With songs like "Ain't Gotta Worry Child," roots musician Charley Crockett becomes a walking music history lesson. He looks like a modern-day singing cowboy, writes lyrics with the conviction of a well-traveled blues picker and belts out songs with the finesse of a soul singer. This embracing of sounds and images that help define the South and Southwest come from a direct descendant of beloved folk hero Davy Crockett.
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"Ain't Gotta Worry Child" packs more than just a little bit of soul, making it one of the better recent examples of Crockett's range as a singer and storyteller. Its accompanying footage and lyrics reflect the sacrifices of an artist dedicated to a life of constant travel.
"It's a song I wrote about how when you live a life on the road, it's hard to keep the relationships together with anybody who's not on the road with you," Crockett said to Billboard. "It's very difficult, and I'm not very good at being home in one place for very long. The strange thing is I'm gone all the time but I'm always thinking about the people I love and don't get to see. So there's this thing in my mind that I'm gone and hard to reach, but I'm always coming back."
Read More: Charley Crockett: A Honky-Tonk Hero for the Modern Era
It's off forthcoming album Lonesome As A Shadow, out April 20. Crockett recorded all 12 new songs with producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Zac Brown) at Sam Phillips' Recordings in Memphis.
If all of this talk about classic soul vocals and globetrotting troubadours doesn't pique your interest, wait until you hear the mighty honky tonk and Cajun music mash-up "Goin' Back to Texas."
