‘I’m Just A Clown”, the lead single from Charley Crockett’s forthcoming ‘The Man From Waco’ album has amassed over 1 million views in just 3 weeks. Another sign that the multi-talented US singer-songwriter’s star is truly on the rise.
The horn-heavy country soul track has already topped the Americana radio chart and debuted in the Top 40 of the Billboard/BDS Triple A National Airplay Chart in the US. Plus, the song NPR Music says “feels like a step forward for the prolific Crockett, and one that might help him cross over to a larger audience,” garnered the number 1 slot on Spotify’s “Roots Rising” playlist.
Crockett has also shared the title track “The Man From Waco”, as a further taster for the new album and his singular “Gulf & Western” sound, which continues to captivate an ever-growing legion of fans.
‘The Man From Waco’ is out on September 9th via Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers. Pre-order here: https://ffm.to/themanfromwaco-eu
Crockett’s burgeoning career has seen him amass 206.6 million career streams worldwide to date, 98 million of those in the past year, alongside huge leaps in his Spotify followers, YouTube subscribers and engagement on socials. His UK tour in October has already sold out, which mirrors much of his recent US tour, and he’s currently part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival, with Chris Stapleton, The Avett Brothers, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Billy Strings, Brothers Osborne, Steve Earle, Allison Russell and others.
‘The Man from Waco’ takes its title from the slow-burning murder ballad showcasing Crockett’s captivating baritone. With its brooding rhythms and darkly hypnotic guitar riffs, ‘The Man from Waco’ first came to Crockett as he and his band rode through the titular Central Texas city late one night on tour.
“We were driving over the Brazos River and started talking about James Hand, who passed away in the pandemic,” Crockett recalls, referring to the Waco-born country singer who inspired his 2021 tribute album ’10 for Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand.’ “One of the guys was playing accordion and I started singing a melody.”
“At first, we were having fun with it,” Crockett explained to People Magazine. “We weren’t making fun of James or anything, but we weren’t taking the song seriously. But sometimes, it’s those songs that you’re not taking seriously that end up being the ones that stick and begin to take on a whole other meaning.”
