Weeping fiddles, tremolo’ed out guitars and a sepia noir feel explode and mix together in the opening seconds of Josh Gray’s “Born in Tennessee”. You can truly swim in this arrangement. It is heady and pillowy, surrounding. Gray’s voice is just the right amount of gruff and gristled. Road weary and makes you say “this dude has seen some shit”. There is an honesty and genuine nature to the cracks that have worn their way into his vocal. Heavy, but still intriguing. It draws you into it…so come on in folks.
Who: Josh Gray
From: Nashville, TN
Song: “Born in Tennessee”
Latest Record: Songs of the Highway
What About It: “Listening back to this song really reaffirms for me our decision to record to tape. Everything sounds super warm, the band sounds great and I dig my voice through that vintage RCA 44 mic. They say Sinatra used to sing through one of those back in the day. Continuing with the album theme the song references the “endless road” that all touring musicians travel down. Since moving to Nashville in March of 2016 I’ve been all over Tennessee. I wanted to write a love song while also capturing the beauty of my adopted state. From the Mighty Mississippi to Clingman’s Dome, thanks for listening.”