Charley Crockett is certainly making hay while the sun shines. After years on the busking circuit he’s had a well deserved stellar ascent in recent years, culminating in The Man From Waco in 2022 and last year’s Live From The Ryman LP. Now he’s announced a new album, $10 Cowboy, set for release on April 26th via Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers.
Crockett wrote freely, over a two-month period, as he wound his way across the United States on the back of a tour bus. The resulting songs—raw, personal, vivid portraits of a country in transition—ended up being connected after all.
“This material is written at truck stops, it’s written at casinos, it’s written in the alleys behind the venues, it’s written in my truck parked up on South Congress in Austin,” explains Crockett. “A ramblin’ man like me, a genuine transient, is in a pretty damn good position to have something to say about America.”
The album begins with the title track, which Crockett and his ace band the Blue Drifters will perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight, a personal song that also offers a provocative idea about America. “A $10 Cowboy is a country singer who made himself on a street corner in America,” Crockett says. “But the cowboy way, the cowboy mindset, that applies to anyone who doesn’t feel free, who feels fenced in and bound to something.”
“Being out on the road gives you a first-hand experience of how different kinds of Americans see themselves as going through some kind of great struggle,” Crockett says. “The roughneck working the oil and gas fields in West Texas. The single mother raising kids by herself. The young man working a street corner because he thinks it’s his only option. I would be dishonest if I said I couldn’t see the thread. Each of ‘em feel invisible. I am struck by the battles they are fighting internally, and the ways they have been entrapped by what America says they are.”
$10 Cowboy was recorded at Arlyn Studios in Austin, TX, produced by Crockett and his long-time collaborator Billy Horton. It was recorded live to tape, with anywhere from 6-12 musicians on each track, giving the songs the feel of a live performance. It’s a sound Crockett has been after for years. “The reason I cut it on tape is, when you get the right folks in the room, great players rise to the occasion. When that red light is on and the tape is rolling, you get the magic of a performance.”
Preorder the new album HERE
Charley starts his comprehensive Australian tour (presented by Love Police) this weekend in Tamworth:
- Jan 27 – Tamworth Town Hall – Tamworth NSW, AU
- Jan 28 – Bar on the Hill – Newcastle NSW, AU
- Jan 30 – The Events Centre, Caloundra – Sunshine Coast QLD, AU
- Jan 31 – The Green Room, Byron Bay – Tyagarah NSW, AU
- Feb 1 – Eatons Hill Hotel – Eatons Hill QLD, AU
- Feb 2 – Anita’s Theatre – Thirroul NSW, AU
- Feb 4 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney NSW, AU
- Feb 6 – Canberra Theatre Centre – Canberra ACT, AU
- Feb 8 – The Gov – Adelaide SA, AU
- Feb 9 – Civic Hall – Ballarat VIC, AU
- Feb 10 – Coal Creek Community Park & Museum – Korumburra VIC, AU
- Feb 12 – Forum Theatre – Melbourne VIC, AU
- Feb 13 – Forum Theatre – Melbourne VIC, AU
- Feb 14 – Astor Theatre – Perth WA, AU
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