Grayson Capps - If You Knew My Mind (2005)

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Grayson Capps - If You Knew My Mind (2005)

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It takes less than 30 seconds for the debut album from this New Orleans-based singer/songwriter to pull you in. A lone harmonica blows over a softly strummed electric guitar as a lazy rhythm section props up the beat. Grayson Capps' weathered voice then enters: "Yesterday was a very fine day indeed, I got a pint of beer, went outside and brushed my teeth." That about sums up this impressive yet unassuming bluesy debut from one of the many musicians who sound like what New Orleans feels like: languid, a little grimy and dangerous, but with a sense of history and self that wafts up from the streets. Those who listened closely to the soundtrack of the movie A Love Song for Bobby Long will recognize Capps, as his music was used to excellent effect in that rather obscure flick. In fact, "Lorraine's Song," the most recognizable tune on that soundtrack, is a Capps composition and gets a suitably impressive and subtle performance here, as does the song whose title inspired the movie. He has a way with a drowsy melody, and after a few spins, these tracks gradually take hold. Certainly anyone who has explored the back streets of New Orleans will recognize the downtrodden characters who populate this album. Capps mythologizes their misery and sadness in songs that are heartfelt and edgy, but he never shortchanges melodies in exchange for gritty, often poetic lyrics. Guitar solos, such as the one in the Crazy Horse-styled "Buckshot," are short, tight, and succinct, just like the band that ably supports Capps. His voice sounds like he just woke up and started singing before his first cup of coffee, but that adds to the effect. The album loses a little steam as it winds down, yet this is still a stirring first effort. It conveys the sense, sounds, and dark allure of New Orleans and many of its residents more effectively than a stroll through the French Quarter.–by Hal Horowitz

1. Get Back Up 4:03
2. If You Knew My Mind 3:03
3. Slidell 3:54
4. I Can't Hear You 3:38
5. A Love Song For Bobby Long 4:53
6. Graveyard 4:00
7. Mercy 3:42
8. Lorraine's Song 4:06
9. Washboard Lisa 3:36
10. Buckshot 3:51
11. How's I To Know 3:23
12. I See You 4:02

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Grayson Capps - If You Knew My Mind (2005)

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BIO: A literate and impassioned songwriter whose song characters are often caught barely hanging on at the edges of American life, Grayson Capps is a bit like a New Orleans version of Tom Waits, albeit more of a roots rocker in actual musical execution. Capps was born April 17, 1967, in Opelika, Alabama, the son of a Baptist preacher and an Auburn University student. After his birth, both of his parents ended up being teachers in Brewton, Alabama. They moved to Fairhope, Alabama when Capps was in the seventh grade, and it was there that he developed a lifelong fascination with theater, eventually earning a partial scholarship to Tulane University in New Orleans to study acting, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1989. But acting wasn't the only thing Capps studied at Tulane. He also learned to play guitar and joined a band called the House Levellers, who specialized in what the band called "thrash folk." The group signed with Tipitina's Records in 1990 when Capps was barely 21 years old, and following a whirlwind and musically quite successful year, Capps left the band, choosing to remain and make his home in New Orleans.
He started a new band with John Lawrence called Stavin' Chain and they signed with Thomas Ruf's Germany-based Ruf Records in 1998, releasing a single album, simply called Stavin' Chain, in 1999, before disbanding. Capps met Shainee Gabel, a young director who was filming a documentary called Anthem, and she ended up using several of his songs in the finished film. Capps had told Gabel about an unpublished novel his father, Everett Capps, had written, and once Gabel read it she knew she had to film it. She wrote a screenplay and the end result was the 2004 film A Love Song for Bobby Long, which featured Capps in a bit part and also used four of his songs as part of the soundtrack. The regionally released Grayson Capps album appeared in 2005 on Hyena Records followed by a solo debut proper, If You Knew My Mind, later that same year.
During this time Capps continued to make his home in New Orleans, but the Katrina disaster at summer's close in 2005 forced him to leave the city for Nashville. A second solo project, Wail & Ride, also on Hyena, came out in 2006. Ruf Records re-released Stavin' Chain in 2007, and another Hyena release, Rott 'n' Roll, appeared in 2008. After a couple of years in Nashville, Capps formed a new band called the Lost Cause Minstrels, made up of a crack group of Gulf Coast musicians, and began recording an album of the same name. Midway through, he decided to return to his home state of Alabama, where he, the band, and co-producer and partner Trina Shoemaker finished it. The Lost Cause Minstrels was released on Royal Potato Family Records in June of 2011.–by Steve Leggett