SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
We could all use a little more gratitude in our lives, and “Grateful” is the title of a new album out today by The Red Clay Strays.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DEMONS IN YOUR CHOIR”)
THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) Darlin’, why’d you go and listen. They ain’t got nothing good to say.
DETROW: Here to tell us about it is Laura Grant from member station WEXT in Troy, New York. Welcome.
LAURA GRANT, BYLINE: Hi. Thanks for having me.
DETROW: I’m excited you’re here. So let’s start here – the Red Clay Strays, what do we need to know?
GRANT: So if they haven’t been on your radar, then I’ve got some fun facts for you. They are a rock band out of Mobile, Alabama, and they skyrocketed to fame over the past couple of years. They won two country music awards. And I love this new album, “Grateful.” For me, it’s a no-skip album. It’s got rockabilly, honky-tonk, outlaw, Americana. And as someone who grew up as a church kid, listening to this album really felt like a spiritual experience, especially the track “Demons In Your Choir.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DEMONS IN YOUR CHOIR”)
THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) You gotta stop lettin’ ’em tear you down now ‘fore they kill you in your sleep.
DETROW: So given all that, I’m curious. Like, is religion, is spirituality a theme throughout this whole album?
GRANT: So what’s interesting is, I think even if you are not a spiritual person – you know, I’m not a religious person. I’m a spiritual person. But I think, regardless of faith or religion, I think this song is so relatable because it’s about trying to save someone, trying to warn you that there might be some people in your circle that don’t have good intentions, and that, you know, this person is really trying to save you from those demons in your choir, in your life, in your circle.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DEMONS IN YOUR CHOIR”)
THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) If I could pull you from the fire then maybe I could save you from these demons in your choir.
GRANT: I really think this whole album, it comes full circle back to the title track, which I think is the perfect closer. The title track is “Grateful,” and it felt very much like I was listening to a hymn.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “GRATEFUL”)
THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) Through the good and the bad times, He still gives me a song to sing. And, Lord, I’m grateful. I’m grateful.
DETROW: All right, we have heard the first and last track of the album, given the topic the alpha and the omega, if you will.
GRANT: (Laughter).
DETROW: In the middle, is there a favorite track for you?
GRANT: You know, this is such a hard question because, like I said, for me, it’s a no-skip album. I love every single track on it. But if I had to narrow it down, I have to choose the seventh track on the album. It’s a love song. It’s called “If I Didn’t Know You,” and I really needed that love song on this album. I feel like there’s sort of a trend these days that yearning is kind of completely gone. It’s very nonchalant. I think we need – we want chalant men. And I feel like this is such a yearning song, and it just – it fulfills that romantic need in my music heart.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “IF I DIDN’T KNOW YOU”)
THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) Well, you found me lost at sea, tossed and turned around; held on through the ebb and flow. Yeah, you ain’t putting me down. And if I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t know how to love.
DETROW: That was Laura Grant of station WEXT in Troy, New York, talking about “Grateful,” the new album out today from the Red Clay Strays. Laura, thank you so much. And I have to say, I have never heard somebody use the word chalant without nonchalant, and I loved it. It was perfect.
GRANT: (Laughter) Thank you so much, Scott. This was just a wonderful conversation. Thank you for having me.
DETROW: And you can hear more great new albums out today on NPR’s New Music Friday podcast.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “IF I DIDN’T KNOW YOU”)
THE RED CLAY STRAYS: (Singing) I can’t change my yesterdays. Well, sometimes I just wonder who I’d be today. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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