Stapleton, who records and performs with his wife, singer Morgane Stapleton, is refreshingly undogmatic for a traditionalist he’s recorded with Justin Timberlake and with P!nk, and Adele and Kelly Clarkson have cut songs that he wrote. The stark clarity of Stapleton’s songwriting, his carefully modulated baritone, and Dave Cobb’s guitars-forward production brought together mainstream country fans and alt-country hipsters, two groups that rarely meet. Grammy awards, Saturday Night Live, and an appearance in Game of Thrones followed. 1 on the Country charts and sold nearly 3 million copies. Then, in November 2015, he won three Country Music Association awards, including the biggest prize, Album of the Year.
Stapleton thought selling 75,000 albums would count as a triumph. Traveller grew through word-of-mouth enthusiasm, one person saying, “You’ve got to hear this guy” to friends who told their friends. His mixture of Southern rock, classic country, and blues didn’t sound like anything else on the radio, and the songs were dark explorations of hard times and boozy unhappiness: “I drink because I’m lonesome, and I’m lonesome ’cause I drink,” he sang in “Whiskey and You.” He was in his mid-thirties, with unfashionably long hair and an expansive beard (the best in Nashville since William Lee Golden threw away his razor). Stapleton (born in Lexington in 1978) was already an established songwriter for Kenny Chesney, George Strait, and others when he released his 2015 debut, Traveller. He became one of Nashville’s most unlikely success stories. Country music was awash in charged-up tunes about bikinis and tailgating, and Stapleton’s rawhide Kentucky voice immediately evoked earlier eras. Chris Stapleton’s debut album arrived at the right moment.
0 kommentar(er)
