Brandon Whitehead

 Most singer/ songwriters that are described as “Artists” by their label evoke an instant gag reflex from critics who are often already deluged with the tepid, muddy floodwaters of crappy folk music.

Sometimes though, a CD from that leaning pile of…stuff gets thrown in the tray, and before you know it you’re not doing your laundry or playing video games while half an ear does it’s best to pay attention.

Instead, you stop and listen because the music makes you listen. New Orleans native Grayson Capps does just that, and more on his newest CD If You Knew My Mind. This is pure blue-collar backroom blues and folk, spiced with that unique Louisiana sound that combines modern lyrics with traditional melodies, and boy is it tasty.

Tracks like “Graveyard” and “How’s I To Know?” speak about heartbreak and loneliness without the
mawkish maudlin self-sorrow of most songwriters, and Capp’s guitar playing is simply perfect, moving from a whisper to a defiant, quiet roar like a living thing.
Comparisons have been made to other musicians like Tom Waits, but that’s really cheating the creative skill
shown here.
Even the lyrics hit the note, painting images with words that any 40-hour-a-week schlep who’s just fightin’ to
pays the bills instantly knows with a shake of the head and a tight-mouthed smile. Take this line from the
first track “Get Back Up”: Here comes the power man with the water man by his side/Looks like the
telephone man gave them a ride/ they killed my house and left me this way/I bought a kerosene lantern and
baby you know I don’t bathe /cause they try to drag me down but I get back up again.

Grayson has a rather eclectic resume in addition to his considerable musical talents, including an
appearance in the 1997 Shainee Gabel documentary Anthem, which eventually led to his father’s
unpublished novel being turned into the motion picture A Love Song For Bobby Long. Grayson had a cameo
and wrote four songs for the soundtrack.

Levees break, homes are washed away in the darkness, echoing with silent, unanswered cries from within
that can weigh so heavy it seems like an entire city might break…but if Mr. Capps is any example of the
people of New Orleans, they will sing again, and rest assured: they will get back up, baby, oh yeah…
They will get back up. www.hyenarecords.com —Brandon Whitehead